Homepage
Crypto
Spy radio
Burst encoders
Intercept
Covert
Radio
PC
Telex
Telephones
People
Agencies
Intelligence
Countries
Alliances
Resistance
Manufacturers
DONATE
Publications
Standards
For sale
Kits
Shop
News
Events
Wanted
Contact
About us
Links
 
 
  		Click for homepage
UK
Radio
  
SIS →
  
SOE
Special Operations Executive - this page is a stub

During World War II (WWII), the Special Operations Executive, or SOE, was a temporary British espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance organisation, that was active from 22 July 1940 to 15 January 1946. It was formed by merging Section D 1 of the SIS with Department MI(R) 2 of the British Army and with Electra House (EH) — a propaganda group of the British Foreign Office.


The SOE was a secret organisation that had its headquarters at 64 Bakerstreet in London (UK). 3 It is also known as The Bakerstreet Irregulars, as Churchill's Secret Army and as the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Approx. 13,000 people were involved, 3200 of which were women [1].

During the first years of its existence, there was a fierce rivalry between the SOE and the SIS, particularly because SIS quietly conducted intelligence gathering without attracting attention, whilst the SOE carried out sabotage operations with the aim to attract maximum attention.

Initially, the SOE used clandestine radio sets, also known as spy radio sets, that were developed by the SIS, but this changed in mid-1942 when the SOE established its own research facility at the Frythe (Station IX) near Welwyn (Hertfordshire, UK) and began developing their own radio sets. The SOE-designs were influenced by the Polish spy radio sets — developed by Polish engineers at Stanmore Park (UK) — which is why they are distinctively different from the SIS spy radio sets.

  1. Established in 1938 for unorthodox warfare (UW).
  2. MI(R) = Military Intelligence Research.
  3. Also at 82 Baker Street (Michael House) and at 83 Baker Street (Norgeby House).

SOE radio sets on this website
British suitcase spy radio set Type A Mk. II (A2)
The UK Type A Mk. III (A3)
Type 3 Mark II, also known as the B2
Other radio sets used by the SOE
Whaddon Mk V spy radio set (Le Paracette) - 1941 - developed by the SIS
AP-5 spy radio set, developed by the Poles in the UK
BP-3 spy radio set developed by the Poles in the UK
BP-5 spy radio set developed by the Poles in the UK
The UK Type 31/1 (Sweetheart), produced in the UK during WW-II for Norway
Polish OP-3 (Type 30/1) WW-II clandestine receiver. Produced in the UK during WW-II.
➤ Other British spy radio sets


Locations
Research, production and accomodation stations
Station House Location Remark
VI Bride Hall Ayot Lawrence, Hertfordshire Weapons acuisition section
VII a Bontex Knitting Mills Beresford Avenue, Wembley Wireless Section Production
VII b Yeast-Vite Factory Whippendel Road, Watford Wireless Section, packing and despatch
VII c Allensor's joinery factory King George's Avenue, Watford Wireless Section Research
VII d Kay's Garage Bristol Street, Birmingham Wireless Section Production
VIII Wueen Mary Resevoir Staines Engineering section
IX The Frythe Welwyn Wireless research unit, weapons development and production, research and development
IX a PO Box 1 Ashford, Middlesex Submersibles word at Staines resevoir
IX c Fishguard Bay Hotel Goodwick, Pembrokeshire Submersibles work
X Bletchley Park Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamsire Codebreaking centre
XI Old Gorhambury House St Albans, Hertfordshire Accomodation
XII Aston House Stevenage, Hertfordshire R&D of sabotage explosives and weapons
XIV Briggens House Roydon, Essex Forgery Section
XV The Thatched Barn Borehamwood, Hertfordshire Camouflage Section
XV a 56 Queen's Gate Kensington, London Camouglags Section
XV b The Demonstration Room Natural History Museum, London Camouflage Section
XV c 2-3 Trevor Square Knightsbridge, South Kensington flags Section
XVII Brickendonbury Brickendon, Hertford Explosive trials
Active radio stations
Station House Location Remark
53 a Grendon Hall Grendon Underwood, Buckinghamshire Signals centre
53 b Poundon House Bicester, Buckinghamshire Radio listening and transmission station
For further details and for a list of SOE training centres, please refer to Wikipedia [4]


Nomenclature
The SOE is known by the following names:

  • SOE
  • Special Operations Executive
  • The Bakerstreet Irregulars
  • Churchill's Secret Army
  • Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Literature
  1. Derwin Gregory, Built to Resist
    An assessment of the Special Operations Executive's Infrastructure in the United Kingdom during the Second World War, 1940-1946. University of East Anglia, 2015.
References
  1. Wikipedia, Special Operations Executive
    Visited 12 November 2021.

  2. Dave Gordon-Smith (G3UUR), The Agent Killer, A Spy Set with a Bit of a Reputation
    Electric Radio Magazine #352, September 2018. pp. 2-15.
    Reproduced with kind permission of Electric Radio Magazine.

  3. Geoffrey Pidgeon, The Secret Wireless War
    ISBN 978-09560515-2-3. August 2008.

  4. Wikipedia, List of SOE establishments
    Visited 24 December 2023.
Further information
Any links shown in red are currently unavailable. If you like the information on this website, why not make a donation?
© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 27 June 2021. Last changed: Monday, 25 December 2023 - 13:24 CET.
Click for homepage