France 1944, a lone aircraft deposits an individual by parachute into the cold darkness of Nazi occupied Europe. Highly trained in the art of sabotage, disguise and subterfuge, they are a crack shot with a pistol and trained to kill with their bare hands. The figure lands rather ungraciously, removes both their parachute and overalls where a brunette woman emerges in a camel-hair overcoat, her three-inch heels wrapped to stop her breaking her ankles from the parachute landing. This remarkable woman is a secret agent for Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE), whose dangerous mission is to ‘set Europe ablaze’. The SOE deployed 39 women to France during the Second World War, their courageous actions and often tragic stories have since been immortalised in film, biographies and novels, causing a uniquely feminised history of the SOE. Ash Percival-Borley will explore how the women agents of the SOE have been portrayed, discussing gendered representations and the publics continued fascination for Britain’s wartime clandestine activities.
Up Next in Season 1
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Bloody Mary and Bomber Harris: Legaci...
Mary I is often seen in public memory as a cruel tyrant leading religious reform while Sir Arthur Harris is remembered as a cold calculated advocate of mass slaughter through aerial bombing. The truth, as always, is more complex and the legacies of both historical figures have been forged for a v...
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How to Break an Empire: The Independe...
By the time the Spain’s Southern American Empire fell in 1825 it had survived uprisings, economic crises and weathered many geopolitical storms from the end of the Spanish Hapsburgs to the upheaval of the American War of Independence. As late as 1800, despite its many problems, it seemed largely ...
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The Battle for Britain: The People Vs...
Chris Walklett will examine events between ’84 and ’94, during which time the government seemingly pitted itself against the British people, particularly the youth. It will cover events including: Orgreave, the Greenham Women, the free festivals, acid house & the so-called Summer of Love and ...
