Editing Special Operations Executive (section)

===Other===
SOE also revived some medieval devices, such as the [[caltrop]], which could be used to burst the tyres of vehicles or injure foot soldiers{{Sfn|Boyce|Everett|2003|pp=53–54}} and crossbows powered by multiple rubber bands to shoot incendiary bolts. There were two types, known as ''"[[Big Joe 5 crossbow|Big Joe]]"'' and ''"Li{{'}}l Joe"'' respectively.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://images.royalarmouries.org/search/?searchQuery=%20Little%20Joe | title=Royal Armouries image Library }}</ref> They had tubular alloy skeleton stocks and were designed to be collapsible for ease of concealment.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.historynet.com/the-little-joe-crossbow-weapon-of-the-oss/ | title=World War II Spy Weapon: The 'Little Joe' Crossbow | date=18 August 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1179/174161210X12652009773492 | doi=10.1179/174161210X12652009773492 | title=The Crossbow and the Bow in Modern Warfare | date=2010 | last1=Credland | first1=Arthur G. | journal=Arms & Armour | volume=7 | pages=53–103 }}</ref>

An important section of SOE was Operational Research, which worked mostly from Station IX but also called on the facilities of Station XII and HQ. It operated through the User Trials Section and later the Air Supply Research Section and was formally established in August 1943. The section had the responsibility both for issuing formal requirements and specifications to the relevant development and production sections, and for testing prototypes of the devices under field conditions. It ensured that operational requirements were properly assessed, trials conducted, and quality monitored.{{Sfn|Boyce|Everett|2003|pp=159–165}} Over the period from 1 November 1943 to 1 November 1944, the section tested 78 devices. Some of these were weapons such as the [[Sleeve gun]] or fuses or adhesion devices to be used in sabotage, others were utility objects such as waterproof containers for stores to be dropped by parachute, or night glasses (lightweight binoculars with plastic lenses). Of the devices tested, 47% were accepted for use with little or no modification, 31% were accepted only after considerable modification and the remaining 22% were rejected.{{Sfn|Boyce|Everett|2003|pp=166–167}}

SOE agents were issued a "striptease suit", a camouflage overall and matching cloth helmet for parachute insertion behind enemy lines.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.509thgeronimo.org/other/soeosssuit/soeosssuit.html | title=SOE OSS Suit }}</ref> This item was not intended to be used in the sense of a uniform and only for concealment and to be discarded after landing in the dropzone.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30097129 | title=Jump Suit, "SOE Striptease Suit": SOE }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alliedforum.net/viewtopic.php?f%3D12%26t%3D301 |title=US, British and Allied Reenactment • View topic – SOE Jumpsuit |access-date=2009-04-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723011932/http://www.alliedforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=301 |archive-date=2011-07-23 }}</ref> Another rare item in the same camouflage was the "Smock Covert SOE", an overhead smock similar to the SAS windproof but lined with wool, used a large front split pocket and came with a crotch flap. These items and the SOE brushstroke camouflage pattern were Paramilitary as they were never issued to the main armed forces but only the Special Operations Executive.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Before SOE's research and development procedures were formalised in 1943, a variety of more or less useful devices were developed. Some of the more imaginative devices invented by SOE included exploding pens with enough explosive power to blast a hole in the bearer's body, or guns concealed in tobacco pipes, though there is no record of any of these being used in action. Station IX developed a miniature folding [[motorbike]] (the ''[[Welbike]]'') for use by parachutists, though this was noisy and conspicuous, used scarce petrol and was of little use on rough ground.{{Sfn|Boyce|Everett|2003|p=110}}