Baker Street: SOE Reenactment

24/02/2023

Very sad to hear of the passing of Simone Segouin, a heroine of the French Resistance. She died on 21 February, aged 97.

Simone Segouin killed her first “Boche” on the night of July 14, 1944. The 18-year-old was hiding in a ditch beside a road outside Chartres, 65 miles west of P

19/03/2021

22/07/2020

Today is the official "birthday" of SOE. On 1 July, a Cabinet level meeting arranged the formation of a single sabotage organisation. On 16 July, Hugh Dalton, the Minister of Economic Warfare, was appointed to take political responsibility for the new organisation, which was formally created on 22 July 1940. Dalton recorded in his diary that on that day the War Cabinet agreed to his new duties and that Churchill had told him, "And now go and set Europe ablaze."

Also today Arisaig House, SOE Special Training School designated STS21, "closed its doors" after 10 years as a very special hotel.

25/05/2020

📅 Soirée spéciale le mardi 2 juin sur RMC Découverte !
Plongez, grâce à 2 documentaires, au cœur du Débarquement de Normandie, l'un des événements les plus important de l'Histoire !
🔴 Et surtout à ne pas manquer en deuxième partie de soirée (à 22h30), 𝘂𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗲́𝗱𝗶𝘁 "𝗦𝗔𝗦 : 𝗟𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰̧𝗮𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝘂 𝗱𝗲́𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁" .
⏯ 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘶 5 𝘫𝘶𝘪𝘯 1944, 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘦́𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘦, 36 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤̧𝘢𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘭'𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘥'𝘦̂𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢̀ 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤̧𝘢𝘪𝘴. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘦́𝘴 𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘶 𝘚𝘱𝘦́𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘪𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦́ 𝘥'𝘦́𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦́𝘦́𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴. 𝘓𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 : 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦̂𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘴 150 000 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢 𝘳𝘦́𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦́𝘴 𝘢̀ 𝘭𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘶 𝘋𝘦́𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦́𝘴 𝘢𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘦́, 𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘴 : 𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘴'𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦̀𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘗𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦̀𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘪𝘴, 𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘲 𝘷𝘦́𝘵𝘦́𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘶 𝘚𝘱𝘦́𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘪𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦́ 𝘥𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦́𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘦́𝘦. "

07/05/2020

VE Day, Paris, 8 May 1945

Today marks 75 years since the end of WWII in Europe. Celebrated in different ways, under different names, and even on slightly different dates throughout Europe – VE Day, Liberation Day, or Victory over Fascism Day – no matter which name you use or how you mark the occasion, it is a pivotal moment in our shared history.

The world now faces a crisis of a very different sort. I hope you and your loved ones stay safe and well. The necessity of isolation separates us all, whether by 2 metres or by an ocean. But I also hope we can still find some of the spirit of unity these women evoke in their celebration of the Allied victory.

06/03/2020

Another tribute to one of the brave women of SOE F Section, Odette Hallowes. This one is a little different from the blue plaque...

05/03/2020

Good news from the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust!

“Noor Inayat Khan was Britain's first Muslim war heroine and the first female radio operator sent into Nazi-occupied France. Renowned for her service in the Special Operations Executive in WW2, Khan was posthumously awarded the George Cross.”

29/10/2019

05/07/2019

This weekend we will have an SOE and French airborne display at the Yorkshire Wartime show. Come along and say hello. This photo is from last weekend with thanks to Stuart Lambeth.

03/07/2019

More from last weekend. Here we are with our friends from the resistance and 4th SAS.

01/07/2019

We had a really splendid weekend at the ever popular Severn Valley Railway WWII event, the first of two they run on consecutive weekends. Thousands of re-enactors and visitors take part along the 16-mile heritage line running along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, crossing the Shropshire-Worcestershire border, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route. Various displays look at life on the home front, in the armies and on the railways. There are battles and lots and lots of music. We made camp at the end of Kidderminster railway station and travelled by train in exceptionable heat to engage the enemy to the north of us. The countryside was a riot of colour and a joy to be part of. We made lots of new friends, everybody helped each other out and there was a great feeling of goodwill to all, well nearly all. We really appreciated the bottles of water, cheap food, free beer and gifts of sweets. The railway staff and volunteers went out of their way to help us out and were brilliant hosts. We have lots of photos and will post them up over the coming days.