The Special Operations Executive: A Global Perspective

Join our panel of experts as they compare and contrast the work of the Special Operations Executive across different theatres of the Second World War.

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret organisation formed during the Second World War. Its purpose was to support local resistance movements, while also conducting sabotage, espionage, and reconnaissance against the Axis powers.

This unique panel discussion will bring together four historians, each of whose SOE expertise lies in a different theatre of war. Together, they will compare and contrast the experiences of SOE members serving in Burma, France, Norway and Crete to understand how this organisation operated under different circumstances.

About the panel

The panel will be led by Rick Stroud, producer, director and author. He has written seven books, including ‘Lonely Courage’, which discusses the SOE women dropped into France during Second World War.  

Dr Tony Insall is a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London. He has worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and his postings overseas have included Beijing, Kuala Lumpur and Oslo. He has also been an Associate Editor of the FCO Historians. He is the author of ‘Secret Alliances: Special Operations and Intelligence in Norway, 1940-45’.

Dr Kate Vigurs is a professional freelance historian, academic advisor and researcher. Her post-doctoral research was used for the BBC's 'World War One at Home' series. Kate makes regular appearances on TV and radio. She is also the author of ‘Mission France: The True History of the Women of SOE’. 

Dr Richard Duckett is a historian and author of two books on the SOE in Burma: ‘The Special Operations Executive in Burma’ and ‘Special Operations Executive: Psychological Warfare, Burma 1942-1945: Diary of Captain Alfred Trutwein, MBE’. He is Head of Politics and Assistant Head of Sixth Form at Leighton Park School.