The following is a list of female agents who served in the field for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. SOE's objectives were to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe (and later, also in occupied Southeast Asia) against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements. Most of SOE's female agents worked in France.
In 1981, the official historian of the SOE, Michael R. D. Foot, said that the staff of SOE consisted of about 10,000 men and 3,000 women. Of that number, "A few highly accomplished and gallant [women] were agents operating in France or Yugoslavia." Foot cautioned that "On these few there is a large popular literature, almost all of it worthless and much of it about the wrong people."[1] The declassification of SOE documents beginning in the 1990s permitted more accurate assessments of agents and their accomplishments.
Estimates of the number of F Section female agents vary. Thirty-nine female SOE agents were trained in Britain. The following list of forty-one agents is taken from M.R.D. Foot, the official historian of the SOE, with two additions: Madeleine Barclay who served (and died) on a ship contracted to SOE and Sonia Olschanezky, a locally-recruited courier who was executed. Of the forty-one SOE F section female agents listed, a few served in France for as much as two years, most for only a few months. Twenty-five of them survived World War II. Twelve were executed by the Germans, one died when her ship was sunk, two died of disease while imprisoned, and one died of natural causes. Female agents ranged in age from 20 to 53 years.[2]
Most SOE agents were sent to France as part of a network or circuit of three persons consisting of an "organiser" who was the leader of the team, a wireless operator, and a courier. Women were most often employed as couriers as they could travel more easily than men who were regarded with suspicion and might be impressed as labourers. Pearl Witherington was the only woman to officially head an SOE network in France, although others fulfilled that role on occasion.
In addition to this list of female F Section agents in France, eleven women agents of the RF section of SOE were sent to France in 1944. The RF section was under the direction of Charles de Gaulle's Free French Government in exile with SOE lending logistical support and financial assistance. Conversely, F section worked with all factions of the French Resistance although leery of assistance to communists.[3]
| Name | Birthplace | Born | Died | Awards | Date of entry | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francine Agazarian | France | 1913 | 1999 | MiD | 17 March 1943, Lysander aeroplane | Code name: Marguerite; Courier, Prosper network.Wife of SOE agent Jack Agazarian. | ||
| France | 1899 | 1947 | KCBC | 17 May 1943, Lysander aeroplane | Code name: Clair; Farrier network. | |||
| 1905 | 2004 | MBE, CdeG, LdH | 24 September 1942, parachute; 9 April 1944, Lysander | WAAF | Code name: Odile, Marguerite; Courier, Scientist network.Sister of SOE Agent Claude de Baissac | |||
| France | 1911 | 1943 | WRNS | Née: Madeleine Victorine Bayard.Died when HMS Fidelity was sunk on 1 January 1943 | ||||
| Yvonne Baseden | France | 1922 | 2017 | MBE, LdH, CdeG | 16 March 1944, parachute | WAAF | Code name: Odette: Courier, Scholar network.Captured 26 June 1944, survived Ravensbrück concentration camp | |
| France | 1911 | 1944 | MiD | 18 September 1943, Lysander aeroplane | WAAF | Code name: Yvonne: Wireless Operator, Musician network.One of four women executed at Dachau, 13 Sept 1944. | ||
| France | 1916 | 1945 | KCBC, LdH, CdeG | 2 March 1944, Lysander aeroplane | Code name: Ambroise; Wireless Operator, Clergyman network. Executed at Ravensbrück concentration camp 5 February 1945. | |||
| France | 1919 | 1944 | CdeG | 24 September 1942, parachute | Code name: Denise; Courier, Physician and Prosper networks.Executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, 6 July 1944. | |||
| England | 1924 | 2014 | MBE, MiD | 28 May 1944, parachute | WAAF | Code name: Blanche; Courier, Headmaster network.Married fellow SOE agent Guy D'Artois. Youngest SOE woman agent. | ||
| Muriel Byck | England | 1918 | 1944 | MiD | 8 April 1944, parachute | WAAF | Code name: Violette; Wireless operator, Ventriloquist network. Died of meningitis at Romorantin Hospital, 23 May 1944. | |
| Blanche Charlet | England | 1898 | 1985 | MBE | 1 September 1942, boat | Code name: Christiane; Courier, Ventriloquist network. Arrested, escaped from French prison in Sept 1943. | ||
| France | 1890 | MBE, CdG | 31 October 1942, boat | Code name: Adele; Courier, Plane network. Oldest SOE woman agent. | ||||
| China | 1909 | 1997 | MBE, LdH, CdeG | 22 August 1943, parachute | WAAF | Code name: Annette; Wireless operator, Wheelright network. | ||
| Madeleine Damerment | France | 1917 | 1944 | LdH, CdeG | 29 February 1944, parachute | Code name: Solange; Courier, Bricklayer network. Arrested on landing; one of four women executed at Dachau, 13 September 1944. | ||
| Elizabeth Devereux-Rochester | 1917 | c. 1983 | LdH, CdeG | 18 October 1943, Hudson aeroplane | FANY | Code name: Elizabeth; Courier, Marksman network. Aka: Elizabeth Reynolds. Arrested 20 March 1944, sent to prisoner of war camp, survived. | ||
| France | 1913 | 1996 | MdlR | 25 March 1944, boat | WAAF | Code name: Mimi; Courier, Minister network. Prior to becoming SOE agent worked with Tinker network as Nenette. | ||
| Chile | 1910 | May 1941 | First SOE agent sent to France; stayed one month, collected intelligence and documents, such as ration cards which could later be copied by SOE. | |||||
| Virginia Hall | United States | 1906 | 1982 | MBE, DSC (USA) | (1) August 1941; (2) 21 March 1944, boat | Code names: Marie, Diane; Courier, Heckler, Saint networks. Called "Limping lady" due to amputated lower leg. Post-war worked for the CIA | ||
| Mary Katherine Herbert | Ireland | 1903 | 1983 | CdeG | 31 October 1942, boat | WAAF | Code name: Claudine; Courier, Scientist network. First WAAF Officer to join the SOE. Married SOE agent Claude de Baissac, daughter born December 1943, arrested and released 1944. | |
| France | 1917 | 1962 | 7 June 1944, parachute | Code name: Adele; Wireless Operator, Permit network. | ||||
| Noor Inayat Khan | Russia | 1914 | 1944 | GC, MBE, CdeG, MiD | 16 June 1943, Lysander aeroplane | WAAF | Code name: Madeleine; Wireless operator, Cinema, Phono networks. Indian Muslim origin. One of four women executed at Dachau concentration camp, 13 September 1944. | |
| Marguerite Knight | France | 1920 | 2004 | MBE, CdeG | 6 May 1944, parachute | Code name: Nicole; Courier, Donkeyman network. Known as Peggy | ||
| Phyllis Latour | South Africa | 1921 | 2023 | MBE, CdeG | 1 May 1944, parachute | Code name: Genevieve; Wireless operator, Scientist network. | ||
| France | 1912 | 1945 | 23 May 1944, parachute | Code name: Isabelle; Wireless operator, courier, Silversmith network. Died in Paris of an embolism on 24 February 1945. | ||||
| Cecily Lefort | England | 1900 | 1945 | CdeG, MiD | 16 June 1943, Lysander aeroplane | WAAF | Code name: Alice; Courier, Jockey network. Executed at Ravensbrück concentration camp c. 5 February 1945. | |
| Vera Leigh | England | 1903 | 1944 | KCBC | 23 May 1943, Lysander aeroplane | Code name: Simone; Courier, Inventor Network. Executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp on 6 July 1944. | ||
| Eileen Nearne | England | 1921 | 2010 | CdeG, MBE | 2 March 1944, Lysander aeroplane | Code name: Rose; Wireless operator, Wizard network. Known as "Didi." Sister of SOE agents Jacqueline & Francis Nearne. Arrested July 1944; escaped Ravensbrück concentration camp, 13 April 1945. | ||
| Jacqueline Nearne | England | 1916 | 1982 | MBE | 25 January 1943, parachute | FANY | Code name: Jacqueline; Courier, Stationer network. Withdrawn April 1944. Sister of SOE agents Eileen & Francis Nearne | |
| Sonia Olschanezky | Germany | 1923 | 1944 | Recruited in France | Code name: Tania; Courier, Juggler network. Captured January 1944, executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp on 6 July 1944 | |||
| Patricia O'Sullivan | Ireland | 1918 | 1994 | CdeG, MBE | 22 March 1944, parachute | WAAF | Code name: Simonet; Wireless operator, Fireman network. Returned to England on 5 October 1944. | |
| Eliane Plewman | France | 1917 | 1944 | KCBC, CdeG | 13 August 1943, parachute | Code name; Gaby; Courier, Monk network. Executed at Dachau concentration camp on 13 September 1944 | ||
| Lilian Rolfe | France | 1914 | 1945 | MBE, CdeG, MiD | 5 April 1944 by Lysander aeroplane | Code name: Nadine; Courier, Historian network. Executed 5 February 1945 at Ravensbrück concentration camp | ||
| Diana Rowden | England | 1915 | 1944 | MBE, CdeG, MiD | 16 June 1943, Lysander aeroplane | WAAF | Code name: Paulette; Courier, Acrobat network. Executed 6 July 1944 at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp | |
| Yvonne Rudelatt | France | 1897 | 1945 | MBE | 30 July 1942, boat | WAAF | Code name: Jacqueline; Courier, Physician network. Died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, c. 24 Apr 1945. | |
| Odette Sansom | France | 1912 | 1995 | GC, MBE, LdH | 31 October 1942, boat | FANY | Code name: Lise; Courier, Spindle network. First woman to be awarded the George Cross. Also known by the surnames "Hallowes" and "Churchill." Survived Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. | |
| Krystyna Skarbek | Poland | 1908 | 1952 | GM, OBE, CdeG | 6 July 1944, parachute | Code name: Pauline; Courier, Jockey network. Known also by her nom de guerre Christine Granville. British agent since 1939 in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Murdered in 1952. | ||
| Violette Szabo | France | 1921 | 1945 | GC, CdeG | 5 April 1944, parachute; 7 June 1944, parachute | Code name: Louise; Courier: Salesman network. Executed c. 5 Feb 1945 at Ravensbrück | ||
| Nancy Wake | New Zealand | 1912 | 2011 | GM, LdH, CdeG | 29 April 1944, parachute | Code name: Helene; Courier, Stationer network. 1940-43: Pat O'Leary escape line. The "White Mouse." | ||
| Anne-Marie Walters | Switzerland | 1923 | 1998 | MBE, CdeG | 4 January 1944, parachute | Code name: Colette; Courier, Wheelright network. Married name Ann-Marie Comert | ||
| Odette Wilen | England | 1919 | 2015 | 11 April 1944, parachute | Code name: Sophie; Courier, Labourer network. Married Santiago Strugo Garay, head of the Spanish escape network. | |||
| France | 1914 | 2008 | MBE, CBE, CdeG | 22 September 1943, parachute | Code names: Marie, Pauline; Courier, Stationer network. Organiser, Wrestler network. "Highly successful."[5] |
| Name | Nationality | Born | Died | Awards | Date of entry | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British | 1916 | 2013 | Married American OSS agent Miles Copeland, Jr. SOE 1940-1942; Served in Middle East. | |||
| Maddalena Cerasuolo[6] | Italian | 1920 | 1999 | MBE | 3 missions, October 1943 to February 1944 | Code name: Maria Esposito, C22; sabotage missions, resistant[7] [8] |
| Alix D'Unienville | Mauritian | 1919 | 2015 | MBE, LdeH, CdeG | 31 March 1944, parachute | Code name: Myrtil; Courier, Oronte network. Arrested June 6, 1944, escaped en route to a prison camp in Germany. |
| Hungarian / British Palestine | 1921 | 1944 | Parachuted into Yugoslavia, March 14, 1944 | Captured and executed in Budapest | ||
| Slovakian / British Palestine | 1922 | 1944 | 14 September 1944, parachuted into Slovakia | Executed in Kremnička, Slovakia amongst local Jews | ||
| Romanian / British Palestinian | 1918 | 2013 | Parachuted into Yugoslavia, July 1944 | Was mostly with partisan camps in the mountains before evacuation to Italy | ||
| Belgian / British / Australian | 1923 | 2012 | Croix de Guerre (Belgium); Mentioned in Despatches (UK) | August 1944 | aliases: Elaine Meeus, Imogen, Alice; fluent in English, French, and Flemish | |
| British | 1913 | 1981 | MBE | Already on Madagascar | Served on Madagascar with her husband, Percy Mayer. Code name DZ/60[9] | |
| Note | Description | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATS | Auxiliary Territorial Service | SOE Agents who were ATS officers are highlighted in italics | |
| GC | George Cross | The highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom. It is highest gallantry award for civilians as well as for military personnel in actions which are not in the face of the enemy or for which purely military honours would not normally be granted. |