Leo Marks MBE: Head of SOE (Special Operations Executive) Codes and Cyphers.

Leo Marks (24 September 1920- 15 January 2021) was born to a devout Jewish family in London. His father was joint owner of Marks and Co and was an antiquarian bookseller in Charring Cross Road, London. Marks joined the army in January 1942 and was sent to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker where he was regarded a misfit. However, SOE saw him has as one of a few unique people who could see patterns…

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Alexandre Schwatschko, field name Alexander Shaw: Air Landing Officer SOE French Section.

24 year old Alexandre Schwatschko aka Alexander Shaw Alexandre Schwatschko was born in Russia on 19 July 1919 to a wealthy family with property in the Ukraine and during the Bolshevik Revolution (8 March 1917 to 6 June 1923) the family moved to France. When war was declared in 1939 he enlisted into the French Air Force and served as a pilot until the fall of France in 1940. After being…

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The mysterious death of SOE agent Christopher Lord.

Christopher Lord. Christopher James Lord was born in Birmingham, England on 27 October 1900. He was recruited by SOE in 1942 whilst working for the Guaranty Trust Company of New York after previously working for American Express in Paris and his wife was serving as a lieutenant with the Free French based in London. It is known Lord arrived in France on 15 April 1943 with instructions to…

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British Homefront during the Second Word War: The Blitz.

London Blitz. (No source) The aerial bombardment of British cities was commonly called the Blitz ( 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941) . The Luftwaffe Blitz on Britain began on the afternoon of 7 September 1940 when 348 German bombers with 617 fighter escorts targeted London during which 430 civilians were killed and 1,600 badly injured and attacks continued on London for the next 57…

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Pilot Officer Osman McMillian RCAF KIA 24 September 1944.

Wreck of the Spitfire flown by P/O McMillian. (Colour by Piece of Cake, original image credit not listed) 21 year old Pilot Officer Osman McMillian from Windsor Ontario, Canada served with 441 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and was recently commissioned before being killed in action in Gelderland, Netherlands on 24 September 1944. Osman McMillian before qualifying as a pilot and later…

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Pauline Trahan: SOE Agent.

I have recently been informed that on 4 February 2024 one of the last surviving members of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) French Section died at the age of 97. If her age is correct and was 17 when she parachuted into France, Nicola Pauline Marie Trahan was one of the youngest agents serving with F (French ) Section. RIP

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NATO Exercise 'Bold Guard' and the Kiel Canal tragedy in September 1974.

On 11 September 1974 a mass NATO exercise called Operation Bold Guard took place in Germany which included an air assault by 540 paratroopers. The British contingent consisted of five waves of six Hercules aircraft from RAF Lyneham with men from the 15th and 4th Battalions of the Parachute Regiment TAVR along with heavy drop (Land Rovers etc). According to an RAF Board of Enquiry, during the…

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British Home Front During World War Two.

Senate House. Senate House in Malet Street, London WC1 close to the British Museum is an Arc Deco building built between 1932 and 1937 and is now the library and administration centre for the University of London. Most days of the week many thousands of people walk past this building and the general public along with students at the University of London are seldom aware of its wartime…

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Roger Sabourin: Wireless Operator SOE French Section.

24-year old Roger Sabourin Roger Sabourin was born in Montréal, Canada on 1 January 1923 and was serving with the Canadian Intelligence Corps before joining SOE on 2 January 1944 and trained as a wireless operator. On the night of 2/3 March 1944 Roger Sabourin on his first mission to France to start a new circuit called BARGEE and Adolphe ‘Alex’ Rabinovitch on his second mission, the first of…

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Operation Banner (Northern Ireland). On 31 January 1984 RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) officers Thomas Bingham and William Savage were among the 319 officers killed by terrorists (9,000 injured) during the 'Troubles'.

From the BBC Archives. Thomas John Bingham aged 29 and William Richie Savage from East Belfast were travelling in an unmarked police car on Newry Road when they were killed by a 1000 lb bombed detonated 600 yard away.

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Francis André aka Gueule Tordue, Twisted Face and Crooked Mouth: Klaus Barbie's most loyal collaborator.

Francis André (Musée de la Résistance Nationale) Much has been written about Hauptsturmfuhrer Klaus Barbie, the head of the Gestapo in Lyon who became known as the “Butcher of Lyon” after personally torturing men, women and children, but little as been written about Francis André. Francis André was born in Lyon on 25 February 1909. At school he gained a reputation for intimidating other…

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Irene Arckles: Air Transport Auxiliary Pilot during WW2.

(DB colour from original unknown B&W image) Irene Arckless was described as an ordinary working class girl determined to obtain her pilots licence who passed her flying test just before the start of the Second World War. During the war she was a pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary delivering all types of aircraft from factories to operational RAF airfields throughout England.On Sunday 3 June…

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1949 Newsreel of HMS Implacable being scuttled.

HMS Implacable was originally the French Navy’s Téméraire-class ship of the line Duguay-Trouin, launched in 1800 that survived the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and later captured by the British during the Battle of Cape Otegal.During the Anglo-Russian war (2 September 1807- 18 July 1812) HMS Implacable helped capture the Imperial Russian ship of the line Vsevolod. When Implacable was being used as…

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RSM 'NOBBY' Arnold Parachute Regiment.

RSM ‘Nobby’ Arnald. A legend in the Paras whose sense of humour helped install discipline. I recall a story of him putting his bicycle against the Guardhouse wall and after it fell over in the wind had his bicycle arrested and locked in a cell for not obtaining permission for falling over. Typical RSM banter. He saw active service in Palestine, Canal Zone and Suez, Cyprus and the Radfan. Many…

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American Airbourne: Parachute failure. Turn on volume to hear remarks from soldiers.

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Forgotten Women of the French Resistance during WW2.

For eighty years thousands of women who were members of the resistance during the Second World War were rarely mentioned in history books. According to history professor Laurent Douzou only 6 women were recognised for their work with the resistance by being awarded the Companion of Liberation compared with 1,038 men. Though civilian resistance was mainly the work of women they were not counted…

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Eugéne Gréau: French Resistance during WW2.

Tour de France cyclist Eugéne Gréau was married with four children and shortly following the occupation of France joined the resistance. After being arrested for sabotage at the Niort railway yard where he worked he was transported to Sonnenburg concentration camp under the Nacht und Nebel decree (Night and Fog). This decree targeted political activists and members of the resistance and…

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