SOE : the scientific secrets / Fredric Boyce and Douglas Everett ; foreword by M.R.D. Foot.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boyce, Fredric.

Contributor:

Everett, D. H. (Douglas Hugh), 1916-2002.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Great Britain. Special Operations Executive--History.

Great Britain.

Great Britain. Special Operations Executive.

World War, 1939-1945--Secret service--Equipment and supplies.

World War, 1939-1945.

Secret service.

Equipment and supplies.

History.

Physical Description:

x, 310 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Stroud : Sutton, 2003.

Summary:

Fully Illustrated with archive photographs, many of which are previously unpublished, this is the full story of how British scientists and engineers invented weapons and equipment for secret agents of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. SOE's history and the exploits of some of its agents in occupied countries have been the subject of many books over the past fifty years. As previously secret material has been slowly released into the public domain a clearer picture of SOE's clandestine activities has emerged. So far, however, there has been no detailed account of the development of equipment and techniques upon which the success of its subversive activities relied. Perhaps the most striking feature of SOE's behind-the-scenes research and development establishment at The Frythe near Welwyn, Hertfordshire, was the broad scope of activities in which its staff became involved. These ranged from high explosive technology to chemical and biochemical devices; from the techniques of air supply to incendiarism; from camouflage to underwater warfare; and from radio communications to weaponry. A coherent account of the role of technical support in the evolution of overall SOE policies and their relation to the grand strategies of the Allies, the book describes in detail the research leading to development, production and distribution of a wide range of stores for the use of agents. The authors trace the influence of the immediately pre-war research groups whose absorption into SOE gave impetus to its inventiveness. The result is a unique and well-documented account of how Britain's wartime government exploited scientific and technical skills in support of the heroic efforts of SOE agents world-wide.

Contents:

2 What was the Special Operations Executive? 4

3 SOE Research and Development Establishments 13

4 Organisation of Research and Development 23

5 Physico-Chemical Section

Sabotage Devices and Materials 45

6 Physico-Chemical and Physiological Sections 67

7 Camouflage Section 86

8 Engineering Section

Weapons 96

9 Engineering Section

Seaborne Craft 112

10 Operational Research and Trials 154

11 Operational Research

The Air Supply Research Section 164

12 The Wireless Section 201

13 Organisation of Supply and Production 223

14 Supply, Finance and Manpower Problems 231

15 Special Operations involving R&D Section 238

16 Technical Liaison 265

17 Overall Assessment 274

Appendix A Research and Development Establishments 284

Appendix B Inventors of Devices produced by SOE Research Section 285

Appendix D Summary of the Work of the Engineering Section 289

Appendix E Examples of Camouflaged Devices 292

Appendix F Optimisation of Equipment 294.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0750931655

OCLC:

51781596