Marching through history – the secret agents of WW II

Deborah’s previous contribution to this blog tour of ours dipped into the 15th – 16th century. Today, she guides us through history far closer to us, namely the brave women who acted as secret agents during WW II. Some months ago, I read Deborah’s book, Operation Tulip, which is set in The Netherlands around 1944-45. A very wow read, IMO – and also very disquieting! But you’re not here to hear me gushing, are you? So, instead let us let Deborah take over and tell us about SOE Female agents and their training! 

During WW2, a select group of 20^th Century women joined a clandestine operation that would forever change the way women’s roles in wartime were perceived. These were the female agents of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret British organization tasked with sabotaging the enemy from within occupied territories. But these women weren’t just handed their mission and sent off; they went through a rigorous process that transformed ordinary women into elite agents in the field.

Before training could even begin, the SOE had to identify the right candidates. The women were recruited from all walks of life: students, secretaries, rich socialites, and housewives. Some were fluent in French or other European languages, some expert crossword-puzzle solvers, or with mathematical skills, but all were drawn to the SOE by a strong sense of duty and the desire to do more than just working in factories.

Women were chosen because they could blend into the environments of occupied Europe without drawing attention to themselves.

Training began with basic assessments to determine if recruits had what it took. This included fitness tests, map reading, and lessons in silent stalking. Many women recalled being surprised at how physically demanding it all was. They ran for miles through forests, crawled through mud, and scaled obstacles that tested not just their bodies but their willpower.

This stage also tested the women’s ability to stay calm under pressure. Instructors would give them fake interrogations or ambushes, to see how they reacted. Those who panicked or gave away information didn’t make it to the next phase.

After the preliminaries, successful recruits were sent to more specialized training facilities, like Arisaig (above) a cold and forbidding manor house in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. These camps focused on military skills, and the curriculum was intense. The Scottish weather – mostly cold, wet, and unpredictable – added an extra layer of difficulty to the training. Agents became accustomed to working in uncomfortable conditions, from trudging through muddy bogs to enduring freezing nights outside during survival exercises.

• Weapons Training: Many of these women had never held a gun before, let alone fired one. At SOE schools, they became proficient in pistols, rifles, and submachine guns. They also learned how to clean and assemble firearms—sometimes blindfolded.
• Explosives and Sabotage: Handling explosives was an essential skill. Recruits learned how to rig bridges, railways, and enemy equipment, and safe handling. They also mastered the art of improvisation, using everyday objects to create destructive devices. Bombs were hidden in cowpats, in drains and in everyday objects such as milk churns.
• Hand-to-Hand Combat: The women were taught how to incapacitate an enemy quickly and efficiently, including bare-hand killing. Using techniques from judo and other martial arts, they practiced throws, locks, and strikes that could take down even the burliest of foes.

SOE agents weren’t just couriers, they were spies, which meant they needed to excel in deception and subterfuge. This part of training was all about gathering intelligence without raising suspicion.

• Codebreaking and Morse Code: Agents learned how to send and receive messages using Morse code. They practiced encrypting and decrypting messages, often under time pressure.
• Disguise and Identity: Being able to assume a new identity was critical. Recruits practiced everything from altering their accents to creating fake backstories. They studied the customs of the regions they’d be deployed to, so they could pass as locals.
• Dead Drops and Shadowing: Agents trained in techniques for passing information—like using dead drops or concealing messages in everyday objects. They also learned how to follow targets without being noticed and how to spot if they themselves were being tailed.

Women had to learn how to keep secrets, even when interrogated. Some training involved mock interrogations, where instructors acted as enemy agents using threats and psychological manipulation. The goal was to prepare them for the harsh realities of being captured, ensuring they could withstand the pressure without breaking. After signing The Official Secrets Act many kept their secret for years after the war, never letting friends or family know what role they had played in wartime.

Not everyone who started training made it to the end. Those who did were among the toughest, most resourceful individuals imaginable. Graduation was both a relief and a prelude to danger, as it meant the women were now ready to be deployed into enemy territory.

Those who succeeded went into the training as ordinary citizens and emerged as some of the most skilled, courageous, and resourceful fighters in the war effort. Before leaving for occupied territories, agents received tailored briefing sessions about their specific missions. They were given false papers, money, and the tools they’d need to survive. Then, they were flown into occupied Europe by RAF planes or dropped by parachute.

The women of the SOE went on to achieve extraordinary things. Women such as Violette Szabó, who undertook daring missions in France before being captured and executed by the Nazis. Or Nancy Wake, nicknamed “The White Mouse” by the Gestapo for her ability to evade capture. Their courage, ingenuity, and determination were unmatched, and many of them paid the ultimate price for their bravery.

You can read about a female SOE agent in my ‘Secret Agent Trilogy’ which includes the latest – Operation Tulip. Below is an excerpt:

The noise of the van starting up and then a door opening. Nancy’s Resistance friends had seen the signal.

Obermayer glanced up at the old gas-powered fish van parked a little further down the road. His lips tightened and his gaze snapped to meet hers. His eyes were grey and knowing.

‘Excuse me,’ he said swiftly to Elmo, and abruptly, he began to walk away, powering down the street.

He’d smelled a rat, and there was nothing she could do. Should she follow? Already, she was conscious of her men moving on the street, closing in. They had to catch him where they could get him to the van, which was kerb-crawling close behind him. Elmo, the double-crossing swine, had melted away into the bank.

A glimpse of her friend Josef. He had the chloroform bottle in his pocket. He swung out to follow his quarry who was heading briskly for the Appololaan Hotel, a Nazi stronghold, close to where five canals meet.

But Obermayer didn’t get far before Josef leapt at him.

’Gestapo!’ Obermayer shouted, trying to summon help as he swung his fists at the men wrestling to pin him down and disarm him.  He was still trying to get to his gun, but Wim was trying to crush his hands together.

Josef brought out the bottle of chloroform and the rag and unstoppered it, just as her friend Wim swung his fist to hit the big man. Obermayer reeled, cannoned into Josef and the chloroform bottle shot out of Josef’s hand.

A sharp inhalation as the glass shattered. No. Don’t let him get away.

The pavement glinted with shards of glass and running liquid, as Obermayer lurched out of their grasp.

Nancy ran towards them, uncertain what they could do now, but knowing the plan had failed.  Obermayer drew a pistol from his coat and aimed it at Wim.

But before he could fire, two cracks. Eva, who had been in the getaway van, had panicked, drawn out a revolver and fired two shots out of the window.

Obermayer hit the ground like a collapsed building, his head smacking on to the pavement. One bullet had gone through his head, the other his neck.

Shit. The sound of the revolver instantly brought the Greens running. Like lice, they emerged from the side-streets and buildings, shouting ‘Stop!’ ‘Stay where you are!’

The Greens were the Ordnungspolizei, the Order Police in green uniform who worked for Nazi Germany and were responsible for carrying out Nazi orders. They were tasked with the arrest, execution or deportation of what they called ’Enemies of the Reich.’

Already Nancy’s friends were scattering, leaving Obermayer’s body as a heap on the pavement. Wim jumped into the van, as Josef set off running and Eva reversed as fast as she could, foot hard on the gas pedal. Nancy was already on the move as she saw Josef dodge between the military trucks that had appeared from nowhere, and hare off alongside the canal. A patrol, alerted by the disturbance, was ready for him and cut off the route. He was surrounded by Wehrmacht helmets within seconds.

In the distance she saw Koos, one of their lookouts, being led away to a truck. She must get out of there. But slow. Act calm. Nothing to do with me.

She increased her pace and stepped straight into the chest of one of the Greens.

‘Name?’

‘Hendrika van Hof.’ Her sixth false name.

‘Did you see what happened there?’

‘No,’ Nancy said. ‘I just saw trouble. I was going to work, and now I must go another way.’

The man, a grizzled-looking man in his forties, looked her up and down. ‘Where d’you work?’

Her cover story was solid now. ‘The Prisengracht hospital.’

‘But that’s the other side of the city. What are you doing here on Nieuwmarkt?’

‘I needed to buy some press-studs from the market,’ she said, smiling pleasantly though light-headed with fear.

‘Well, Nurse Van Hof, you want to have dinner with me?’

She blinked. With him? He was old. The thought was repulsive. The question had come out of the blue and she didn’t know how to answer.

‘I will have to take you in for questioning,’ he said. ‘Or, you could answer my questions over dinner.’

He had a self-satisfied smugness about him that made her want to punch him, but she knew she had no choice but to agree. All women had no choice but to agree with the police in this war. And besides it would look more suspicious if she turned down a free dinner. Not now Northern Holland was cut off from their food supply lines. ‘That would be very nice,’ she said.

‘Tomorrow night at seven o’clock. Hotel de Gersterkorrel, near Dam Square. Okay?’

‘Thank you.’

‘And I’ll need your papers.’

In case I run away. She’d understood. Damn. She’d have to hand them over. She opened her bag for the second time that day and took out the papers. They were forged of course. Would he notice? Sweat gathered under the neck of her coat.

He took them and glanced at them again. ‘Aah, Hendrika.’ He rolled her name round his tongue. ‘I will see you tomorrow.’

‘Call me Rika,’ she said.

The man puffed himself up, pleased. Ugh. Every power-crazed Dutch creep had allied himself with the Nazis. ‘And I am Dirk. Dirk Van Meveren. If anyone asks, tell them I have your papers. They will be returned to you tomorrow.  I look forward to our dinner.’

Operation Tulip

Holland, 1944: Undercover British agent Nancy Callaghan has been given her toughest case yet. A key member of the Dutch resistance has been captured, and Nancy must play the role of a wealthy Nazi to win over a notorious SS officer, Detlef Keller, and gain crucial information.

England: Coding expert Tom Lockwood is devastated that the Allies have failed to push back the Nazis, leaving Northern Holland completely cut off from the rest of Europe, and him from his beloved Nancy. Desperate to rescue the love of his life, Tom devises Operation Tulip, a plan to bring Nancy home.

But as Nancy infiltrates the Dutch SS, she finds herself catching the eye of an even more senior member of the Party. Is Nancy in too deep, or can Tom reach her before she gets caught?

Inspired by the true events of occupied Holland during WW2, don’t miss this utterly gripping story of love, bravery and sacrifice.

Buy it here

Deborah Swift is a USA TODAY bestselling author of twenty books who is passionate about the past. Deborah used to be a costume designer for the BBC, before becoming a writer. Now she lives in an old English school house in a village full of 17th Century houses, near the glorious Lake District. After taking a Masters Degree in Creative Writing, she enjoys mentoring aspiring novelists and has an award-winning historical fiction blog at her website www.deborahswift.com.

Deborah loves to write about how extraordinary events in history have transformed the lives of ordinary people, and how the events of the past can live on in her books and still resonate today.

Recent books include The Poison Keeper, about the Renaissance poisoner Giulia Tofana, which was a winner of the Wishing Shelf Book of the Decade Award, and a Coffee Pot Book Club Gold Medal. Her most recent books are The Silk Code and The Shadow Network both set in the Second World War.

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Check out the previous Marching Through History post HERE!