Osprey's study of Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents during World
War II (1939-1945). On average an SOE agent would be dead within three
months of being dropped in the field. Terry Crowdy tells the
extraordinary story of these agents, some of whom were women as young as
22, following them through their experiences beginning with their
recruitment and unorthodox training methods, particularly the unarmed
combat training provided by the notorious Fairburn and Sykes
partnership. As well as detailing these controversial techniques, the
training chapter also covers the tough physical training course and
parachute training that all recruits had to endure before being sent
into occupied Europe.
Crowdy also examines the SOE's unique system of codes, which included
each agent composing their own poem as well as using quotations from
famous pieces of literature to convey secret messages, and explores the
strengths and weaknesses of this system. Full-color artwork and
photographs show the innovative equipment, including the S-Phones and
Eureka sets, which allowed the agent to communicate directly with pilots
and other agents. Lastly, the book recounts the incredible combat
missions of the SOE agents, including operations in the field with
Yugoslav and Greek partisans, as well as sabotage missions ranging from
blowing up bridges to the raising of full-scale partisan armies as they
attempted to fulfill Churchill's directive to set Occupied Europe
ablaze.
