Details the work of the Special Operations Executive in the five countries of Mountbatten's South East Asia Command-- India, Burma, Ceylon, Malaya and Sumatra, later expanded to include the Dutch East Indies and French Indochina-- and how the actions of the command could have made Force 136 a more decisive player in the liberation of the South East Asia.

A brief history of secret British and American World War II organizations, their training, tools, successes, and their legacy. Winston Churchill famously instructed the head of the Special Operations Executive to “Set Europe ablaze!” Agents of both the British Special Operations Executive and the American Office of Strategic Services underwent rigorous training before making their way, undetected, into occupied Europe to do just that. Working alone or in small cells, often cooperating with local resistance groups, agents undertook missions behind enemy lines involving sabotage, subversion, organizing resistance groups and intelligence-gathering. SOE’s first notable success was the destruction of a power station in France, stopping work at a vital U-boat base. Later operations included the assassination of Himmler’s deputy Reinhard Heyrich and ending the Nazi atomic bomb program by destroying the heavy water plant at Vemork, Norway. OSS operatives established anti-Nazi resistance groups across Europe, and managed to smuggle operatives into Nazi Germany, including running one of the war’s most important spies, German diplomat Fritz Kolbe. All missions were incredibly dangerous and many agents were captured, tortured, and ultimately killed—the life expectancy of an SOE wireless operator in occupied France was just six weeks. In this short history, historian James Stejskal examines why these agencies were established, the training regime and ingenious tools developed to enable agents to undertake their missions, their operational successes, and their legacy.

In the mountains and jungles of occupied Burma during World War II, British special forces launched a series of secret operations, assisted by parts of the Burmese population. The men of the SOE, trained in sabotage and guerrilla warfare, worked in the jungle, deep behind enemy lines, to frustrate the puppet Burmese government of Ba Maw and continue the fight against Hirohito's Japan in a theatre starved of resources. Here, Richard Duckett uses newly declassified documents from the National Archives to reveal for the first time the extent of British special forces' involvement - from the 1941 operations until beyond Burma's independence from the British Empire in 1948. Duckett argues convincingly that `Operation Character' and `Operation Billet' - large SOE missions launched in support of General Slim's XIV Army offensive to liberate Burma - rank among the most militarily significant of the SOE's secret missions. Featuring a wealth of photographs and accompanying material never before published, including direct testimony recorded by veterans of the campaign and maps from the SOE files, The SOE in Burma tells a compelling story of courage and struggle in during World War II

Memoirs of SOE agents have always been rare - so many were either killed in action or executed - and today they are almost unheard of. But Sydney Hudson's story, which he has waited nearly sixty years to tell, is just about as dramatic and thrilling as any to have ever appeared. After volunteering for guerilla operations should the Germans occupy Britain, he transferred to SOE. He spent most of the Second World War in France, remarkably surviving 15 months captivity and interrogation before making a daring and thrilling escape through the Pyrenees into Spain. Shortly after he was back in France, again by parachute, to organize resistance operations until the arrival of the US 3rd Army. More secret missions followed behind enemy lines with a female agent. Thereafter he volunteered for further SOE work in the Far East where he served in India and Thailand. He was twice decorated with the Distinguished Service Order for his efforts and also awarded the Croix de Guerre and it is easy for the reader of this book to see why. Undercover Operator is a fascinating mix of true drama, rich excitement and refreshing good-humor. It is no exaggeration to say that it makes a significant contribution to the history of SOE.

During World War II, training in the black arts of covert operation was vital preparation for the 'ungentlemanly warfare' waged by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) against Hitler's Germany and Tojo's Japan. Reproduced here is the most comprehensive training syllabus used at SOE's Special Training Schools (STSs) showing how agents learnt to wreak maximum destruction in occupied Europe and beyond. The training took place in country houses and other secluded locations ranging from the Highlands of Scotland to Singapore and Canada. An array of unconventional skills are covered - from burglary, close combat and silent killing through to propaganda, surveillance and disguise - giving insight into the workings of one of World War II's most intriguing organizations. Denis Rigden's introduction sets the documents in its historical context and includes stories of how these lessons were put into practice on actual wartime missions.