The Memorial to the Missing 1939-45 in Brookwood Military Cemetery near Woking, Surrey hosts the greatest number of SOE names of any Commonwealth War Graves Commission site. Largely of F Section, the SOE names also include agents who operated in Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Italy and Palestine (now Israel).
The SWW2LN would naturally have wanted to mark SOE's contribution to the end of the European war on its 75th anniversary, but 6th May was doubly important this year as the annual 6th May ceremony at the F Section Memorial at Valençay, France (attended by several SWW2LN members who are also members of the organising group, Libre Résistance) was cancelled due to CV-19. A wreath was placed at Valençay at the usual time of 11 a.m. this morning, 6th May, and to match this The SWW2LN arranged for a wreath to be placed at Brookwood at 10 a.m., the equivalent UK time.
The wreath, on behalf of both The SWW2LN and Libre Résistance, was placed by Eddie Jones who lives just 200 metres from the Memorial. Eddie (a former Special Forces soldier) observed two minutes' silence and also paid tribute at the Free French plot in the cemetery which holds the graves of two BCRA agents killed in the crash of a 161 (SD) Squadron Lysander returning from occupied France and the graves of two trainee agents of F Section, killed in London during the Blitz when the property in which they were staying was hit by a bomb.
Eddie and his partner, Dagmar, are long-term supporters of The SWW2LN from their base at The Trench Experience, just outside the military cemetery at Brookwood. The SWW2LN is deeply grateful to them both for their efforts on this important day for SOE commemoration.
