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Mission France

The True History of the Women of SOE

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Mission France

By: Kate Vigurs
Narrated by: Esther Wane
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Summary

The full story of the 39 female SOE agents who went undercover in France.

Formed in 1940, Special Operations Executive was to coordinate Resistance work overseas. The organization's F section sent more than 400 agents into France, 39 of whom were women. But while some are widely known - Violette Szabo, Odette Sansom, Noor Inayat Khan - others have had their stories largely overlooked.

Kate Vigurs interweaves for the first time the stories of all 39 female agents. Tracing their journeys from early recruitment to work undertaken in the field, to evasion from, or capture by, the Gestapo, Vigurs shows just how greatly missions varied. Some agents were more adept at parachuting. Some agents' missions lasted for years, others' less than a few hours. Some survived, others were murdered. By placing the women in the context of their work with the SOE and the wider war, this history reveals the true extent of the differences in their abilities and attitudes while underlining how they nonetheless shared a common mission and, ultimately, deserve recognition.

©2021 Kate Vigurs (P)2021 Tantor Europe France Freedom & Security Great Britain Military Politics & Government Espionage War
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Just finished this and it’s a great listen I couldn’t put it down highly recommended

Mission France

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An incredible story of heroics and courage by the women of SOE. Well researched and told.

Amazing heroism

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I have read quite a bit on WW2 and I love the stories about the SOE and the unsung women who bravely fought behind enemy lines. I am always left wanting to know more about them when the books.

Then I stumbled on this book in the plus catalogue which describes the set up of the SOE in WW2, the people who ran it, recruited and trained the women who then worked on the overseas operations for the SOE.

Each of the female heroines are described with their dob, background and how they were recruited, what they did and also détails of their death if they had died during their missions.

Perfectly narrated by Esther Wane.

This book is such an interesting and fascinating listen and I highly recommend.

The unsung women of SOE

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Appreciated the account of female operatives.
Very disappointed that there is not an accompanying pdf withe maps and photos. The absence of these in the audible version is very unhelpful.

Good account of female SOE operatives

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This is a story long overdue. Not only does it need to be told, and retold, it needs to be heard. I've read many books and watched many documentaries about SOE and the history surrounding it, but this is the first time I've read a book that I feel does justice to the lives and bravery of the women in SOE. Throughout the book I found myself making mental notes of questions that I had and which I could later research more thoroughly, only to find that the author had second-guessed the question and later in the chapter or story, provided the answer. Whilst I'm sure it would be impossible to tell the complete history due to the lack of available information (for so many reasons) this is by far the most definitive account I've read. Highly recommended!

it should also be noted that this is the first time I've ever heard the names given of each of the F-section women. Hearing the names read out at both the beginning and the end of the book was particularly poignant and I feel grateful that the author thought and felt sufficiently to give each, that acknowledgement.

Unmissable

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