Editing Special Operations Executive (section)

===Air===
SOE had mostly to rely on the RAF for its planes. It was engaged in disputes with the RAF from its early days. In January 1941, an intended ambush ([[Operation Savanna]]) against the aircrew of a German "pathfinder" air group near [[Vannes]] in Brittany was thwarted when Air Vice Marshal [[Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford|Charles Portal]], the [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]], objected on moral grounds to parachuting what he regarded as assassins,{{Sfn|Wilkinson|Astley|2010|p=84}} although Portal's objections were later overcome and ''Savanna'' was mounted, unsuccessfully. From 1942, when Air Marshal [[Arthur Harris]] (''"Bomber Harris"'') became the Commander-in-Chief of [[RAF Bomber Command]], he consistently resisted the diversion of the most capable types of bombers to SOE purposes.{{Sfn|Foot|2004|p=94}}

SOE's first aircraft were two [[Armstrong Whitworth Whitley]]s belonging to 419 Flight RAF, which was formed in September 1940. In 1941, the flight was expanded to become [[No. 138 Squadron RAF]]. In February 1942, they were joined by [[No. 161 Squadron RAF]].{{Sfn|Foot|2004|p=95}} 161 Squadron flew agent insertions and pick-ups, while 138 Squadron delivered arms and stores by parachute. "C" flight from No. 138 Squadron later became No. 1368 Flight of the [[Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain|Polish Air Force]], which joined No. 624 Squadron flying Halifaxes in the Mediterranean.{{Sfn|Foot|2004|p=102}} By the later stages of the war several [[United States Army Air Forces]] squadrons were operating [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain]]s in the Mediterranean, although by this time their operations had passed from SOE proper to the "Balkan Air Terminal Service". Three Special Duties squadrons operated in the Far East using a variety of aircraft, including the very long-range [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator]].{{Sfn|Foot|2004|pp=95–96}}

====RAF Tempsford====
Nos. 161 and 138 Squadrons were based at [[RAF Tempsford]] in [[Bedfordshire]] though No. 161 Squadron often moved forward to [[RAF Tangmere]], close to the coast in [[West Sussex]], to shorten their flights. The airfield at Tempsford became the RAF's most secret base.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.oldframlinghamian.com/images/articleds/GROUPCAPTAINPERCYPICKARDDSODFCG26-32.pdf| author=Orchard, Adrian| title=Group Captain Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard DSO**, DFC 1915 – 1944<!-- | access-date=February 2006 -->}}{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> (Tempsford had been rejected for Bomber Command's purposes by Harris in March 1942, as it frequently became waterlogged.){{Sfn|Seymour-Jones|2013|p=5}} RAF Tempsford was designed to look like an ordinary working farm. SOE used Tangmere Cottage, opposite the main entrance to the base. SOE agents were lodged in a local hotel before being ferried to farm buildings, the "Gibraltar Farm" within the airfield's perimeter track. After final briefings and checks at the farm, the agents were issued firearms in the barn, and then boarded a waiting aircraft.<ref name="Coxon">{{cite web|url=http://www.bognor.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/brave-percy-was-the-wartime-pick-of-the-raf-bunch-1-7389381|last=Coxon|first=David|title=Brave Percy was the Wartime Pick of the RAF Bunch|work=Bognar Regis Observer|date=19 May 2016|access-date=1 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812215555/http://www.bognor.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/brave-percy-was-the-wartime-pick-of-the-raf-bunch-1-7389381|archive-date=12 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The squadrons' first task was to take agents to France who could select suitable fields for their aircraft. Most of these agents were French expatriates, some of whom had been pilots in the French [[Armée de l'Air]]. Once the agent was in place and had selected a number of potential fields, 161 Squadron delivered SOE agents, wireless equipment and operators and weapons, and flew French political leaders, resistance leaders or their family members, and downed allied airmen to Britain.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandno161squadron.cfm| title=161 Squadron History| work=Royal Air Force| access-date=11 August 2017| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813054904/https://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandno161squadron.cfm| archive-date=13 August 2017| df=dmy-all}}</ref> Between them, the two squadrons transported 101 agents to, and recovered 128 agents, diplomats and airmen from occupied France.{{Sfn|Gunston|1995|p=}}{{page needed|date=August 2017}}

====161 Squadron operations====
[[File:Westland Lysander-B-MA.jpg|thumb|left|Westland Lysander Mk III (SD), the type used for special missions into occupied France during World War II]]

The principal aircraft of 161 Squadron was the [[Westland Lysander]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tempsfordmemorial.co.uk/history.html|title=History|website=Tempsford Memorial|access-date=22 June 2019|archive-date=13 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913183317/http://www.tempsfordmemorial.co.uk/history.html|url-status=usurped}}</ref> It handled very well at low speed and could land from touch down to turn around in only {{convert|150|yd|m}}.<ref name="Correll">{{cite web |last1=Correll |first1=John T. |title=The Moon Squadrons |url=https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0712moon/ |website=Air Force Magazine |access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref> It had a range of {{convert|700|mi|km}} and could carry one to three passengers in the rear cockpit and stores in a pannier underneath the fuselage. It was flown by a single pilot, who also had to navigate, so missions had to be flown on clear nights with a full or near full moon. Bad weather often thwarted missions, German night fighters were also a hazard, and pilots could never know when landing whether they would be greeted by the resistance or the Gestapo.<ref name="Orchard">Orchard, Adrian ''Group Captain Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard DSO**, DFC 1915 – 1944''  February 2006</ref>

The procedure once a Lysander reached its destination in France was described by Squadron Leader [[Hugh Verity]]. Once the aircraft reached the airfield the agent on the ground would signal the aircraft by flashing a prearranged code letter in [[Morse code|Morse]]. The aircraft would respond by blinking back the appropriate code response letter. The agent and his men would then mark the field by lighting the three landing lights, which were flashlights attached to poles. The "A" lamp was at the base of the landing ground. 150 metres beyond it and into the wind was the "B" light, and 50 metres to the right of "B" was the "C" light. The three lights formed an inverted "L", with the "B" and "C" lights upwind from "A". With the code passed the pilot would land the aircraft. He then would taxi back to the "A" lamp, where the passengers would clamber down the fixed ladder to the ground, often while the pilot was making a slow U-turn. Before leaving the last passenger would hand off the luggage and then take aboard the outgoing luggage before climbing down the ladder as well. Then the outgoing passengers would climb aboard and the aircraft would take off. The whole exchange might take as little as 3 minutes.{{sfn|Verity|1978|pp=17–18}}

The [[Lockheed Hudson]] had a range {{convert|200|mi|km}} or greater, and could carry more passengers (ten or more), but required landing strips more than double the length of those needed for the Lysander - {{convert|350|yd}} vs. {{convert|150|yd}}).<ref>[https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0712moon/ Correll]</ref> It carried a navigator, to ease the load on the pilot, and could also be fitted with navigational equipment, such as the "Rebecca" homing transceiver of the [[Rebecca/Eureka transponding radar]] system. The Hudson's use with 161 Squadron was developed by [[Percy Charles Pickard|Charles Pickard]] and Hugh Verity. Pickard determined that the Hudson's stall speed was actually some {{convert|20|mph}} slower than its manual stated. Before it was first used on 13 January 1943, 161 Squadron had to send two Lysander aircraft, in what they termed "a double", if larger parties needed to be picked up.<ref name="Coxon"/>

====138 Squadron and other Special Duties units operations====
No. 138 Squadron's primary mission was the delivery of equipment, and occasionally agents, by parachute. It flew a variety of bomber-type aircraft, often modified with extra fuel tanks and flame-suppressing exhaust shrouds: the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley until November 1942, the [[Handley Page Halifax]] and later the [[Short Stirling]]. The Stirling could carry a very large load (18 containers{{sfn|Boyce|Everett|2003|p=96}}) but the aircraft with the longest range was the Halifax, which when based in Italy could reach drop zones as far away as eastern Poland.{{Sfn|Foot|2004|pp=95, 101–103}}

Stores were usually parachuted in cylindrical containers. The "C" type was {{convert|69|in|cm}} long, and when fully loaded could weigh up to {{convert|224|lb|kg}}. The "H" type was the same size overall but could be broken down into five smaller sections. This made it easier to carry and conceal but it could not be loaded with longer loads such as rifles. Some inert stores such as boots and blankets were "free-dropped" i.e. simply thrown out of the aircraft bundled together without a parachute, often to the hazard of any receiving committee on the ground.{{Sfn|Foot|2004|pp=95–96}}

====Locating and homing equipment====
Some devices used by SOE were designed specifically to guide aircraft to landing strips and dropping zones. Such sites could be marked by an agent on the ground with bonfires or bicycle lamps, but this required good visibility, as the pilot or navigator of a plane had not only to spot the ground signals, but also to navigate by visible landmarks to correct dead reckoning. Many landings or drops were thwarted by bad weather. To overcome these problems, SOE and Allied airborne forces used the Rebecca/Eureka transponding radar, which enabled a Hudson or larger aircraft to home in on a point on the ground even in thick weather. It was however difficult for agents or resistance fighters to carry or conceal the ground-based "Eureka" transponder equipment.

SOE also developed the [[S-Phone]], which allowed a pilot or radio operator aboard an aircraft to communicate by voice with the "reception committee". Sound quality was good enough for voices to be recognisable, so that a mission could be aborted in case of any doubts of an agent's identity.{{Sfn|Foot|2004|pp=103–104}}