James Stejskal - No Moon as Witness: Missions of the SOE and OSS in World War II

Missions of the SOE and OSS in World War II

JAMES STEJSKAL

Published in the United States of America and Great Britain in 2021 by

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Copyright 2021 James Stejskal

Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-952-0

Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-953-7

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Dedicated to the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who served, as well as the patriots of the resistance groups with whom they fought and died.

The life that I have

Is all that I have

And the life that I have

Is yours

The love that I have

Of the life that I have

Is yours and yours and yours

A sleep I shall have

A rest I shall have

Yet death will be but a pause

For the peace of my years

In the long green grass

Will be yours and yours

and yours

SOE agent Violette Szabo, GC, used these lines as a code poem on her second and final mission. It was written by Leo Marks, a SOE cryptographer, after he learned of the death of his fiance. He provided it to Szabo, but did not tell her of its origin.

Leo Marks, Between Silk and Cyanide

(London: Harper Collins, 1998)

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) and Office of Strategic Services (OSS) were created to fight an unconventional war at a time when the normal means to bring the fight to the enemy were lacking.

At the beginning of World War II, Britain faced a fearsome wartime aggressor the Axis alliance of Germany, Italy and later Japan and realised it had a need for special units to do things their regular military could not. That need was to oppose the Axis indirectly in unexpected places, behind enemy lines and on the periphery until its military was ready and able to fight a conventional war.

The United States would join in the fray nearly two years later. As was quite often the case with innovations in the early 20th century, the British created their Special Operations Executive first. The Americans would follow with the Office of Strategic Services in 1942.

In sum, both SOE and OSS were conceived to fight an unconventional or subversive war some would say a dirty war against the Germans. While SOE was essentially the action arm of British intelligence (albeit separate of the Secret Intelligence Service), OSS would serve both roles, intelligence and special operations, for the duration of the war.

From the outset, the two organisations were distrustful of each other and often demeaned their partners capabilities before they had even met. SOE operatives regarded the Americans as inexperienced, while the American OSS often saw the British as arrogant. Differing views on the political aspects of the war added to the distrust. But the distrust each organisation had for each other was probably no worse than the issues they had with their own militaries and diplomatic services. Nevertheless, once they realised they were on the same side they banded together well to fight their common enemies.

In 1938, Europe was still traumatised by the horrific losses of sons, fathers and husbands the so-called lost generation in World War I. Most sane people wished nothing more than to avoid another war. Among these were British and French Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier honourable but short-sighted men who thought they could negotiate a lasting peace with Germany.