Overview

"Winston Churchill authorised the creation of a new wartime secret service, the Special Operations Executive(SOE), with the order ""And now set Europe ablaze"". On behalf of the Secret WW2 Network, an educational charity dedicated to revealing hitherto-secret operations to the current generation, Paul McCue tells a main story of four Brighton and Hove-born agents honoured with blue plaques. He details the organisations creation and post-war demise, its training methods and the missions of the four chief subjects. He also covers three other agents, a special duties RAF pilot and the inspiration for Q, the inspired boffin of the James Bond books and films - all of whom had links with the city.Some enjoyed great success, others were doomed to failure and death, but all displayed the volunteer spirit and courage that saw Britain through the darkest days of the Second World War. Their stories, largely little known,deserve to be told."

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9781910500750

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In 1942, Jacqueline Nearne was invited to interview at the War Office in London for what she hoped would be a translator job. Although the 26-year-old was born in Brighton, England, she'd grown up in France, and was fluent in both languages. Nearne must have been startled when the interviewer asked how she felt about parachuting from an airplane, or if she'd consider taking a job that offered only a 50/50 chance of survival. She hadn't realized it when she'd entered the room, but she was being considered for a job with the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a new wartime secret service established in 1940. SOE liked to think outside the box when looking for recruits, and its secret agents included taxi drivers, shop clerks, racecar drivers, school teachers, a Chilean actress, and an American female journalist with a wooden leg. --Air and Space Magazine

Author Information

Paul McCue is a part-time military historian and author for over 25 years, he is the author of four books to date and regularly gives talks and presentations in England and France. His current specialised subject is French Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and he is presently working on a three-volume roll of honour for this Second World War secret service.

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