The following is an incomplete list of training centres, research and development sites, administrative sites and other establishments used by the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.
This target was probably erected during World War II for use by SOE agents training at nearby Glasnacardoch House.
Establishments concerned with experimental work, storage and production were given Roman numerals (mostly in Hertfordshire). Active stations and training schools had Arabic numbers. These included paramilitary schools around Arisaig in Scotland, "finishing" schools around Beaulieu in Hampshire and operational schools in various counties including Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire.
Active stationsedit
These were SOE's radio stations, established when SOE's signals establishments were separated from that of SIS / GCCS at Bletchley Park (originally "Station X"). This formally took place on 1 June 1942.
Station IX - The Frythe estate near Welwyn Garden City, which began as a wireless research unit (Special Signals), then became a weapons development & production centre, then a research and development station. Now a factory belonging to GlaxoSmithKline
(Station X - the original name for Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire that continued to be used as a nickname for BP after it went on to greater things.)
Station XV - The Thatched Barn - road house on the Barnet bypass at Borehamwood, Hertfordshire - Camouflage Section. Much of the work of this station involved the final equipping of agents who came through the Thatched Barn prior to going to France. Typical of the work was reproducing French clothing which was copied from newspaper photographs, catalogues etc. and had to be perfect down to the last stitch and button. Maps were hand sewn into silk underwear, agents were made up with false humped backs etc. to enhance their disguise. Strict anonymity was observed. The station was also concerned with the development of booby traps including very original devices such as bicycle pumps which were swapped and exploded when used. Other work included packing hand grenades into tins labelled as fruit. The labels were reproduced by skilled artists to look like the real thing. Plaster of Paris was moulded and painted to resemble a log and inside was a Sten gun.
Station XVa - 56 Queen's Gate, Kensington, London SW7 - Camouflage Section - prototypes.
Station XVb - The Demonstration Room, Natural History Museum in London. Camouflage Section - A training centre for agents and for briefing officials.[7]
Station XVc - 2-3 Trevor Square, Knightsbridge, South Kensington - Camouflage Section, photographic and make-up section.
STS 2 - Bellasis, Box Hill Road, Dorking, Surrey - training of SOE staff and Danes, Italians. Became training and holding centre used by Czech Section and for F Section coup de main parties. Later used for initial assessment of German Army PoWs as BONZO agents.
STS 3 - Stodham Park, Liss, Hampshire - Norwegian depot school, staff training courses, British and OSS Jedburghs initial assessment centre, specialised course in mines and the use of enemy weapons, training of German and Russian (German Army) former POWs.[8]
STS 4 - Winterfold, Cranleigh, Surrey - Preliminary School for N (Dutch) and T (Belgian) Sections. From June 1943 became STS 7, Students' Assessment Board (SAB).
STS 5 - Wanborough Manor, Puttenham, Guildford, Surrey - initially the Preliminary School for F (French) Section, later (from June 1943) holding depot for Dutch agents and training of German Army PoWs as BONZOs.
Station 53c - Poundon, Buckinghamshire, near Bicester. - Training American forces in SOE communications techniques. Station 53b and Station 53c were physically separate establishments but close to each other. Some of the staff from Station 53b were transferred when Station 53c opened.
STS 63 Warnham Court, Warnham, Horsham, West Sussex. Used by EU/P (Polish Minorities) Section, including for (aborted) Operation Bardsea[19] and Operation Dunstable.
STS 102 (also ME 102 and STC 102) - Mount Carmel, above Haifa in Mandate Palestine, now Israel. With parachute training at RAF Ramat David, weapons training at Athlit (now Atlit), paramilitary training at Megiddo and (Palmach training) at Mishmar HaEmek.
STS 103 - Camp X - Whitby, Ontario, Canada - used to train Canadian and American agents[1]
Other sitesedit
Other stations, whose code numbers are unknown, included:
The Firs, Whitchurch - a large house in Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire, home of the semi-independent section MD1
Henley-on-Thames - quartermaster
Norgeby House,[21] 83 Baker Street, London - headquarters of European country sections
No 6 Special Workshop School, Inverlair, Inverness-shire. Known colloquially as "The Cooler" and possibly ISRB Workshops, agents who had either failed their training or been recalled from operations were sent here.[22][23]
Pictures of many of the sites in the southeast of England[24]
Messrs Carpet Trades Ltd of Kidderminster packed about 18,500 containers after November 1943.[8]
Erlestoke Park (near Devizes) - Another stately home used for the 'Senior Officers School'.
Station unknown - Spartan factory, North Circular Road, Wembley, London - Unknown
^Frederic Boyce and Douglas Everett (2003). SOE: The Scientific Secrets. "Appendix A: Research and Development Establishments". Sutton Publishing. ISBN0-7509-3165-5. (p.289)
^. Archived from the original on 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
Further readingedit
Lynn Philip Hodgson; Foreword by Secret Agent 'Andy Durovecz (2003). Inside Camp X. ISBN0-9687062-0-7.
Frederic Boyce and Douglas Everett; Foreword by M.R.D. Foot (2003). SOE: The Scientific Secrets. Sutton Publishing. ISBN0-7509-3165-5.
Nigel West (1992). Secret War: The Story of SOE, Britain's Wartime Sabotage Organisation. Hodder & Stoughton.
Arthur Christie (2004). Mission Scapula SOE in the Far East. Panda Press. ISBN0-9547010-0-3.
Rees, Neil (2005). The Secret History of the Czech Connection: The Czechoslovak Government in Exile in London and Buckinghamshire During the Second World War. Buckinghamshire: Neil Rees. ISBN0-9550883-0-5. OCLC 62196328.
Des Turner (2011). SOE's Secret Weapons Centre STATION 12. History Press. ISBN978-0-7524-5944-8.
Des Turner. BRIGGENS SOE's Forgery and Polish Agent Training Station.
External linksedit
Google map locations of sites
January 01, 1970
list, establishments, following, incomplete, list, training, centres, research, development, sites, administrative, sites, other, establishments, used, special, operations, executive, during, second, world, this, target, probably, erected, during, world, agent. The following is an incomplete list of training centres research and development sites administrative sites and other establishments used by the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War This target was probably erected during World War II for use by SOE agents training at nearby Glasnacardoch House Contents 1 Numbered stations 2 Active stations 3 Experimental stations 4 Training schools 5 Other sites 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksNumbered stations editEstablishments concerned with experimental work storage and production were given Roman numerals mostly in Hertfordshire Active stations and training schools had Arabic numbers These included paramilitary schools around Arisaig in Scotland finishing schools around Beaulieu in Hampshire and operational schools in various counties including Gloucestershire Leicestershire Oxfordshire Active stations editThese were SOE s radio stations established when SOE s signals establishments were separated from that of SIS GCCS at Bletchley Park originally Station X This formally took place on 1 June 1942 Station 53a Grendon Hall 1 in Grendon Underwood near Aylesbury Buckinghamshire signals centre Now Spring Hill Prison Station 53b Poundon House 1 Buckinghamshire near Bicester radio listening and transmission station 2 Experimental stations editExperimental stations were mainly based in and around Hertfordshire and included 3 Station VI Bride Hall near Ayot St Lawrence Hertfordshire the weapons acquisition section Station VIIa Bontex Knitting Mills Beresford Avenue Wembley Wireless Section Production Station VIIb Yeast Vite factory Whippendell Road Watford Wireless Section packing and dispatch Station VIIc Allensor s joinery factory King George s Avenue Watford Wireless Section Research Section VIId Kay s garage Bristol Street Birmingham Wireless Section Production Station VIII Engineering section Queen Mary Reservoir Staines Station IX The Frythe estate near Welwyn Garden City which began as a wireless research unit Special Signals then became a weapons development amp production centre then a research and development station Now a factory belonging to GlaxoSmithKline Station IXa P O Box 1 Ashford Middlesex Submersibles work at Staines reservoir Station IXc Fishguard Bay Hotel 4 Goodwick Pembrokeshire Submersibles work in Fishguard Bay Station X the original name for Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire that continued to be used as a nickname for BP after it went on to greater things Station XI Old Gorhambury House near St Albans Hertfordshire Accommodation Station XII Aston House 5 near Stevenage Hertfordshire Research and Development of sabotage explosives and weapons etc Station XIV Briggens House 6 near Roydon Essex contained the Forgery Section Station XV The Thatched Barn road house on the Barnet bypass at Borehamwood Hertfordshire Camouflage Section Much of the work of this station involved the final equipping of agents who came through the Thatched Barn prior to going to France Typical of the work was reproducing French clothing which was copied from newspaper photographs catalogues etc and had to be perfect down to the last stitch and button Maps were hand sewn into silk underwear agents were made up with false humped backs etc to enhance their disguise Strict anonymity was observed The station was also concerned with the development of booby traps including very original devices such as bicycle pumps which were swapped and exploded when used Other work included packing hand grenades into tins labelled as fruit The labels were reproduced by skilled artists to look like the real thing Plaster of Paris was moulded and painted to resemble a log and inside was a Sten gun Station XVa 56 Queen s Gate Kensington London SW7 Camouflage Section prototypes Station XVb The Demonstration Room Natural History Museum in London Camouflage Section A training centre for agents and for briefing officials 7 Station XVc 2 3 Trevor Square Knightsbridge South Kensington Camouflage Section photographic and make up section Station XVII Brickendonbury Brickendon Hertford Explosive trialsTraining schools editSTS 1 Brock Hall Flore Northamptonshire STS 2 Bellasis Box Hill Road Dorking Surrey training of SOE staff and Danes Italians Became training and holding centre used by Czech Section and for F Section coup de main parties Later used for initial assessment of German Army PoWs as BONZO agents STS 3 Stodham Park Liss Hampshire Norwegian depot school staff training courses British and OSS Jedburghs initial assessment centre specialised course in mines and the use of enemy weapons training of German and Russian German Army former POWs 8 STS 4 Winterfold Cranleigh Surrey Preliminary School for N Dutch and T Belgian Sections From June 1943 became STS 7 Students Assessment Board SAB STS 5 Wanborough Manor Puttenham Guildford Surrey initially the Preliminary School for F French Section later from June 1943 holding depot for Dutch agents and training of German Army PoWs as BONZOs STS 6 West Court Finchampstead Wokingham Berkshire STS 7 formerly STS 4 Winterfold Cranleigh Surrey Students Assessment Board for several nationalities sections STS 17 Brickendonbury Manor sabotage 9 Station 17 originally XVII Brickendonbury Manor Brickendon Hertford Hertfordshire 10 STS 19 Gardener s End Ardeley Stevenage Hertfordshire Bonzos for Operation Periwig Station 19 Gardener s End Ardeley Stevenage Hertfordshire STS 20a amp 20b Pollards Park House Chalfont St Giles Polish section STS 21 Arisaig House Arisaig Inverness shire commando style training 11 12 13 STS 22 Rhubana Lodge Morar Inverness shire STS 22a Glasnacardoch Lodge Mallaig Inverness shire weapons store where weapons were serviced and checked for accuracy STS 23 Meoble Lodge beside Loch Morar Inverness shire STS 23b Swordland Tarbet Bay beside Loch Morar Inverness shire STS 24a Inverie House Knoydart near Mallaig Inverness shire STS 24b Glaschoille Knoydart Mallaig Inverness shire STS 25a Garramor South Morar Inverness shire STS 25b Camusdarach South Morar Inverness shire STS 25c Traigh House South Morar Inverness shire STS 26 Drumintoul Lodge Aviemore Inverness shire and Glenmore Lodge Inverness shire Norwegian Holding School Main Headquarters of Linge Company 8 Station XXVIII 28 Tyting House St Martha s Hill Guildford Holding security establishment also housed Field Security Section STS 31 to STS 36 Beaulieu Hampshire Finishing Schools STS 31 The Rings Beaulieu Hampshire security training for agents STS 31 The House in the Woods Beaulieu Hampshire STS 32 Harford House Beaulieu Hampshire STS 32a Saltmarsh Beaulieu Hampshire STS 32b Blackbridge Beaulieu Hampshire STS 35 Vineyards Beaulieu Hampshire radio and telegraphy mostly french STS 36 Boarmans Beaulieu Hampshire female only STS 37a advanced photography STS 38 Briggens House near Roydon Essex Polish Section STS 39 Hackett School subversive propaganda STS 40 Howbury Hall 1 near Waterend Bedford training in use of EUREKA 14 REBECCA and S Phone Reception Committee School 8 STS 41 Gumley Hal 1 Market Harborough STS 42 Roughwood Park 1 Chalfont St Giles Bucks STS 43 Audley End House Essex Polish section STS 44 Water Eaton Manor near Oxford STS 45 Hatherop Castle Fairford Gloucestershire Danish Holding School Headquarters 8 STS 46 Chichely Hall 15 Buckinghamshire Czechoslovak Section STS 47 advanced training on mines STS 49 Forthampton House Tewkesbury Gloucestershire STS 50 Gorse Hill Witley near Godalming in Surrey STS 51 Dunham House Altrincham Cheshire parachute training near RAF Ringway STS 51b Fulshaw Hall Wilmslow Cheshire parachute training near RAF Ringway 16 STS 52 Thame Park Oxfordshire security training for wireless operators Station 53c Poundon Buckinghamshire near Bicester Training American forces in SOE communications techniques Station 53b and Station 53c were physically separate establishments but close to each other Some of the staff from Station 53b were transferred when Station 53c opened STS 54a Fawley Court Henley on Thames Signals Section Wireless Operators STS 54b Belhaven School Dunbar Signals Section Wireless Operators STS 61 Audley End Saffron Walden packing parachute containers STS 61 Gaynes Hall St Neots after April 1942 17 STS 62 later Station 62 Anderson Manor Anderson Dorset 18 STS 63 Warnham Court Warnham Horsham West Sussex Used by EU P Polish Minorities Section including for aborted Operation Bardsea 19 and Operation Dunstable STS 101 Tanjong Baili Singapore 20 STS 102 also ME 102 and STC 102 Mount Carmel above Haifa in Mandate Palestine now Israel With parachute training at RAF Ramat David weapons training at Athlit now Atlit paramilitary training at Megiddo and Palmach training at Mishmar HaEmek STS 103 Camp X Whitby Ontario Canada used to train Canadian and American agents 1 Other sites editOther stations whose code numbers are unknown included Gaynes Hall near St Neots in Cambridgeshire Norwegian section The Firs Whitchurch a large house in Whitchurch Buckinghamshire home of the semi independent section MD1 Henley on Thames quartermaster Norgeby House 21 83 Baker Street London headquarters of European country sections No 6 Special Workshop School Inverlair Inverness shire Known colloquially as The Cooler and possibly ISRB Workshops agents who had either failed their training or been recalled from operations were sent here 22 23 Pictures of many of the sites in the southeast of England 24 Messrs Carpet Trades Ltd of Kidderminster packed about 18 500 containers after November 1943 8 Erlestoke Park near Devizes Another stately home used for the Senior Officers School Station unknown Spartan factory North Circular Road Wembley London UnknownReferences edit a b c d e f S O E Training of the S O E Geograph Poundon House C Shaun Ferguson Frederic Boyce and Douglas Everett 2003 SOE The Scientific Secrets Appendix A Research and Development Establishments Sutton Publishing ISBN 0 7509 3165 5 p 289 Google Maps Aston House Stevenage a 4 December 2006 Archived from the original on 4 December 2006 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Briggens House permanent dead link The Museum at wartime Natural History Museum a b c d e William Mackenzie Secret History of SOE Special Operations Executive 1940 1945 St Ermin s Press 2000 ISBN 1 903608 11 2 Brickendonbury Estate A History of Brickendon Brickendon Village part 1 Archived from the original on 2008 08 08 Retrieved 2008 05 20 Stuart Allan Commando Country National Museums Scotland 2007 ISBN 978 1 905267 14 9 David M Harrison Special Operations Executive Para Military Training in Scotland during World War 2 Land Sea and Islands Centre Arisaig Arisaig Centre Conservatory Greenhouse Blog Archived from the original on 2017 08 14 Retrieved 2008 11 09 Duxford Radio Society Restored Equipment TR3174 Eureka Archived from the original on 2007 09 29 Retrieved 2006 08 08 SOE Chichley Hall Wilmslow Fulshaw BBC Error 404 Not Found Archived from the original on April 19 2013 Geograph Anderson Manor c Mike Searle Operation Bardsea 101 special training school Norseby House Inverlair Lodge The Unmutual Prisoner Locations Guide Inverlair Canmore Historic Environment Scotland Special Operations Executive Archived from the original on 2007 01 04 Retrieved 2007 01 07 Further reading editLynn Philip Hodgson Foreword by Secret Agent Andy Durovecz 2003 Inside Camp X ISBN 0 9687062 0 7 Frederic Boyce and Douglas Everett Foreword by M R D Foot 2003 SOE The Scientific Secrets Sutton Publishing ISBN 0 7509 3165 5 Nigel West 1992 Secret War The Story of SOE Britain s Wartime Sabotage Organisation Hodder amp Stoughton Arthur Christie 2004 Mission Scapula SOE in the Far East Panda Press ISBN 0 9547010 0 3 Rees Neil 2005 The Secret History of the Czech Connection The Czechoslovak Government in Exile in London and Buckinghamshire During the Second World War Buckinghamshire Neil Rees ISBN 0 9550883 0 5 OCLC 62196328 Des Turner 2011 SOE s Secret Weapons Centre STATION 12 History Press ISBN 978 0 7524 5944 8 Des Turner BRIGGENS SOE s Forgery and Polish Agent Training Station External links editGoogle map locations of sites Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title List of SOE establishments amp oldid 1195448653, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
