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Harry Rée

Harry Alfred Rée, DSO, OBE (15 October 1914 – 17 May 1991) was a British educationist and wartime member of the Special Operations Executive. Of the more than 400 SOE agents who worked in France during World War II, M.R.D. Foot, the official historian of the SOE, named Rée as one of the half-dozen best male agents.[1]

Harry Alfred Rée
Born(1914-10-15)15 October 1914
Died17 May 1991(1991-05-17) (aged 76)
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1941–1945
RankCaptain
UnitSpecial Operations Executive
Intelligence Corps
Commands heldStockbroker
AwardsDistinguished Service Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Other workTeacher and Educationist

Harry Rée was born in England, the son of Dr. Alfred Rée, a chemist who was from a Danish Jewish family, and Lavinia Elisabeth Dimmick, the American-born great granddaughter of chemist and industrialist Eleuthère Irénée du Pont.[2][3] He was educated at Shrewsbury School, St John's College, Cambridge, and the Institute of Education, University of London. In 1937 he became a language master at Bradford Grammar School,[4] and later at Beckenham and Penge County School for Boys. In 1940 he married Hetty, daughter of Eardley Vine, of Beaconsfield.[5] They had three children, Janet, Brian and the philosopher Jonathan.

In the Second World War Rée was registered in 1940 as a conscientious objector conditional upon working in the National Fire Service,[6] but in 1941 re-registered for military service and was called up into the army. He later volunteered for the Special Operations Executive, receiving a captaincy in the Intelligence Corps and the codename "César". In April 1943 he was parachuted into France and joined the Acrobat Network around Montbéliard. Later he became active in the Stockbroker Network around Belfort.

Rée spoke against RAF bombing in France, arguing that it was turning French public opinion against the Allies. He suggested that SOE agents could organise effective sabotage of factories on the ground. He organised the destruction of the Peugeot factory at Sochaux by convincing the local director, who was already resisting, to co-operate with SOE. The local director's sabotage was more efficient, and he managed to share tactical information on the Wehrmacht projects they had had to become involved in (especially the V-1). On 5 November 1943 Rée organised a decoy attack on compressors and transformers at Sochaux to transfer the blame. Therefore, the RAF did not bomb the factory.

The Germans tried to capture Rée, who escaped a Feldgendarmerie group after being shot four times and, according to his own account, had to swim across a river and crawl through a forest. He managed to reach Switzerland and still keep some contact with his organisation. In May 1944 he was replaced by an American officer, E.F. Floege, and returned to Britain. He starred in the film Now it Can be Told (aka School for Danger), produced by the RAF Film Unit, which told the story of SOE's activities in France.

The Imperial War Museum has an on-line recording of Rée praising the role of the passive supporters who also risked their lives. [7]

In 1951, Rée became headmaster of Watford Grammar School for Boys.[4] He appeared occasionally on the BBC Television "Brains Trust" programme. In 1962 he became the first professor of education at the University of York.[8]

Rée wrote a biography of the educator and creator of Village Colleges, Henry Morris titled Educator Extraordinary: The Life and Achievements of Henry Morris (Longman, 1973), and produced a compilation of Morris' talks and articles titled The Henry Morris Collection (Cambridge University Press, 1984). He also wrote The Three Peaks of Yorkshire a walking guide.[9] He died in 1991.

Bibliography

  • Rée, Harry. Rée, Jonathan (ed.). A schoolmaster's war : Harry Rée, British agent in the French Resistance. Yale UP.

References

  1. ^ Foot, M.R.D. (1966), SOE in France, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, p. 311
  2. ^ "Hartvig Philip Rée og hans slægt", Josef Fischer, Copenhagen, 1912
  3. ^ . Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  4. ^ a b Aitken, G (9 September 2018). "The Fullerian 2017-18" (PDF). The Fullerian. 2017–18: 2 – via Watford Grammar School for Boys.
  5. ^ "Forthcoming marriages", The Times, 18 April 1940
  6. ^ Imperial War Museum, Sound Archives, 10858/2
  7. ^ "Quietly Resisting".
  8. ^ The University of York – 1960s 2 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Henry Morris – infed.org

Further reading

  • The Secret History of SOE, pages 582–583 & 600, William MacKenzie
  • They Came from the Sky, pages 1-69, E.H. Cookridge

External links

harry, rée, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, october, 2015, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Harry Ree news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Harry Alfred Ree DSO OBE 15 October 1914 17 May 1991 was a British educationist and wartime member of the Special Operations Executive Of the more than 400 SOE agents who worked in France during World War II M R D Foot the official historian of the SOE named Ree as one of the half dozen best male agents 1 Harry Alfred ReeBorn 1914 10 15 15 October 1914Died17 May 1991 1991 05 17 aged 76 Allegiance United KingdomService wbr branchBritish ArmyYears of service1941 1945RankCaptainUnitSpecial Operations ExecutiveIntelligence CorpsCommands heldStockbrokerAwardsDistinguished Service OrderOfficer of the Order of the British EmpireOther workTeacher and EducationistHarry Ree was born in England the son of Dr Alfred Ree a chemist who was from a Danish Jewish family and Lavinia Elisabeth Dimmick the American born great granddaughter of chemist and industrialist Eleuthere Irenee du Pont 2 3 He was educated at Shrewsbury School St John s College Cambridge and the Institute of Education University of London In 1937 he became a language master at Bradford Grammar School 4 and later at Beckenham and Penge County School for Boys In 1940 he married Hetty daughter of Eardley Vine of Beaconsfield 5 They had three children Janet Brian and the philosopher Jonathan In the Second World War Ree was registered in 1940 as a conscientious objector conditional upon working in the National Fire Service 6 but in 1941 re registered for military service and was called up into the army He later volunteered for the Special Operations Executive receiving a captaincy in the Intelligence Corps and the codename Cesar In April 1943 he was parachuted into France and joined the Acrobat Network around Montbeliard Later he became active in the Stockbroker Network around Belfort Ree spoke against RAF bombing in France arguing that it was turning French public opinion against the Allies He suggested that SOE agents could organise effective sabotage of factories on the ground He organised the destruction of the Peugeot factory at Sochaux by convincing the local director who was already resisting to co operate with SOE The local director s sabotage was more efficient and he managed to share tactical information on the Wehrmacht projects they had had to become involved in especially the V 1 On 5 November 1943 Ree organised a decoy attack on compressors and transformers at Sochaux to transfer the blame Therefore the RAF did not bomb the factory The Germans tried to capture Ree who escaped a Feldgendarmerie group after being shot four times and according to his own account had to swim across a river and crawl through a forest He managed to reach Switzerland and still keep some contact with his organisation In May 1944 he was replaced by an American officer E F Floege and returned to Britain He starred in the film Now it Can be Told aka School for Danger produced by the RAF Film Unit which told the story of SOE s activities in France The Imperial War Museum has an on line recording of Ree praising the role of the passive supporters who also risked their lives 7 In 1951 Ree became headmaster of Watford Grammar School for Boys 4 He appeared occasionally on the BBC Television Brains Trust programme In 1962 he became the first professor of education at the University of York 8 Ree wrote a biography of the educator and creator of Village Colleges Henry Morris titled Educator Extraordinary The Life and Achievements of Henry Morris Longman 1973 and produced a compilation of Morris talks and articles titled The Henry Morris Collection Cambridge University Press 1984 He also wrote The Three Peaks of Yorkshire a walking guide 9 He died in 1991 Contents 1 Bibliography 2 References 3 Further reading 4 External linksBibliography EditThis list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items July 2021 Ree Harry Ree Jonathan ed A schoolmaster s war Harry Ree British agent in the French Resistance Yale UP References Edit Foot M R D 1966 SOE in France London Her Majesty s Stationery Office p 311 Hartvig Philip Ree og hans slaegt Josef Fischer Copenhagen 1912 Mette Flojborg slaegtsforskning Alfred Ree 3846 Archived from the original on 26 April 2012 Retrieved 30 December 2011 a b Aitken G 9 September 2018 The Fullerian 2017 18 PDF The Fullerian 2017 18 2 via Watford Grammar School for Boys Forthcoming marriages The Times 18 April 1940 Imperial War Museum Sound Archives 10858 2 Quietly Resisting The University of York 1960s Archived 2 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Henry Morris infed orgFurther reading EditThe Secret History of SOE pages 582 583 amp 600 William MacKenzieThey Came from the Sky pages 1 69 E H CookridgeExternal links EditIndex of personal papers and recordings at the Institute of Education Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Harry Ree amp oldid 1142799725, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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