< span class="details_title" style="font-family: 'Noto Sans', sans-serif; fon t-weight: bold; font-size: 1.1em; display: inline-block; width: 130px;">Des cription:

Mission France
the true history of the women of SOE

This is the true story of 39 women, chos en to work in the secretive, clandestine and mainly male domain of the Spec ial Operations Executive, French section (SOE F).

< p style="font-family: 'Noto Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 18pt;">Ranging from housewives to grandmothers , shop assistants to countesses, they were taught silent killing, instincti ve shooting and sabotage as well as survival tactics for life in Nazi Occup ied France.

Ka te will describe their recruitment, training and operations including how t hey were infiltrated behind enemy lines to work as couriers and wireless op erators, operating undercover and beyond the protection of the Geneva Conve ntion.

Life ex pectancy was short, sometimes a mere six weeks but these women worked and f ought hard – often living in solitude with no friends or company; travellin g hundreds of kilometres carrying vital yet incriminating information; rece iving arms or supplies and risking everything to make contact with SOE HQ o ver the radio waves.

Dr Kate Vigurs is a professional freelance historian whose PhD at the University of Leeds was entitled ‘The women agents of the Special Operati ons Executive F section – wartime realities and post war representations’.

Pos t-doctoral research included a study of UK Holocaust memorials during which she consulted the Prime Ministers commission at a conference at The Nation al Holocaust centre and museum, and lectured at the Weiner library. K ate was also an associate research assistant at the University of Leeds whi lst working as academic advisor for the Yorkshire region on the BBC/AHRC pr oject World War One at Home.

Kate regularly appears on TV and radio, from the National news coveri ng topics such as the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, SOE, women in WWI, the la nd girls and Angela Merkel to local stories including VE day, D-day, the ba ttle of Britain and many more.

Kate's bo ok, 'Mission France. The True History of the Women of SOE' will be available to buy.

THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD AT
ST PETER'S CHURCH