SOE syllabus : lessons in ungentlemanly warfare, World War II

In the early years of World War II prospective agents for the Special Operations Executive were trained in the black arts of camouflage, sabotage and subterfuge.

This training took place in a variety of requisitioned country houses all over Britain, from Arisaig in the highlands of Scotland to Beaulieu Manor in the New Forest.

This book reproduces the extensive training manuals used to prepare agents for their highly dangerous missions behind enemy lines.

The courses covered a variety of clandestine skills including disguise, surveillance, burglary, interrogation, close combat and assassination.

In short, everything needed to wreak havoc in occupied Europe.

Denis Rigden's expert introduction sets the file in its historical context and includes stories of how these lessons were carried out on actual wartime missions.