SOE's Daphne Park - aka the "Queen of Spies" - on film in a new exhibition
SPY OXFORDSHIRE is the brand new exhibition at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock, running from Wednesday 28th October until...
The Secret WW2 Learning Network is an educational charity registered in the UK - a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) No. 1156796
- Jul 27, 2020
Announcing new Trustee Professor Juliette Pattinson
The Secret WW2 Learning Network is delighted to announce that we have an eminent new Trustee in the person of Professor Juliette...
- Jun 1, 2020
Update on SOE veteran James Edgar's 100th birthday
James Edgar Ld’H CdeG lives in Western Australia. He served with SOE in Europe and the Far East, and is now one of its last surviving...
- May 8, 2020
Commemoration of SOE's Contribution to VE Day
Within the bounds of the government's lockdown and social distancing guidelines, the Royal British Legion was able to arrange...
- May 6, 2020
In Memory at Brookwood Military Cemetery
The Memorial to the Missing 1939-45 in Brookwood Military Cemetery near Woking, Surrey hosts the greatest number of SOE names of any...
- Mar 31, 2020
A Message For Our Friends And Supporters
The challenges of Covid-19 being what they are, several forthcoming events on the 2020 programme of The Secret WW2 Learning Network and...
- Feb 3, 2020
75th Anniversary Service In Memory Of SOE Agents
Sunday 2nd February 2020 saw the monthly Brookwood Last Post ceremony at Brookwood Military Cemetery, near Woking in Surrey. This...
- Feb 2, 2020
Witold Pilecki: "The Volunteer" who infiltrated Auschwitz
On Wednesday 29th January 2020 at an event organised by Ognisko Polskie, author Jack Fairweather gave a PowerPoint presentation on his...
- Dec 6, 2019
Libre Résistance conference: more Secret WW2 revelations in Paris
Several members of The Secret WW2 Learning Network are also members of the Paris-based association Libre Résistance (LR) which keeps...
- Nov 16, 2019
Legion d'Honneur for MI6 veteran
The past week started with Remembrance Sunday and was immediately followed by November 11th itself, with the Charity's Trustees, Friends...
- Nov 11, 2019
Free French remembered at Brookwood Military Cemetery
On Monday 11th November a group of nine Friends and supporters of the Charity were at Brookwood Military Cemetery for a special...
- Nov 10, 2019
SOE tribute at Hampshire war memorial
During Remembrance Sunday events today, and at another tomorrow, tributes at SOE and other ceremonies are being paid by Charity members. ...
- Nov 9, 2019
Remembering SOE's Jewish parachutists and former Palestine training school sites
Trustee Paul McCue recently visited Israel as a guest of the Israel Defence Forces, following two projects that Paul has helped with...
- Oct 19, 2019
Group visit to the Military Intelligence Museum and the Shuttleworth 'Special Duties' Lysand
The Charity has just hosted a two-centre group outing to the Military Intelligence Museum at Chicksands and The Shuttleworth Collection...
- Sep 30, 2019
Women Behind Enemy Lines: literary lunch with Sonia Purnell & Sarah Helm
The Charity was proud to be associated with the Richmond Literary Lunch, the Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club on Tuesday, 24th September 2019....
- Sep 29, 2019
Légion d'Honneur awarded to SOE's James Edgar
James Edgar is one of the last surviving members of SOE who served in France. He was Mentioned in Dispatches, awarded the Croix de Guerre...
- Sep 21, 2019
D-Day roles of agents trained in Surrey
Over two days during September, members of the Charity's team gave specially arranged presentations at Wanborough Great Barn near...
- Sep 15, 2019
The WW2 Polish contribution behind the lines in France
On September 12th at an evening presentation at the Ognisko Polskie, The Polish Hearth Club in London, two authors gave talks about three...
- Sep 6, 2019
Commemorative ceremony for Jewish SOE personnel
On September 1st several Trustees and Friends of the Charity attended a commemorative ceremony for Jewish SOE personnel at Brookwood...
- Jul 20, 2019
Annual celebration of the life of Violette Szabo GC
This year's annual celebration of the life of the SOE agent Violette Szabo took place on July 14th at the Violette Szabo GC Museum in...
- Jul 9, 2019
Brighton's Secret Agents: Final plaque unveiled
"What a fantastic day we had on Saturday! Thank you so much for all your endeavours in bringing this about. I know it has been quite a...
- Jun 23, 2019
Cranleigh's 'School for Secret Agents' - no longer so secret
A commendable audience of 82 turned out for our day of talks and film at Cranleigh Arts Centre. Trustee Paul McCue started the morning...
- Jun 5, 2019
OSS Station Victor: Revealed and remembered
Two days before the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the charity took part in a hugely-successful event at Hurley in Berkshire when a...
- Jun 3, 2019
Last Post for Captain Arthur Steele of French Section, SOE
Our Charity's supporter Carole Yeats travelled from Southampton to Brookwood Military Cemetery on Sunday 2nd June for the monthly Last...
- May 10, 2019
Valençay 2019: A royal event plus a grand tour
Several Friends and supporters regularly attend the annual F Section Memorial event at Valençay in central France which commemorates the...
- Apr 7, 2019
From Atlantic Wall to 'Skyfall'
A group of 17 gathered recently at Hankley Common Training Area (Elstead, Surrey) a military establishment, but open to the public, and...
- Apr 2, 2019
Charity well represented at launch of Virginia Hall biography
The prestigious book launch of Sonia Purnell's biography of Virginia Hall - A Woman Of No Importance - was held at Hatchards bookshop in...
- Mar 31, 2019
Spy Spotting & The Shetland Bus at Le Gothique
The Secret WW2 Learning Network recently held one its now regular events in the Royal Patriotic Building - formerly the Royal Victoria...
- Mar 24, 2019
Rare opportunity to visit Tangmere Cottage
Three Friends of the Charity (Ian Titman, Ray Windmill and Paul McCue) were recently fortunate to be granted a viewing of the inside of...
- Mar 23, 2019
Bob Frost, founder member of the RAF Escaping Society, has died
Tribute to the Comète line evader Bob Frost by Geoff Cowling - former Chairman of the Escape Lines Memorial Society (ELMS) RAF veteran...
- Mar 22, 2019
In memory of David Weston
Martyn Cox - Co-founder of The Secret WW2 Learning Network - remembers a friend and dedicated supporter I can guarantee that almost...
- Mar 19, 2019
The Princess Royal to attend this May's SOE memorial ceremony at Valençay
Our Paris-based partner organisation, Libre Résistance, has confirmed the details of this year's ceremony at the SOE French Section...
- Jan 29, 2019
Inaugural Annual Lunch of The Friends of The Secret WW2 Learning Network
Friday 25th January 2019 was an historic day for the charity in that it saw the Inaugural Annual Lunch of the Friends of The Secret WW2...
- Dec 23, 2018
Remembering Paddy Ashdown
We were greatly saddened to learn of the death at 77 of Lord Ashdown of Norton-Sub-Hamdon; and, on a day of tributes from so many big...
- Nov 27, 2018
Official unveiling in Brighton of our blue plaque in memory of Michael Trotobas
Today was the 75th anniversary of the death of the SOE French Section agent Michael Trotobas, who was killed on November 27th 1943 in...
- Nov 18, 2018
Gold for one of our Trustees
In his final duty before retiring this month as Armed Forces Advisor to the London Borough of Wandsworth, our Trustee Paul McCue was...
- Nov 5, 2018
SOE's Lt Roland Dowlen remembered
In October we were pleased to be approached by one of our partner organisations, the Brookwood Last Post Association, to contribute to...
- Oct 8, 2018
Tributes paid to SOE and French resistance at Fort Mont-Valérien
Several members and supporters of Secret WW2 were recently invited to be among some 200 attendees (from France, Britain and the USA) at a...
- Sep 18, 2018
Secret WW2 puts SOE on the map for the UK’s Heritage Weekend
Following the success earlier this year of our partnership with the Great Barn organisation at Wanborough Manor (formerly SOE's...
- Sep 3, 2018
SOE agents of many nationalities remembered during 'a splendid day of events' at Brookwood M
Brookwood Military Ceremonyis the location of the most officially-recorded SOE casualties. It’s not easy to spot them all, but the...
- Aug 13, 2018
Charity 'mentioned in dispatches'
In Peter Dixon's new book on the wartime relationship between the Intelligence Corps and SOE, he's very kindly written the following...
- Aug 7, 2018
Last Man Standing: London book launch for biography of Sqn Ldr Geoff Rothwell
Monday evening, 6th August 2018, saw the Charity's involvement in the launch of 'Last Man Standing', the biography of Geoffrey Rothwell...
- Aug 6, 2018
A long and hot Secret WW2 weekend
Phew what a scorcher! ... in fact it had all kicked-off last Thursday afternoon, with the Charity's co-founder Martyn Bell giving a talk...
- Aug 5, 2018
Commemorating the safe return from occupied France of the FANY SOE agent Jacqueline Nearne MBE, Croi
Dunsfold Park in Surrey, aka Dunsfold Aerodrome and better known in recent years as the home of the BBC Top Gear series of TV programmes,...
- Jul 31, 2018
Meet some not so secret “SOE agents” at Tangmere this weekend
The Charity’s links with the participants of the BBC Two ‘immersive history’ series Secret Agent Selection: WW2 have led to four of the...
- Jul 22, 2018
Special Duties Lysander ‘lands’ at Tangmere
It’s just over twelve months since the Charity’s co-founder Martyn Cox first contacted the aviation broker handling the sale of the...
- Jul 15, 2018
Diana Rowden remembered
Gabrielle McDonald-Rothwell - the New Zealand based author of the Diana Rowden biography “Her Finest Hour” - has been in Europe for a...
- Jul 10, 2018
RAF Centenary Flypast
While the charity's Chair Louisa Russell attended the VIP reception at Horse Guards (Louisa has a distinguished RAF family history)...
- Jun 13, 2018
Secret WW2 contributes to the Jean Moulin exhibit at London's French Lycée
Paul McCue, the historian and a Trustee of The Secret WW2 Learning Network, was pleased and proud to have recently assisted Brigitte...
- Jun 10, 2018
The 'real' Secret Agent Selection: WW2 - at Wanborough Manor
At Wanborough Great Barn near Guildford on Saturday 9th June, Secret WW2 staged Part 1 of a two-part programme of illustrated...