SOE F Section networks

These are the networks, also known as circuits, (or réseaux to their French participants) established in France by F Section of the British Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. See also SOE F Section timeline.

Acolyte

*Robert Lyon - also known as Gilbert Calvert (Adrien)
* Jean Coleman - lieutenant (Victor)
* Robert Martin, real name : Albert Grinberg (Ibis) - wireless operator

Acrobat

*Harry Rée - worked with Acrobat before taking charge of Stockbroker
* Diana Rowden - courier
* Jean Simon - organiser following Starr's arrest
* John Ashford Renshaw Starr - organiser
* John Cuthbert Young - wireless operator

Archdeacon

A network which was meant to be established by Frank Pickersgill and John Kenneth Macalister, who were both captured in June 1943 immediately upon arrival in France. The network became an operation run by the Germans.

Joseph Placke, an assistant in the wireless section at 84 Avenue Foch, impersonated Pickersgill, and Macalister's captured radio and codes were used to transmit false messages to London, arranging parachute drops of supplies, which of course fell into German hands. The fake operation continued until May 1944 and resulted in the capture of a sabotage instructor and six other agents sent to join the network.

Asymptote

* F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas

Author

* Harry Peulevé

Autogiro

A network which was organised in the Paris area by Pierre de Vomécourt, but which had been destroyed by the spring of 1942 after being betrayed by Mathilde Carre.
* Georges Bégué - wireless operator
* Christopher Burney - assigned to assist Burdeyron
* Noel Fernand Rauol Burdeyron (real name, Norman F. Burley) - agent, singlehandedly derailed German supply train by pulling up a rail, Autogiro's only successful attack
* Pierre de Vomécourt - organiser

Bricklayer

* Madeleine Zoe Damerment - courier

Carter

* Charles Henri Lucien - organiser

Chestnut

* Roland Dowlen - wireless operator
* William Grover-Williams - organiser

Clergyman

* Robert Benoist - organiser
* Denise Madeleine Bloch - wireless operator, 1943-1945
* Louis Blondet - instructor

Detective

* Denise Madeleine Bloch - courier, 1942
* Henri Sevenet
* Brian Julian Stonehouse - wireless operator

Digger

* Peter Lake

Diplomat

* Maurice Dupont

Ditcher

* Guy D'Artois - organiserLt. Jean Renaud-Dandicolle, M.C.Captured and killed on Saturday 10 June 1944, aged 47

Donkeyman

A network organised following the collapse of Autogiro and built on the remnants of Carte. It had small groups over the whole of France.
* Francis Cammaerts
* Henri Frager - organiser
* Marguerite Diana Knight - courier
* Vera Eugenie Leigh - liaison officer

Farmer

A network which was organised in the Lille area by Michael Trotobas.
* Arthur Staggs - wireless operator
* Michael Trotobas - organiser

Farrier

An operation to organise aircraft landings and the reception of agents sent by such means.
* Julienne Marie Louise Aisner - courier
* Henri Déricourt - organiser

Fireman

* Patricia (Paddy) Maureen O'Sullivan - wireless operator

Freelance

* Nancy Grace Augusta Wake - courier

Headmaster

* Sonya Esmee Florence Butt - courier
* Sydney Hudson - organiser

Heckler

* Virginia Hall

Historian

* Lilian Vera Rolfe - wireless operator
* George Alfred "Teddy" Wilkinson - organiser

Inventor

A sub-circuit of the Physician network.
* Marcel Clech - wireless operator
* Sidney Jones - organiser and arms instructor
* Vera Eugenie Leigh - courier

Japonica

* Blanche Charlet
* Brian Stonehouse

Jockey

A network in the south-east
* Francis Cammaerts - organiser
* Christine Granville - courier
* Cicely Margot Lefort - courier
* Pierre Reynaud - sabotage instructor

Juggler

A sub-circuit of Physician, operating from Châlons-sur-Marne, east of Paris. It also had headquarters in the rue Cambon, near the Place de la Concorde
* Gustave Cohen - wireless operator
* Sonya Olschanezky - courier, administrator
* Jacques Weil - second in command
* Jean Worms - organiser

Also known as Robin.

Labourer

* Odette Victoria Wilen

Marksman

* Elizabeth Devereux-Rochester
* Richard Harry Heslop - organiser

Minister

* Yvonne Fontaine

Monk

* Eliane Sophie Plewman
* Charles Skepper - organiser

Musician

A network in eastern Picardy.
* Yolande Elsa Maria Beekman - wireless operator
* Gustave Biéler - organiser

Permit

* Ginette Marie Helene Jullian

Phono

* Emile Henri Garry - organiser
* Noor Inyat Khan - wireless operator

Physician

* Francine Agazarian - courier
* Jack Agazarian - wireless operator
* France Antelme
* Andrée Raymonde Borrel - courier
* Jacques Bureau - radio technician
* Gilbert Norman - wireless operator
* Francis Suttill - organiser
* Yvonne Claire Rudellat - courier
* Noor Inayat Khan - wireless operator

Also known as Prosper.

Plane

* Henri Paul Le Chêne - organiser
* Marie-Thérèse Le Chêne - courier
* Pierre Louis Le Chêne - radio operator

Prosper

An unofficial name for Physician, named for its organizer's codename.

Robin

An unofficial name for Juggler.

aint

* Virginia Hall

alesman

* Violette Reine Elizabeth Szabo - courier aka Louise aka la p'tite Anglaise
* Philippe Liewer aka Maj Charles Staunton aka HamletJean-Claude Guiet, French-American, wireless operator aka VirgileBob Maloubier

cholar

* Yvonne Jeanne Therese de Vibraye Baseden - wireless operator

cientist

A network in the area of Bordeaux.
* Claude de Baissac - organiser
* Mary Katherine Herbert - courier
* Lisé de Baissac - courier
* Phyllis Ada Latour - wireless operator
* Harry Peulevé

ilversmith

* Madeleine Lavigne

pindle

A network based in Montpellier.
* Peter Churchill - organiser
* André Girard
* Odette Marie Celine Sansom - courier

piritualist

* Henri Diacono - wireless operator
* René Dumont-Guillemet - organiser

tationer

A network with activities in the south and center of France, from Chateauroux to the foothills of the Pyrenees.
* Jacqueline Nearne - courier
* Maurice Southgate - organiser
* Pearl Witherington - courier, organiser following Southgate's arrest

tockbroker

* Harry Rée - organiser
* Diana Hope Rowden - courier

Ventriloquist

* Muriel Tamara Byck - wireless operator
* Blanche Charlet - courier
* Brian Julian Stonehouse - wireless operator
* Pierre de Vomécourt - organiser

Wheelwright

A network in the area of Toulouse.
* Yvonne Cormeau - wireless operator
* George Reginald Starr - organiser
* Anne-Marie Walters - courier

Wizard

* Eileen Mary Nearne (Didi) - wireless operator

Wrestler

A network with activities in the Valençay-Issoudun-Chateauroux triangle.
* Pearl Witherington - organiser

Map of networks as of June, 1943

The map below shows the major SOE F Section networks which existed in France in June 1943, based on the map published in Rita Kramer's book "Flames in the Field" (Michael Joseph Ltd, 1995).

Note: The map does not show the correct location of the original Autogiro network, which operated in the Paris area and did not exist after the spring of 1942. However the network was later revived by Francis Suttill, organiser of Prosper.