Editing Special Operations Executive (section)

===France===

{{See also|List of Special Operations Executive operations|SOE F Section timeline|Timeline of SOE's Prosper Network}}

[[File:Maquis Haute Savoie.jpg|thumb|''Maquisards'' (Resistance fighters) in the Hautes-Alpes département in August 1944. SOE agents are second from right, possibly [[Christine Granville]], third John Roper, fourth, Robert Purvis.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205060952 |title=Photographs {{!}} THE FRENCH RESISTANCE IN THE HAUTES-ALPES, FRANCE, AUGUST 1944 |website=[[Imperial War Museum Duxford]] |accessdate=16 April 2020 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205183101/https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205060952 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

In France, most agents were directed by two London-based country sections. F Section was under SOE control, while RF Section was linked to [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s [[Free French]] [[Government in exile]]. Most native French agents served in RF. Two smaller sections also existed: EU/P Section, which dealt with the Polish community in France, and the DF Section which was responsible for establishing escape routes. During the latter part of 1942 another section known as AMF was established in [[Algiers]], to operate into [[Southern France]].

On 5 May 1941 [[Georges Bégué]] (1911–1993), a radio operator, became the first SOE agent parachuted into German-occupied France. The American, [[Virginia Hall]], who arrived by boat in August 1941, was the first woman to serve for a lengthy period in France. [[Andrée Borrel]] (1919–1944) and [[Lise de Baissac]] (1905–2004) became the first women parachuted into France on 24 September 1942. A typical team of a network consisted of an organiser (leader), a radio operator, and a courier. Agents performed a variety of functions including arms and sabotage instructors, couriers, liaison officers and radio operators. Between Bégué's first drop in May 1941 and August 1944, more than 400 F Section agents were sent into occupied France. One hundred and four F section agents lost their lives, mostly by being captured and executed by the Germans. RF sent about the same number of agents; AMF sent 600 (although not all of these belonged to SOE). EU/P and DF sent a few dozen agents each.{{Sfn|Foot|2004|p=214}}

Some networks were compromised, with the loss of many agents. In particular agents continued to be sent to the [[Timeline of the Prosper Network|"Prosper"]] network headed by [[Francis Suttill]] for months after it was controlled by the Germans and most of its agents had been captured.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/the-british-prosper-spy-network-destroyed-to-protect-d-day/| title=The British Prosper Spy Network: Destroyed to Protect D-Day?| date=31 August 2016| access-date=26 January 2017| archive-date=22 September 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922123945/http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/the-british-prosper-spy-network-destroyed-to-protect-d-day/| url-status=dead}}</ref> The head of F Section, [[Maurice Buckmaster]] was blamed by many as he failed to see signs that the network was compromised.{{Sfn|Foot|2004|p=44}}

To support the Allied invasion of France on [[D Day]] in June 1944, SOE and OSS supplemented their agents by air-dropping three-man parties of uniformed military personnel into France as part of [[Operation Jedburgh]]. They were to work with the French Resistance to co-ordinate widespread overt (as opposed to clandestine) acts of resistance. 100 men were eventually dropped, with 6,000 tons of military stores (4,000 tons had been dropped during the years before D-Day).{{Sfn|Foot|2004|pp=222–223}} At the same time, all the various sections operating in France (except EU/P) were nominally placed under a London-based HQ titled [[French Forces of the Interior|État-major des Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur (EMFFI)]].

It took many weeks for a full assessment of the contributions of SOE and the Jedburgh teams to the Allied landings in Normandy, but when it came it vindicated Gubbins' belief that carefully planned sabotage could hinder a modern army. General Eisenhower's staff at the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force said that the Jedburghs had "succeeded in imposing more or less serious delays on all the divisions moved to Normandy".{{Sfn|Milton|2016|p=293}} This had prevented Hitler from striking back in the crucial opening hours of Operation Overlord. The most "outstanding example was the delay to the [[2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich|2nd SS Panzer Division]]", Eisenhower's staff said, and added a very personal endorsement, agreeing that the work carried out under Gubbins' leadership played a "very considerable part in our complete and final victory".{{Sfn|Milton|2016|p=293}}

Many agents were captured, killed in action, executed, or died in German concentration camps.  More than one-third of 41 female agents of Section F did not survive the war; the death toll for more than 400 male agents was one-fourth and the toll of thousands of French people helping SOE agents and networks was about one-fifth.<ref>Purnell (2019), ''A Woman of No Importance,'' New York: Viking, p. 131. Purnell and Foot say 39 female agents, but three more should probably be considered agents.</ref><ref>Foot, M.R.D. (1966), ''SOE in France'', London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, pp. 465–469.</ref> Of 119 SOE agents captured by the Germans and deported to concentration camps in Germany, only 23 men and three women survived.<ref name="Pattinson">{{cite journal |last1=Pattinson |first1=Juliette |title=Passing Unnoticed in a French crowd |journal=National Identities |date=September 2010 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=291–308 |publisher=Identities, Vol 12, No. 3 |doi=10.1080/14608944.2010.500469 |s2cid=143669292 |url=https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/31922/1/National_Identities_final_version_in_word_1_.doc |archive-date=18 June 2024 |access-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240618031444/https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/31922/1/National_Identities_final_version_in_word_1_.doc |url-status=live }}</ref>