James Stejskal - Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS
Here you can read online James Stejskal - Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. year: 2020, publisher: Casemate, genre: Politics. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:
Romance novel
Science fiction
Adventure
Detective
Science
History
Home and family
Prose
Art
Politics
Computer
Non-fiction
Religion
Business
Children
Humor
Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.
- Book:Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS
- Author:
- Publisher:Casemate
- Genre:
- Year:2020
- Rating:3 / 5
- Favourites:Add to favourites
- Your mark:
Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS: summary, description and annotation
We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.
A brief history of secret British and American World War II organizations, their training, tools, successes, and their legacy.
Winston Churchill famously instructed the head of the Special Operations Executive to Set Europe ablaze! Agents of both the British Special Operations Executive and the American Office of Strategic Services underwent rigorous training before making their way, undetected, into occupied Europe to do just that.
Working alone or in small cells, often cooperating with local resistance groups, agents undertook missions behind enemy lines involving sabotage, subversion, organizing resistance groups and intelligence-gathering. SOEs first notable success was the destruction of a power station in France, stopping work at a vital U-boat base. Later operations included the assassination of Himmlers deputy Reinhard Heyrich and ending the Nazi atomic bomb program by destroying the heavy water plant at Vemork, Norway. OSS operatives established anti-Nazi resistance groups across Europe, and managed to smuggle operatives into Nazi Germany, including running one of the wars most important spies, German diplomat Fritz Kolbe.
All missions were incredibly dangerous and many agents were captured, tortured, and ultimately killedthe life expectancy of an SOE wireless operator in occupied France was just six weeks. In this short history, historian James Stejskal examines why these agencies were established, the training regime and ingenious tools developed to enable agents to undertake their missions, their operational successes, and their legacy.
Winston Churchill famously instructed the head of the Special Operations Executive to Set Europe ablaze! Agents of both the British Special Operations Executive and the American Office of Strategic Services underwent rigorous training before making their way, undetected, into occupied Europe to do just that.
Working alone or in small cells, often cooperating with local resistance groups, agents undertook missions behind enemy lines involving sabotage, subversion, organizing resistance groups and intelligence-gathering. SOEs first notable success was the destruction of a power station in France, stopping work at a vital U-boat base. Later operations included the assassination of Himmlers deputy Reinhard Heyrich and ending the Nazi atomic bomb program by destroying the heavy water plant at Vemork, Norway. OSS operatives established anti-Nazi resistance groups across Europe, and managed to smuggle operatives into Nazi Germany, including running one of the wars most important spies, German diplomat Fritz Kolbe.
All missions were incredibly dangerous and many agents were captured, tortured, and ultimately killedthe life expectancy of an SOE wireless operator in occupied France was just six weeks. In this short history, historian James Stejskal examines why these agencies were established, the training regime and ingenious tools developed to enable agents to undertake their missions, their operational successes, and their legacy.
James Stejskal: author's other books
Who wrote Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
James Stejskal
Special Operations Executive
Adam Leong Kok Wey
Maurice Buckmaster
Richard Heslop
Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work
Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.
Light
Font size:
↓
↑
Reset
Interval:
↓
↑
Bookmark:
Make
Casemate Short History
SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II
THE SOE AND OSS
James Stejskal
Published in the United States of America and
Great Britain in 2020 by
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS
1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083, USA
The Old Music Hall, 106108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE, UK
Casemate Publishers 2020
Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-771-7
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-772-4
Kindle Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-772-4
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
www.casematepublishingservices.com
For a complete list of Casemate titles, please contact:
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS (US)
Telephone (610) 853-9131
Fax (610) 853-9146
Email:
www.casematepublishers.com
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS (UK)
Telephone (01865) 241249
Email:
www.casematepublishers.co.uk
CONTENTS
Introduction
Timeline
Glossary
Chapter 1: Origins
Chapter 2: Assessment, Selection and Training
Chapter 3: Tools of the Trade
Chapter 4: Operations
Chapter 5: The End of an Adventure
Chapter 6: Epilogue
Sources and Bibliography
Acknowledgements
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)
INTRODUCTION
T HE S PECIAL O PERATIONS E XECUTIVE (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.
But a few far-sighted leaders saw the futility of diplomacy with Adolf Hitler. At the same time, Japans militancy in the Far East, as well as Italys aggression in Africa, demonstrated those countries expansionist aims. The prospects of conflict elevated and muted alarm bells began to ring in London, Paris and finally Washington. In London there were men like Stewart Menzies, Hugh Dalton, Colin Gubbins and, of course, Winston Churchill, who realised the gloves would have to come off. In Washington, which did not have Britains recent experiences with revolutionary uprisings like those in Ireland, Palestine or India, there were fewer who saw the role that intelligence and irregular operations would serve in the coming war. Among those who did understand the need were special men: Frank Knox, William Donovan and Franklin Roosevelt.
Once both countries had adopted the concept, the two organisations developed at a rapid pace, largely due to the dynamism of the chosen directors, Hugh Dalton for SOE and William Donovan for OSS, and their abilities to work around government stove-piping.
Although the ranks of SOE and OSS were initially filled with Britons and Americans many of them expatriates from the target countries Frenchmen, Belgians, Norwegians, Poles and other nationalities were quickly recruited to meet the requirement for men and women who could operate clandestinely in their home countries.
Until the end of the war in 1945, these two secret units would contribute much to the fight, and as many as 25 per cent of their operatives were killed in combat or executed after their capture. Some were sent to their deaths in concentration camps.
The history of SOE and OSS would take years to be told, and many stories remain secret. David Stafford, a historian of SOE, wrote in 1982: The obsession with secrecy is perhaps the true English disease. That is still very much the case. The story of the OSS is easier to tell because its history was more completely recorded, catalogued and eventually declassified. In fact, the OSS is the only intelligence agency of any nation to have its records fully open to public inspection. Much of SOEs files and history were absorbed into the SIS after World War II and little has been revealed. Other than personnel files (and not all of them at that) and some operational details, the official record is scant. SIS is notoriously reluctant to share its secrets, even its old ones.
Previous books on the SOE, specifically M. R. D. Foots SOE, An Outline History and SOE in France and William Mackenzies The Secret History of SOE , provided much of the British story, while the War Report of the OSS, Volumes 1 and 2 along with Aaron Lindermans Reclaiming the Ungentlemanly Arts and John Chamberss works on the OSS for the US Park Service informed much of the US side of things.
Light
Font size:
↓
↑
Reset
Interval:
↓
↑
Bookmark:
Make
Similar books «Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS»
Look at similar books to Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.
Special Operations Executive
Adam Leong Kok Wey
Maurice Buckmaster
Richard Heslop
Reviews about «Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS»
Discussion, reviews of the book Special Operations in WWII: The SOE and OSS and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.