SOE F Section networks Totally Explained

Everything about Soe F Section Networks totally explained

These are the networks, also known as circuits, (or réseaux to their French participants) established in France by F Section of the British Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. See also SOE F Section timeline.

Acolyte

Robert Lyon - also known as Gilbert Calvert (Adrien)
Jean Coleman - lieutenant (Victor)
Robert Martin, real name : Albert Grinberg (Ibis) - wireless operator

Acrobat

Harry Rée - worked with Acrobat before taking charge of Stockbroker

Diana Rowden - courier

Jean Simon - organiser following Starr's arrest

John Ashford Renshaw Starr - organiser

John Cuthbert Young - wireless operator

Archdeacon

A network which was meant to be established by Frank Pickersgill and John Kenneth Macalister, who were both captured in June 1943 immediately upon arrival in France. The network became an operation run by the Germans. Joseph Placke, an assistant in the wireless section at 84 Avenue Foch, impersonated Pickersgill, and Macalister's captured radio and codes were used to transmit false messages to London, arranging parachute drops of supplies, which of course fell into German hands. The fake operation continued until May 1944 and resulted in the capture of a sabotage instructor and six other agents sent to join the network.

Asymptote

F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas

Author

Harry Peulevé

Autogiro

A network which was organised in the Paris area by Pierre de Vomécourt, but which had been destroyed by the spring of 1942 after being betrayed by Mathilde Carre.

Georges Bégué - wireless operator

Christopher Burney - assigned to assist Burdeyron

Noel Fernand Rauol Burdeyron (real name, Norman F. Burley) - agent, singlehandedly derailed German supply train by pulling up a rail, Autogiro's only successful attack

Pierre de Vomécourt - organiser

Bricklayer

Madeleine Zoe Damerment - courier

Carter

Charles Henri Lucien - organiser

Chestnut

Roland Dowlen - wireless operator

William Grover-Williams - organiser

Clergyman

Robert Benoist - organiser

Denise Madeleine Bloch - wireless operator

Louis Blondet - instructor

Detective

Denise Madeleine Bloch - courier

Henri Sevenet

Brian Julian Stonehouse - wireless operator

Digger

Peter Lake

Diplomat

Maurice Dupont

Ditcher

Guy D'Artois - organiser Lt. Jean Renaud-Dandicolle, M.C. Captured and killed on Saturday 10 June 1944, aged 47

Donkeyman

A network organised following the collapse of Autogiro and built on the remnants of Carte. It had small groups over the whole of France.

Francis Cammaerts

Henri Frager - organiser

Marguerite Diana Knight - courier

Vera Eugenie Leigh - liaison officer

Farmer

A network which was organised in the Lille area by Michael Trotobas.

Arthur Staggs - wireless operator

Michael Trotobas - organiser

Farrier

An operation to organise aircraft landings and the reception of agents sent by such means.

Julienne Marie Louise Aisner - courier

Henri Déricourt - organiser

Fireman

Patricia (Paddy) Maureen O'Sullivan - wireless operator

Freelance

Nancy Grace Augusta Wake - courier

Headmaster

Sonya Esmee Florence Butt - courier

Sydney Hudson - organiser

Heckler

Virginia Hall

Historian

Lilian Vera Rolfe - wireless operator

George Alfred "Teddy" Wilkinson - organiser

Inventor

A sub-circuit of the Prosper network.

Marcel Clech - wireless operator

Sidney Jones - organiser and arms instructor

Vera Eugenie Leigh - courier

Japonica

Blanche Charlet

Brian Stonehouse

Jockey

A network in the south-east

Francis Cammaerts - organiser

Christine Granville - courier

Cicely Margot Lefort - courier

Pierre Reynaud - sabotage instructor

Juggler

A sub-circuit of Prosper, operating from Châlons-sur-Marne, east of Paris. It also had headquarters in the rue Cambon, near the Place de la Concorde

Gustave Cohen - wireless operator

Sonia Olschanezky - courier, administrator

Jacques Weil - second in command

Jean Worms - organiser Also known as Robin.

Labourer

Odette Victoria Wilen

Marksman

Elizabeth Devereux-Rochester

Richard Heslop - organiser

Minister

Yvonne Fontaine

Monk

Eliane Sophie Plewman

Charles Skepper - organiser

Musician

A network in eastern Picardy.

Yolande Elsa Maria Beekman - wireless operator

Gustave Biéler - organiser

Permit

Ginette Marie Helene Jullian

Phono

Emile Henri Garry - organiser

Noor Inyat Khan - wireless operator

Physician

Also known as Prosper.

Plane

Henri Paul Le Chêne - organiser

Marie-Thérèse Le Chêne - courier

Pierre Louis Le Chêne - radio operator

Prosper

Francine Agazarian - courier

Jack Agazarian - wireless operator

France Antelme

Andrée Raymonde Borrel - courier

Jacques Bureau - radio technician

Gilbert Norman - wireless operator

Francis Suttill - organiser

Yvonne Claire Rudellat - courier

Robin

An unofficial name for Juggler.

Saint

Virginia Hall

Salesman

Violette Reine Elizabeth Szabo - courier aka Louise aka la p'tite Anglaise

Philippe Liewer aka Maj Charles Staunton aka Hamlet Jean-Claude Guiet, French-American, wireless operator aka Virgile Bob Maloubier

Scholar

Yvonne Jeanne Therese de Vibraye Baseden - wireless operator

Scientist

A network in the area of Bordeaux.

Claude de Baissac - organiser

Lise Marie Jeanette de Baissac - courier

Mary Katherine Herbert

Phyllis Ada Latour - wireless operator

Harry Peulevé

Silversmith

Madeleine Lavigne

Spindle

A network based in Montpellier.

Peter Churchill - organiser

André Girard

Odette Marie Celine Sansom - courier

Spiritualist

Henri Diacono - wireless operator

René Dumont-Guillemet - organiser

Stationer

A network with activities in the south and center of France, from Chateauroux to the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Jacqueline Mary Francoise Josephine Nearne - courier

Maurice Southgate - organiser

Pearl Witherington - courier, organiser following Southgate's arrest

Stockbroker

Harry Rée - organiser

Diana Hope Rowden - courier

Ventriloquist

Muriel Tamara Byck - wireless operator

Blanche Charlet - courier

Brian Julian Stonehouse - wireless operator

Pierre de Vomécourt - organiser

Wheelwright

A network in the area of Toulouse.

Yvonne Cormeau - wireless operator

George Reginald Starr - organiser

Anne-Marie Walters - courier

Wizard

Eileen Mary Nearne (Didi)

Wrestler

A network with activities in the Valençay-Issoudun-Chateauroux triangle.

Pearl Witherington - organiser

Map of networks as of June, 1943

The map below shows the major SOE F Section networks which existed in France in June 1943, based on the map published in Rita Kramer's book "Flames in the Field" (Michael Joseph Ltd, 1995).
Note: The map doesn't show the correct location of the original Autogiro network, which operated in the Paris area and didn't exist after the spring of 1942. However the network was later revived by Francis Suttill, organiser of Prosper.

Further Information

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