Colin Gubbins
Colin Gubbins (1896-1976) commanded Special Operations Executive (SOE), a British guerrilla and direct action organization, during the Second World War.
Beginnings of WWII
Just before the start of WWII, in August 1939, he was sent, as a major, with a British assistance and observer mission to Poland, as chief of staff of the British Military Mission, with the secret assignment of assisting the Poles and Czechs with the organization of anti-Nazi guerrilla forces. A week after the German invasion, he escaped to Romania, and then, using false documents, returned home. He led special operations units to the Norwegian campaign, which ended before his raiders, which would have moved on fishing trawlers, could enter the action.
Auxiliary Units
He was then ordered to organized stay-behind guerilla units in Britain, the Auxiliary Units (WWII British). [1]
Special Operations Executive
Reporting to the Minister of Economic Warfare, initially Hugh Dalton and then Lord Selborne, he commanded SOE from its birth to its demobilization.[2]
References
- ↑ Stephen Budiansky (2008), Churchill's secret army: Britain's last resort against a Nazi invasion was a guerrilla force trained to carry out suicidal missions of terror and sabotage, The Free Library
- ↑ New Document Releases: Special Operations Executive Records Release, United Kingdom National Archives, 8 February 2002