They are women and men out of the ordinary, capable of physical exploits, twisted blows, intelligence and courage. Recruited from British high society and the underworld, but also from the crowd of European refugees who landed in English ports in 1940, these very secret agents attempted, as Winston Churchill wished, in 1941, and against the advice of many of British officials at the time, to “set Europe on fire” in order to defeat Nazi Germany.

This fascinating documentary, by Cécile Coolen and Olivier Wieviorka, looks in detail at the creation of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in July 1940. Under the direction of General Colin Gubbins (1896-1976), a follower of the guerrilla warfare, its mission is as follows: in each occupied European country, clandestine networks aided by the SOE will be responsible for harassing the enemy.

At the end of the summer of 1940, the first agents were trained, among other things, in the practice of explosives, unarmed combat, parachute jumping… In the spring of 1941, a few volunteers took off for missions, under the smirking looks from members of the Royal Air Force, who consider them thugs.

Targeted actions

The first missions fail. Like that agent who was supposed to be dropped in Belgium and landed in the middle of a prison camp in Germany! Eighteen months after its creation, the SOE is a failure. Gubbins then changed tactics: the unlikely general conflagration gave way to targeted actions. In a few months, 320 handpicked agents will work wonders in Norway, France, Belgium, Denmark, Greece or Yugoslavia.

However, most governments in exile in London oppose this strategy, fearing reprisals on the populations. Charles de Gaulle demands to be the only one to send agents on mission on French soil. Churchill does not listen to him. In the fall of 1942, around fifty SOE agents were operating in France. Like Lise de Baissac (1905-2004), from the old French aristocracy, whose delicate mission is to accelerate the growth of clandestine networks in the south-west zone. A female agent of the sulphurous SOE? “They are more reliable than men!” Gubbins says.

Through the actions as perilous as they are successful signed by the Belgian André Wendelen (1915-1976), the Dane Flemming Muus (1907-1982) or the duo from Baissac (Lise but also her brother, Claude) portraits of men and remarkable women. Commander-in-Chief of the Allied troops, the American Dwight D. Eisenhower will pay a remarkable tribute to this service like no other: “I consider that the work of the SOE throughout Europe has played a major role in our final and total victory . »