List of SOE establishments

The following is an incomplete list of training centres, research and development sites, administrative sites and other establishments used by the Special Operations Executive during World War II.

Numbered Stations

Establishments concerned with experimental work, storage and production were given Roman numerals (mostly in Hertfordshire). Training schools had Arabic numbers (paramilitary schools around Arisaig, "finishing" schools around Beaulieu and operational schools various places including around Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire).

Experimental Stations

*Station VI - Bride Hall near Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire - the weapons acquisition section.
*Station VIIa - Bontex Knitting Mills, Beresford Avenue, Wembley - Wireless Section Production
*Station VIIb - Yeast-Vite factory, Whippendell Road, Watford - Wireless Section, packing and dispatch
*Station VIIc - Allensor's joinery factory, King George's Avenue, Watford - Wireless Section Research
*Section VIId - Kay's garage, Bristol Street, Birmingham - Wireless Section Production
*Station IX - The Frythe estate near Welwyn Garden City, which began as a wireless research unit (Special Signals), then became a weapons development & production centre, then a research and development station. Now a factory belonging to GlaxoSmithKline. [http://www.timelapse.dk/Welrod/uk/SoeStationIX.htm]
*Station IXa - P O Box 1, Ashford, Middlesex - Submersibles work at Staines reservoir.
*Station IXc - [http://www.bayhotelfishguard.co.uk/location.asp Fishguard Bay Hotel] , Goodwick, Pembrokeshire - Submersibles work in Fishguard Bay.
*Station XI - [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/795 Gorhambury House] near St Albans, Hertfordshire - Accommodation.
*Station XII - [http://www.btinternet.com/~m.a.christie/astona.htm Aston House] near Stevenage, Hertfordshire - Production, packaging and dispatch. [http://astonvillage.tripod.com/astonvillage/id8.html]
*Station XIV - [http://www.tarrant-rushton.ndirect.co.uk/images/SOEBriggensDscf0224web.jpgBriggens] , near Roydon, Essex, contained the Forgery Section.
*Station XV - The Thatched Barn - road house on the Barnet bypass at Borehamwood, Hertfordshire - Camouflage Section. Much of the work of this station involved the final equipping of agents who came through the Thatched Barn prior to going to France. Typical of the work was reproducing French clothing which was copied from newspaper photographs, catalogues etc and had to be perfect down to the last stitch and button. Maps were hand sewn into silk underwear, agents were made up with false humped backs etc to enhace their disguise. Strict anonymity was observed. The station was also concerned with the development of booby traps including very original devices such as bicycle pumps which were swapped and exploded when used. Other work included packing hand grenades into tins labelled as fruit. The labels were reproduced by skilled artists to look like the real thing. Plaster of Paris was moulded and painted to resemble a log and inside was a Sten Gun.
*Station XVa - 56 Queen's Gate, Kensington, London SW7 - Camouflage Section - prototypes.
*Station XVb - The Demonstration Room, Natural History Museum in London. Camouflage Section - A training centre for agents and for briefing officials [http://www.nhm.ac.uk/darwincentre/live/presentations/181103PaulClark.html]
*Station XVc - 2-3 Trevor Square, Knightsbridge, South Kensington - Camouflage Section, photographic and make-up section.
*Station XVII - Brickendonbury, Brickendon, Hertford - Explosive trials
*Station "unknown" - Spartan factory, North Circular Road, Wembley - Unknown

Training Schools

*STS 1 - Brock Hall, Flore, Northamptonshire
*STS 2 - Bellasis, Box Hill Road, Dorking, Surrey - training of ex German PoWs
*STS 3 - Stodham Park, Liss, Hampshire (later STS 47) - specialised in mines and the use of enemy weapons.Secret History of SOE: Special Operations Executive 1940-1945, William Mackenzie, St Ermin's Press 2000, ISBN 1903608112]
*STS 4 - Winterfold, Cranleigh, Surrey
*STS 5 - Wanborough Manor, Puttenham, Guildford, Surrey - holding school for Bonzos (ex German PoWs)
*STS 6 - West Court, Finchampstead, Wokingham, Berkshire
*STS 7 (formerly STS 4) - Winterfold, Cranleigh, Surrey - Students Assessment Board
*Station 14 Briggins, Roydon, Essex
*STS 17 - Brickendonbury Manor - sabotage [http://www.brickendonbury.co.uk/pages/aboutus.htm]
*Station 17 (originally XVII) Brickendonbury Manor, Brickendon, Hertford, Hertfordshire [http://www.compassion-in-business.co.uk/brickendon/brick.htm]
*STS 19 - Gardener's End, Ardeley, Stevenage, Hertfordshire - Bonzos for Operation PERIWIG
*Station 19 - Gardener's End, Ardeley, Stevenage, Hertfordshire
*STS 20a & 20b - Pollards Park House, Chalfont St Giles - Polish section
*Station 20 Pollards Park House, Chalfont St Giles - Polish section
*STS 21 - Arisaig House, Arisaig, Inverness-shire
*STS 22 - Rhubana Lodge, Morar, Inverness-shire
*STS 22a - Glasnacardoch Lodge, Mallaig, Inverness-shire - weapons store where weapons services and checked for accuracy.
*STS 23 - Meoble Lodge, beside Loch Morar, Inverness-shire
*STS 23b - Swordland, Tarbet Bay, beside Loch Morar, Inverness-shire
*STS 24a - Inverie House, Knoydart, near Mallaig, Inverness-shire
*STS 24b - Glaschoille, Knoydart, Mallaig, Inverness-shire
*STS 25a - Garramor, South Morar, Inverness-shire
*STS 25b - Camusdarach, South Morar, Inverness-shire
*STS 25c - Traigh House, South Morar, Inverness-shire
*STS 26 - Drumintoul Lodge, Aviemore, Inverness-shire and Glenmore Lodge, Inverness-shire - Norwegian Holding School / Main Headquarters of Linge Company
*STS31 to STS27b - Beaulieu, Hampshire - Finishing Schools
*STS 31 - The Rings, Beaulieu, Hampshire
*STS 31 - The House in the Woods, Beaulieu, Hampshire
*STS 36 - Boarmans, Beaulieu, Hampshire
*STS 37a - ??? - advanced photography
*STS 39 - (Hackett School), ??? - subversive propaganda
*STS 40 - [http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/emerson00/soe_tra_schs.html Howbury Hall] , near Waterend, Bedford - training in use of [http://www.duxfordradiosociety.org/restoration/restoredequip/tr3174/tr3174.html EUREKA] , REBECCA and S-Phone. Reception Committee School.
*STS 41 - [http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/emerson00/soe_tra_schs.html Gumley Hall] , Market Harborough
*STS 42 - [http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/emerson00/soe_tra_schs.html Roughwood Park] , Chalfont St Giles, Bucks
*STS 43 - Audley End House, Essex - Polish section
*STS 45 - Hatherop Castle, Fairford, Gloucestershire - Danish Holding School / Headquarters
*STS 46 - [http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/emerson00/soe_chichley_hall.html Chichely Hall] , Buckinghamshire - Czechoslovak Section
*STS 47 - ??? - advanced training on mines
*STS 49 -Forthampton House, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
*STS 51 - Dunham House, Altrincham, Cheshire - parachute training (near Ringway)
*STS 51b - Fulshaw Hall, Wilmslow, Cheshire - parachute training (near Ringway) [http://www.wilmslow.org.uk/wilmslow/wfulshaw.html]
*STS 52 - Thame Park, Oxfordshire - security training for wireless operators
*Station 53a - [http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/emerson00/soe_tra_schs.html Grendon Hall] in Grendon Underwood, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire - signals centre. Now a prison.
*Station 53b - [http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/emerson00/soe_tra_schs.html Poundon House] , Buckinghamshire, near Bicester - radio listening and transmission station. [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/717155]
*Station 53c - Poundon, Buckinghamshire, near Bicester. - Training American forces in SOE communications techniques. 53b and 53c were physically separate establishments but close to each other. Some of the 53b staff was transferred when 53c opened.
*STS 54a - Fawley Court, Henley on Thames - Signals Section (Wireless Operators)
*STS 54b - Belhaven School, Dunbar - Signals Section (Wireless Operators)
*STS 61 - Audley End, Saffron Walden - packing parachute containers
*STS 61 - Gaynes' Hall, St Neots (after April 1942) [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/66/a4055366.shtml]
*Station 62 - Anderson Manor, Winterborne Kingston, Dorset [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/608301]
*STS 63 Erlestoke Park (near Devizes) Another stately home? Used for Operation Bardsea [http://www.polandinexile.com/exile5.htm] , but also used earlier for the 'Senior Officers' School'
*STS 101 - Singapore
*STS 102 (also ME 102) - Mount Carmel (with parachute training at RAF Ramat David, Haifa)
*STS 103 - Camp X - Whitby, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - used to train American agents [http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/emerson00/soe_tra_schs.html]

Other sites

Other stations, whose code numbers are unknown, included:
*Gaynes Hall near St Neots in Cambridgeshire - Norwegian section.
* [http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/emerson00/soe_man_devices.html
*Henley-on-Thames - quartermaster
* [http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/emerson00/soe_norseby_house.html Norseby House] , 83 Baker Street, London - headquarters of European country sections
*No 6 Special Workshop School - [http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/inverlair.htm Inverlair] , Inverness-shire. According to the [http://lmid1.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.details_gis?inumlink=280714 RCAHMS] and Major Fyffe but Fyffe writes that within three weeks this was changed to simply "Inverlair". Also known colloquially as "The Cooler" and possibly ISRB Workshops.
* [http://www.tarrant-rushton.ndirect.co.uk/Special%20Operations%20Executive.htm Pictures of many of the sites in the South East of England]
*Messrs Carpet Trades Ltd of Kidderminster packed about 18,500 containers after November 1943.
*Erlestoke Park (near Devizes) Another stately home used for the 'Senior Officers School' whatever that might have been and later for Operation Bardsea as STS 63 an operation for dropping Polish emigres into occupied France. (see above)

Further reading

* " Inside "Camp" X " by Lynn Philip Hodgson, with a foreword by Secret Agent 'Andy Durovecz (2003) - ISBN 0-9687062-0-7
*cite book
last =
first =
authorlink = M. R. D. Foot
coauthors =
title = SOE the scientific secrets
publisher = Sutton Publishing Ltd
date = 2003
location =
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-7509-3165-5

References