The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was established on 22 July 1940 to “set Europe ablaze.” Its mission was to undermine the German war effort by means of propaganda, espionage, subversion, sabotage, and support of the resistance movements in occupied countries. When Japan entered the War in 1941, SOE extended its operations to support resistance in the occupied countries of Southeast Asia. Between 1940 and 1945, many talented Canadians became involved with the SOE.
Canada provided logistical support and clandestine training for the Canadians who were recruited to serve with the SOE. Members of immigrant communities possessed language skills and cultural awareness that were invaluable for clandestine operations. All Canada-based SOE training and, more generally, British intelligence operations in the Americas, were coordinated and supervised by the New York headquarters of British Security Coordination (BSC).
The Canadian Armed Forces provided volunteers of French, Chinese, and Eastern European descent to the British War Office for duty with the SOE. The RCAF contributed aircrew to serve with the Special Duties squadrons of the RAF. They flew on secret ‘special operations’ to insert SOE agents and deliver supplies and equipment behind enemy lines in occupied countries in Europe and Southeast Asia.
By the end of the Second World War, at least 227 Canadians had served as undercover SOE agents in Europe and Southeast Asia: 28 in France, 56 in Eastern Europe, and 143 in Asia. Many more had contributed to SOE-commissioned training or served in support capacities by performing administrative duties, translation, communications, and air transport.
The links below provide brief stories about Manitobans who contributed to clandestine operations during the Second World War.
François Adolphe Deniset (1917-1944)
Kathleen Moore “Kay” Gimpel (1914-2009)
Anne Mackenzie (1922-1974)
Francis Herbert Dedrick “Frank” Pickersgill (1915-1944)
William Samuel “Intrepid” Stephenson (1897-1989)
Hippolyte Johanny “John” Wickey (1899-1994)
Frederick John Anderson (1916-1944)
William Beresford Arnold (1913-1945)
Arthur John George Barnes (1921-1944)
James Duncan Campbell (1923-1944)
Elden Fleetwood Carlisle (1917-1945)
Thomas Carnegie (1922-1944)
David Stuart Gillander (1909-1944)
John Hamilton (1913-1944)
Ralph Edward Hawken (1913-1943)
Edwin Davis Hodgson (1911-1944)
James Howard Ireland (1924-1944)
Murray Kesselman (1921-1944)
Hector Lochhead (1924-1945)
Thomas Johnson Makepeace (1922-1944)
James Brian Millar (1924-1945)
Ivan Anderson Miller (1913-1942)
Gordon Mundell (1912-1944)
Walter Russell (1922-1945)
Jackson Carlisle Scorer (1918-1945)
Robert Howard Sneath (1920-1944)
Donal David Charles Stewart (1923-1944)
This page was prepared by Robert Nash.
Page revised: 24 May 2024
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