Sabotage and subversion: the SOE and OSS at war

Sabotage and subversion have always been a part of warfare.

But the global nature of WWII brought with it a new group of special operations agents.

From de-railing and even blowing up trains to undermining the German government through a campaign of propaganda and underground resistance networks; the SOE and its American counterpart, the OSS, operated far and wide across Europe and in the Far East in their mission to 'set Europe ablaze'.

Ian Dear examines their many secret arts of black-market currency manipulation, forgery, blackmail, smuggling and kidnapping.

He also details the training and equipping of saboteurs, describing the incredible weapons and special devices which were invented solely for their use.

He highlights a few of the more daring and outrageous missions that the SOE and OSS embarked on throughout the war.