Minnesota Spy ClubJune 17: On this date in 1902, recipient of the George Cross, F.F.E. Yeo-Thomas was born.
He served in the Special Operations Executive as an agent known as the White Rabbit and was one of the most highly decorated agents in WW2.
June 9, 1911: Former Free French Forces intelligence officer Andre Dewavrin was born on this date. During WW2, Dewavrin, using the codename 'Colonel Passy', was an active member of the French Resistance & worked with Britain's Special Operations Executive.
The Secret War: Special Operations Executive's Wireless Operators in Occupied France.
The Secret War: SOE's Wireless Operators in Occupied France
May 27, 1916: On this date, future Special Operations Executive agent Jacqueline Nearne was born in Brighton, England. She served as a courier with the STATIONER circuit operating mostly in the Clermont-Ferrand area of France. Cover name: Jacqueline Norville. She worked in France for more than 14 months & subsequently returned safely to England. SOE F Section leader Maurice Buckmaster said Nearne was "one of the best (operatives) we have had."
May 22, 1901: On this date, future, though some might think unlikely, Special Operations Executive agent Denis Rake was born in Brussels. Much of his childhood history is clouded in mystery. He was a small, effeminate, and campy gay man who UTTERLY excelled at the work of the SOE. Too much to say about his successes, but the stories are recounted at the link below.
Michou Dumon’s cover was blown & she fed to Britain. She personally aided some 250 people escape the Nazis. In London, she met Pierre Ugeux, a French member of F Section of the Special Operations Executive. They married in 1945, after the war. The couple had 4 children: Nicole, Brigitte, Guy, and Stefan. Michou Dumon died November 16, 2017 at age 96. Read more about her incredible life at the link below. (5/5)
#WW2 #Resistance #Antifa #Belgium #FSection #SOE
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/12/micheline-dumon-obituary?CMP=share_btn_tw
May 17, 1991: Special Operations Executive agent Harry Rée died at age 76. Alongside SOE agent Jacqueline Nearne, he starred in the film School for Danger, a 1947 British docudrama depicting the training & deployment of SOE agents during WW2. "Of the more than 400 SOE agents who worked in France during World War II, MRD Foot, the official historian of the SOE, named Harry Rée as one of the half-dozen best male agents.”
Yvonne Rudellat died of typhus and dysentery on April 23 or 24 (1945), only days after the Allies had liberated Bergen-Belsen. At the time her identity was unknown and she was buried in a mass grave with some 5000 others. (4/4)
Yvonne Rudellat and 3 other members of the resistance were stopped at a Nazi checkpoint. Suspicions were aroused and, as they attempted to flee, Rudellat was shot in the back of the head by a German soldier. She survived, was taken into custody, transferred to Ravensbrück and ultimately to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. (3/4)
Yvonne Rudellat served as a courier for the circuit & traveled widely around the Loire river valley delivering messages and engaging in sabotage. She organized parachute drops, stored & distributed arms, explosives, & other supplies, established & trained other sub-circuits, and engaged in sabotage of trains & power lines. (2/4)