Churchill’s Angels: How Britain’s Women Secret Agents Changed the Course of the Second World War

Description

Over 70 female agents were sent out by Britain s Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. These women as well as others from clandestine Allied organizations were flown out and parachuted or landed into occupied Europe on vital and highly dangerous missions: their job was to work with resistance movements both before and after D Day.Bernard O Connor relates the experiences of these agents by drawing on a range of sources, including many of the women s accounts of their wartime service. There are stories of rigorous training, thrilling undercover operations, evading capture by the Gestapo in Nazi-occupied France, tragic betrayals and extraordinary courage.REVIEWS ‘The Bravery of these women is amazing. Their loyalty, determination and inner strength shines through these stories…This is a factual, informative, challenging book. Many unknown women have been brought to light, and we have been allowed insight into their varied characters. They are truly honoured”Pennent’, Journal of the Forces Pension Society, Nov 2013Writing in a dramatic narrative style to interest general readers as well as scholars, author O’Connor, an expert on WWII espionage, draws on first-hand accounts and other archival sources to tell the stories of female British special agents who worked as radio operators, couriers, and resistance organizers in Nazi-occupied Europe during WWII, between May 1941 and September 1944. Some of the primary sources used include personnel files in the National Archives, contemporary and modern newspaper articles, autobiographies, personal memoirs, and interviews. A list of all known female agents and their dates and places of deployment is included. The book contains b&w historical photos from archives, museums, and private collectionsProtoView”