OSS – Alan Malcher

OSS during WW2 (Timeline- the story of the formation of the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the CIA. From recruitment and training to WW2 operations)

Secrets of War, Espionage 04 Weapons of The Shadow War (SOE and OSS)

I decided to share this link after being asked what weapons SOE used. Although this film only covers a few of the weapons available to SOE agents it’s a good introduction.

The legendary William Fairbarin (aka the Shanghai basher and dangerous Dan) makes an appearance during his time in Canada but has been wrongly quoted.

During the re-enactment of training in Scotland we see two former members of SOE’s French Section, Harry Ree and Jacqueline Nearne.

Although there are a number of inaccuracies this film is still worth watching.

Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS & Modern American Espionage

Author Douglas Waller discusses “Wild” Bill Donovan and his role in the OSS and modern American espionage, the subject of his new book.

Speaker Biography: Douglas Waller, a former veteran correspondent for Newsweek and Time, has reported on the CIA for six years. Waller also covered the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House and Congress. Before reporting for Newsweek and Time, he served eight years as a legislative assistant on the staffs of Rep. Edward Markey and Sen. William Proxmire. He is the author of the best-sellers “The Commandos: The Inside Story of America’s Secret Soldiers,” which chronicled U.S. Special Operations Forces, with a lineage tracing back to the OSS, and “Big Red: The Three-Month Voyage of a Trident Nuclear Submarine.” He is also the author of “A Question of Loyalty: Gen. Billy Mitchell and the Court-Martial that Gripped the Nation,” the critically acclaimed biography of the World War I general.

From the Library of Congress 2011.

The History of the OSS

How the OSS came about and its development into and the Clandestine Service known as the Central Intelligence Agency as told by those who served.

Virginia Hall the American agent who worked for Britain’s SOE (Special Operations Executive) in wartime France before later serving with the American OSS and CIA

A short but interesting account of Virginia Hall’s service during the Second World War.