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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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About this listen

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 Military Politics & Government Espionage War

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All stars
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Ordinary women in extraordinary times. These stories should be taught to children across the world. A book that is a monument to sacrifice, fortitude and accomplishment. Brilliantly written.

Ordinary woman in extraordinary times

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I was recommended to read this and am so glad I did. For anyone interested in the SOE: a worthy reminder of true bravery and heroism.

An excellent read.

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Absolutely fascinating stories well told. A must read. Should be on gcse or a-level history reading lists.

Incredible

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Harrowing but so worth listening and appreciating, top work by author considering previous public knowledge and presentation of other angles. Great work by reader.

Incredible story well told

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I am full of admiration for the brave women who volunteered with SOE during the Second World War. Too many of them paid a dreadful price of torture, starvation and murder.

The book is packed with derring do and bravery, but I found it a little hard to connect the narrative and keep track of who had done what, started where, been dropped where and finished where.

A little more careful crafting would have produced a better account, but, nevertheless, this kept me gripped to the bitter (and for many it was a bitter) end.

An account of unbelievable bravery

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So many SOE accounts focus on romanticised versions or frankly incorrect versions, particularly when female against are concerned. This one doesn’t. Frank, candid and often harrowing this account somewhat addresses the balance and in many respects prepares the ground for an all encompassing account of the force regardless of sex. Kate Vigurs as pulled together known histories, new information and informed consideration, with a strong conclusion. As such, this is the best account of a part of the SWW I know very much about. One day someone will be able to bring together the overall effectiveness of all the non standard ops and this will play a considerable part. Well-written, well-read and well-received by this listener.

Balance Redressed

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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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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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Just finished this and it’s a great listen I couldn’t put it down highly recommended

Mission France

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I heard Kate being interviewed about her book on a " We have ways of making you talk" Podcast, and decided then to have a listen to her book. Did so and bought it. Its utterly riveting from start to finish and a real testament to the bravery and resilience of the women of SOE, I would warn however that some of the content is extremely harrowing and shows the utter depravity of the Third Reich and its treatment of human beings, and also the resilience of the human spirit to such atrocities.They were brave women...and we owe them a huge debt .
The narration by Esther is excellent and easy to listen to.
Thoroughly recommended read !

Utterly riveting!

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