Alan Malcher SOE historian

Leo Marks MBE: Head of SOE European Country Sections Codes and Cyphers.

Leo Marks (24 September 1920- 15 January 2021) was born to a devout Jewish family in London. His father was joint owner of Marks and Co and was an antiquarian bookseller in Charring Cross Road, London. Marks joined the army in January 1942 and was sent to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker where he was regarded a misfit. However, SOE saw him has as one of a few unique people who could see patterns and codes that most people would miss. A modern description being ‘he could see so far out of the box most people even with a powerful telescope would miss it’.

As head of SOE’s European Country Sections codes and cyphers he was based at Mitchel House Baker Street, London with a staff of over 400 and was responsible for proving wireless trained agents operating in countries under occupation with cyphers which included various identity and security checks when sending signals to London.

He also provided every agent with a poem code to transpose text into coded messages and the most famous of his poem is ‘The life that I have’ used by Violette Szabo GC who refused to reveal it to the Gestapo after her capture.

Like many films and books about SOE ‘Carve Her Name With Pride’ was promoted as the true story of Violette Szabo but was heavily dramatized and had many historical inaccuracies including the claim her poem code was written by her husband who had recently died, this was among many books and films heavily criticised by former SOE agents and staff officers and these inaccuracies continue to be duplicated by authors and film makers.

Jack Sinclair: saboteur SOE French Section

22-year-old Jack Sinclair after completing SOE selection and training.

Jack Sinclair was born in France to an English father and French mother and they lived in Rouen until Jack was six. The family then moved to Marseille and eventually settled in Bordeaux until France was occupied in 1940.

After escaping to England Jack became a trainee draughtsman before enlisting into the Intelligence Corps and was recruited by SOE in October 1943.

His training assessment states Jack Sinclair did not display the leadership skills required to organise a clandestine circuit but was an excellent saboteur and capable of organising a small group of saboteurs working for the MONK circuit in southern France.

After arriving at SOE Massingham in Algeria he parachuted into France on the night of 6/7 March 1944 to join the MONK circuit and was later discovered Sinclair had been captured during a German wireless deception that MRD Foot described as “a horrible staff muddle with an OSS radio game”. The Germans had captured an OSS (American Office of Strategic Services) wireless and codes and because SOE and OSS ran independent operations it is not known how the Germans used their codes to deceive SOE especially when there should have been no communications between the two organisations and OSS should not have been aware of SOE operations. Instead of being dropped to members of SOE Jack Sinclair was dropped to an OSS group controlled by the Germans and arrested as soon as he landed.

A post-war investigation discovered that after his capture Sinclair was sent to a prison in Marseille but after this there is no trace of him. It is known that after being denounced by a French collaborator several members of MONK were arrested; others went into hiding, the circuit was destroyed and after the war the collaborator was tracked down and executed for treason.

After France was liberated the French War Crimes Liaison Group was asked to investigate what happened to Jack Sinclair and on 19 March 1946 SOE received a report stating “Jack Sinclair was at Baumettes Prison as late as April 1944… I am quite unable to give any further information on what became of him, from the day that the cell door closed behind him… It is presumed Sinclair never left Baumette alive. At the time of his death Jack Sinclair was 22, his name is listed on the Brookwood memorial in the UK and on the F Section Memorial Valéncay in France and like many SOE agents is recorded as having no known grave.

Alan Malcher

Octave Simon: SOE circuit organiser French Section.

Octave Simon had been a notable sculptor before the war and was involved in resistance after France was occupied. In 1942 he began working as a sub-agent with SOE after being recruited by Philippe de Vomécourt the leader of VENTRILQUIST circuit. After De Vomécourt was arrested Simon was contacted by another agent and asked to form a circuit in the Sarthe region.

Simon received several arms drops through a circuit called SATIRIST and after Francis Suttill, the leader of PROSPER circuit was arrested in June 1942 all sub-circuits of PROSPER including SATIRIST were infiltrated and within weeks the entire network was blown. Simon escaped to Angers after almost being captured by the Gestapo on four occasions and was eventually picked up by an aircraft from 161 Squadron, RAF Special Duty Squadron on the night of 19/20 August and taken to London.

After completing agent training Simon returned to France on the night of 7/8 March 1943 with a wireless operator named Marcel Defence to restart SATIRIST circuit. They were parachuted to a reception committee (helpers on the ground) from BUTLER circuit but SOE HQ in London was unaware the circuit had been destroyed and was in German hands, consequently, Simon and Defence were dropped to waiting German soldiers.

Marcel Rousset, the wireless operator for BUTLER, was forced to use his wireless to contact London and allegedly London overlooked his ‘Bluff’ code indicating he was in German hands and sending under duress. The Germans continued to use his wireless for nine months and received several arms drops and captured a number of agents who were dropped to German reception committees. It is recorded that Octave Simon and Marcel Defence died at Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp, Marcel Rousett survived the war and died on 13 February 1983.

Alan Malcher

David Finlayson French Section SOE Wireless Operator

David Finlayson

David Finlayson was born to English parents living in France where he was educated until the age of thirteen and after his family returned to England, he studied engineering at Wolverhampton Technical College.

Finlayson entered the SOE training schools on 25 July 1943 and after successfully completing the three compulsory courses his final assessment said he would be suitable as a member of a coup-de- main party (member of a clandestine circuit) but was only 19 years old and considered too young to be placed in charge of a circuit but was ideal as a wireless operator and after volunteering for wireless training attended the Wireless and Security School at Thame Park, Oxfordshire.

David Finlayson, Maurice Lapage (aka Colin) and an agent named as Lesout arrived in France on the night of 2/3 March 1944 to organise a circuit called LIONTAMER but after parachuting into France nothing was heard from them. London received several messages sent from Finlayson’s wireless, but his personal code was not used, and no security checks were sent. London suspected a German operator was attempting to ‘play back’ his wireless but the channel remained open in case Finlayson, whilst working under pressure, had forgot to use the codes. The channel was eventually closed after London received word that MUSICIAN circuit whose members were tasked with receiving the agents had been destroyed and was under German control. Consequently, the three agents were dropped to German soldiers.

Until late January 1946 there was no information about the fate of the three agents and is now thought David Finlayson was executed at Gross-Rosen camp in Poland.

Alan Malcher