SOE RF Section

Following the creation of SOE's F Section in the summer of 1940, it became eventually apparent that French anti-German sentiment was not as simple as once thought and effectively fell into two camps - those who supported de Gaulle and those who did not. To keep these camps apart, RF Section (pro-Gaullists) was mooted in late 1940 and came into being in early 1941. By May 1941 it was established at 1, Dorset Square and initially headed by Capt Eric Piquet-Wicks. The complexities of the interplay between F and RF Sections and between RF and BCRA is covered in MRD Foot's book "The SOE in France". The operations listed below are effectively, jointly mounted by SOE-RF and BCRA with the former supplying, or access to, the materiél (flights, wireless-sets, weapons, training etc.) with the BCRA supplying personnel. The men and women who made their ways to London to join BCRA came from a wide background both in terms of profession and location. To assume they were French and lately of the remnants of the French military is an over-simplification - civilians as well as foreign-born pro-French sympathisers make up a notable proportion of the agents prepared to fight for France.