S.A.A.R.F.

S.A.A.R.F & the Role of M.E. 42, MAYFLOWER Agents & Operation VICARAGE

Introduction:

M.E 42 was formed at M.E.65 (Military Establishment) on 16 December 1944 at Milton Hall that oversaw the training of the ‘Jedburgh’ teams sent to France.  Formerly known as STS 45, Milton Hall in Bedfordshire was the ‘home’ to SOE, Free French Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations (BCRA) and OSS for training agents for deployment to France, Belgium and Holland using the nearby RAF Harrington and the ‘Carpetbaggers’.  The unit was formed to deploy special agents or Bonzos to inflitrate behind German lines to gather intelligence, commit sabotage and collect information on the state of POW camps.  They were also tasked with gathering information on SOE agents held in concentration camps.  Operation VICARAGE and the role of S.A.A.R.F in the closing days of the war is often overlooked and yet made a major contribution to the welfare of POWs, the repatriation of agents and the hunt for war criminals to be brought to justice.  There was also a need to clarify the fate of Polish Cichociemni who were listed as POWs in the hope they had survived the war.

Major Ernest H. Van Maurik (Paterson) was appointed C.O. in the rank of GSO2 pending the appointment of a GSO1 on 16^th December 1944. ‘Van’ as he was referred to, had served as a training instructor at STS 21 (Arisaig House) before future deployment to France (MARKSMAN circuit), SOE HQ in London (Baker Street) and then Bern in Switzerland in mid-1944.  His experience and linguistic skills were imperative to the future role of M.E 42’s deployment to Belgium and infiltration of agents, named Bonzo’s (former Wehrmacht soldiers) into Germany on similar lines as Project EAGLE (Hyperlink: Polish Intelligence/ Continental Action) and S.P.U 22 (Hyperlink: Home Army & SOE/ Special Planning Unit 22) which had operational links to Operation VICARAGE run by SAARF (Special Allied Airborne Reconnaissance Force).  M.E 42 developed out of SOE’s German Directorate (Section X) and would have a significant role in the collapse of the Reich, tracing war criminals and finding surviving SOE agents in concentration camps (Van Maurik, 2018).  During the occupation by the Allies, SOE would be instrumental in suppressing Nazi underground resistance and generally assist in restoring civilian order through vetting former Nazis.  SOE assisted Operation CROWCASS (TNA/WO 229/1), which brought war criminals to justice.

Forced foreign workers were classified as ‘voluntary recruits’ by the Nazis (Moos, 2020:159) and by late 1944 there were 7.6 million foreign workers and POWs in the Greater Reich, excluding concentration camp prisoners, and although employed mainly in agriculture, mining and industry that made up to between 80-90% of unskilled labourers.  These labourers were vital within the Reich’s economy despite it now the becoming the crumbling backbone of the Reich’s war economy.  Employment of the ‘sub-human’ labour went against Nazi ideology, however Himmler saw it as a necessity to prop-up their war-machine.  German women having relationships with foreign workers was punishable by public execution (Moos, 2020).  Foreign workers would also become a source of political and economic unrest for exploitation by the Soviets, through the Red Orchestra, the German Communist (KPD) and Socialist (SPD) parties.  They had identified potential opportunities to add to the unravelling of the Reich. 

Furthermore, revolts in foreign conscripted Wehrmacht units posed an additional threat behind the front lines (Moos, 2020).  A Polish group of Maquis (Valmy-Brully) was comprised of around 110 conscripts who deserted in the Côte-d’Or during the retreat from the invasion of Provence (Operation DRAGOON) in the second half of August 1944 and linked up with local FFI in the Autun region (Anon, 2015; Moos, 2020).  (Hyperlink: Polish Battalions page) This was not an isolated incident since Azeris based in Rodez in Aveyron also mutinied on 15^th August 1944 who also joined the local FFI.  Other revolts occurred in northern Italy and Yugoslavia in the closing stages of the war.

The Russian Liberation Army or Русская освободительная армия (Ostlegionen) made up of Russian volunteers and conscripts, had been formed by Andreï Andreievitch Vlassov, presented a more complex problem due to the battalions being made up largely of different ethnic groups from Soviet Russia (Szymanowicz, 2020; Moos, 2020).  Some Cossacks were used in the anti-partisan sweeps in southwest France when attached to Das Reich who were based in Montauban prior to D-Day.  The battlegroup had been seriously mauled on the Eastern Front and had participated is some of the most violent ethnic cleansing while posted there.  While a significant part of Das Reich was on furlough, new recruits from Latvia, Hungary, some Italian Marines alongside Cossacks went through intensive training prior to participating in anti-partisan manoeuvres.  These including sweeps through the dense Orleans forests and the countryside of the interior of Normandy (Hue and Southby-Tailyour, 2005; Mortimer, 2020).  These sweeps and anti-partisan actions were brutal with the massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane (10^th June 1944) and the execution of hostages at Tulle between 7^th to 8^th June 1944 (Vickers, 2000) being the most vicious and cowardly.  These atrocities made any of the surviving commanding officers high on the list for the CROWCASS investigators.  The forest at Orleans hid POWs (mainly in Fréteval) in Operation SHERWOOD and part of Operation MARATHON run by MI9 (Fry, 2020).  The Cossacks gave ‘no quarter’ to those caught up in anti-partisan sweeps since they had nothing to lose as it was becoming clearer that the war was being lost and their fete increasingly uncertain.

POWs had a glimmer of hope after the D-Day landings in June 1944 and with the Soviets pushing west towards Berlin, hopes were raised on their potential liberation.  The news spread quickly through POW camps from smuggled radios.  The POWs now feared the retreating Wehrmacht and SS Battalionsmay kill and clear camps ahead of the advancing Soviet Army (TNA/ HS7-20; Kesting, 1993; Nichol and Rennel, 2002).  The easternmost camps started the arduous forced marches west in the depths of winter where the malnourished and often disease-ridden POWs suffered extreme hardship with hundreds perishing at the hands of their guards (Nichol and Rennel, 2002; Nichol and Rennel, 2008; Fry, 2020).  Liberation or protection of POWs became a priority for the Allies after D-Day under Operation MARATHON.  The invasion of Germany enabled the Allies under Plan Endor (Nichol and Rennel, 2008; Fry, 2020) to repatriate POWs en mass through the RAF’s Operation EXODUS.

M.E 42 Operations (Counterintelligence):

By mid-May 1945 the preparatory plans and infiltration of agents from M.E 42 were gathering momentum.  The recruitment of Bonzos from POW and labour camps had been approved, and SOE would work independently of OSS in agreement with SHAEF (TNA/ HS7-147).   They would use resources of the British 21^st Army Group and some of its officers attached to Military Operations 1 (Special Projects) or M.O.1 (SP) once a suitable establishment had been identified where it needed to train up to 20 candidates at a time (TNA/ HS6-689).  Chateau les Cedres at Humbeek near Vilovoorde had been requisitioned before the B Detachment was moved to Belgium.

OSS and SOE were given a broad direction to hasten the surrender or disintegration of the German armed forces and to cripple their remaining war effort.

THE AGREED ROLE FOR M.E.42 WITH SHAEF:

1. Subversion would focus on the recruitment of dissident Germans through encouraging desertion or mutiny.  They would use labourers to take strike actions in strategic industries and services covering transport, telecommunications, fuel and power plants.  They were forbidden to arm agents within this area.
2. Sabotage was more controversial and would eventually take a secondary role that would target railway networks, telecommunications, factories producing armaments and priortise V weapons production and public utilities.

While the focus of M.E 42 was to recruit dissatisfied Germans for infiltration in sabotage or intelligence gathering during the collapse of the Reich, underground Nazi organisations were targeted too.  These potential agents, mostly recruited from captured Wehrmacht soldiers were screened at Bellasis, Headley Heath, Surrey before being sent to special training schools.  Russian captives who were in the Wehrmacht were sent to Stodham Park (STS 3) near Petersfield (O’Connor, 2022a).  By late September 1944, twelve Bonzos’ were ready for deployment and had been given aliases for their protection once in the field.  SOE had perfected parachute drops.  The Bonzos were dropped ‘blind’ and had no ground support, so many were not dropped at the correct location.  The type of mission dictated aircraft and airfields used: RAF Tempsford disguised as an abandoned airfield, RAF Stradishall and Newmarket Racecourse both in Suffolk were also used.  RAF drops into Germany were dependent upon the local area in relation to the location and density of known ground forces and ‘flak’ units.  Suitable cover stories for the agents due to the level of disruption and turmoil on the ground required careful research and accurate intelligence as the Reich collapsed.  Alternative deployment was planned through agents crossing the lines via S.P.U. 22 run by the Polish E/UP Section of SOE.  This unit was located close to the front line on the rivers Maas and Rhine that posed infiltration problems and needed local guides on the other side of the rivers to assist.

In parallel, Operation PERIWIG was a PsyWar (psychological Warfare) operation to convince the German counterintelligence of resistance groups planning to hasten the downfall of the Nazi regime.  This ‘sleight of hand’ was hoped it would encourage real resistance groups to emerge (Boyce, 2005). 

On 2^nd October 1944 the first twelve Bonzos’ were ready for deployment and made up of largely Austrians or Germans who had been members of the socialist or communist parties.  A few had been injured during parachute training at RAF Ringway.  Those unfit or unsuitable for further training and deployment were returned to POW camps.  If only interviewed and deemed unsuitable for training they would be detained and isolated at Tyting House, St. Martha near Guildford (Station 28), the Field Security Section for incarceration (O’Connor, 2022a). 

M.E. 42 Missions

Operational Name	Purpose	Team
FRILFORD. 26-27th November 1944   Location: Hintschingen to Oberlauchringen and dropped 40Km from LZ.	Derail trains on the Zollhaus and Weizen Line in the Wutach Valley, close to the Swiss border near Basel (now a heritage railway line) to impede retreating German forces into southern Germany via the Belfort Gap.  Mission partially successful.	Heinz Doring (German Edelweiss Kommunist Movement) and Alois Buchtik (Austrian).  Buchtik caught and transferred to the Gestapo and managed to escape despite being denounced by Doring who was also caught.
VIVACIOUS 27th-28th November 1944.	Sabotage the Bruno Hintze engineering works in Prenzlauer Allee, Berlin manufacturing V2 parts.  Mission failed.	Rudolph Becker (Robert (Butch) Baker-Byrne).  Escaped to Switzerland and redeployed in Operation Branston.
FLECKNEY 24th November 1944.   Dropped Arnstadt, south of Erfurt, Thuringia.	Organize resistance in Wrocław (Breslau), subversion and propaganda with sabotage.	Paul Penczok alias Paul Wrodarski (German with Polish origin and conscripted into Wehrmacht). Partial success.  Caught by Gestapo and imprisoned in Torgau, Saxony.
COLON 21st February 1945.   Dropped west of Hardtwald forest.	Sabotage the railway line between Bietgheim and Heilbronn then Bietgheim and Illingen.	Johann Hoch (Josef Harlander), Gerhard Taplick (Alfred Alhorn) and Willie Von der Heidt (Willi Herzberger).   The mission was a success although Taplick was caught in Munich on 4th April 1944 and deported to Wilhelmshaven where he died possibly in March 1945. Von der Heidt. Managed to escape to Switzerland.  The escape plan was for travel to Munich, then head for the Swiss border near Schaffhausen.
CARHAM 1,2,3 with the only drop was 22nd February 1945.  CARHAM 1 was cancelled due to poor weather and 3 was abandoned.	First and second missions targeted Nürnberg for propaganda and ‘passive’ sabotage.  Third mission targeted Magdeburg.  In the end mission 2 went to Magdeburg.	Erich Klau (Ernst Kaiser).  Successful and repatriated to Britain via S.P.U 22 in Belgium.
CLINT 22nd February 1945. Dropped between Egelfingen and Ebingen to the west of Hettingen in Baden-Württemberg.   (TNA/ HS6-667)	Sabotage railway line between Singen and Hattingen.  Confusion over placenames since Hattingen is not on a direct line and too far away.  Drop zone indicates it was Hettingen in Baden-Württemberg and is part of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn.   Singen is now part of the heritage railway line and not the original target.	Horst Weber (Heinrich Wedekind), Werner Porzig (Werner Schmidt) and Andreas Wiedemann (Max Muller).   Landed in a Volksstrum exercise with Weber and Porzig managing to escape eventually to Switzerland.   Wiedemann was caught and presumed executed.
COLBURN 28th February 1945.     To be dropped near Weissebbach and was Guntershof.	Sabotage railway lines between Aschaffenburg and Gemueden (Wellings and Raab) with second part of the mission to sabotage railway lines between Gelnhausen and Schluechtern (Kunzig alone).  On completion to organize resistance in the Frankfurt area.	Heinrich Wellings (Heinrich Huffelsberg, Peter Eidt, Alois Boscheinen), Valentin Raab (Albert Rabenstein) and August Kunzig (August König).   Mission not fully completed.  Separated on landing.  Wellings blew the tracks at Heigenbrucken as the target was. Heavily guarded.  He was caught but later released by advancing US Army and treated as a POW by US 7th Army before repatriation.   Raab injured on landing and was caught.  He escaped during an air raid on Neustadt to Munich and hid with other Wehrmacht deserters until overrun by Allies as Swiss border crossing impossible.   Kunzig blew the railway line but had limited success in organizing anti-Nazi resistance in the Frankfurt Am Main area.
CARSTAIRS 1st March 1945   Dropped near Hassfurt, east of Frankfurt.	Sabotage of industry (Ammoniak Wereke synthetic petrol plant) and railway lines between Blankenheim and Nordhausen around Halle area.	Peter Eidt (Werner Schlack; Pierre Dehe)   Journey to Halle abandoned. Sabotaged railway lines around Schweinfurt-Konigshofen 4 – 9th April 1945.  Met up with communist sympathiser Kramer and planned sabotage of fuel trucks.  Overrun by US 7th Army.  Kramer arrested and sentenced to death.  Gave a list of Nazi sympathisers to US counterintelligence.
CAREW 8th March 1945.   Flown to Ursel airfield, Belgium by RAF 161 Squadron Hudson.   Infiltrated via S.P.U. 22 between 9th and 13th March. Landed near Bruges.	SOE and OSS infiltration of anti-Nazis across the river Mosel to reconnoitre Koblenz and Bremen with tactical sabotage.	George Friedrich (Georg Hoffman), Peter Schloeder (Peter Wilberg), Karl Guss (Karl Gottschalk) and Alfred Von Bovert (Wolf Hingist, August Wolf).   Bovert and Friedrich infiltrated first under OSS direction.  Recce of Koblenz and reached Hagen-Grinden SE of Bremen on river Weser to report enemy movement and location of SS Units.  Exfiltration 21st April 1945.   On 13th March Schloeder and Guss infiltrated at Rubenach 6km west of Koblenz and by 23rd March at Boppard on the river Rhine south of Koblenz made a recce on east bank for Allies attack across Rhine and reported enemy strength by S-Phone to overhead plane.  Exfiltrated 25th March 1945.   Repatriated to Britain via S.P.U. 22 on 19th May 1945.
CRESSWELL 8th March 1945   To cross frontline at Ibbenbüren to east of Osnabrück on 28th March 1945.	Organise sabotage of railways, depots, fuel stores, U-Boat yards and Deutsche Werk, Finkenwarder by dockworkers and seamen in Hamburg-Bremen area.	Wilhelm Wiechern (William Lewis Wickern)   Overrun by British Anti-Tank unit and made second attempt 6th April 1945 to no avail.   Returned to Britain 19th May 1945.
COLEHILL 20th March 1945   Over-drop and landed at edge Steinhuder Meer near Klein Heidorn.	Sabotage and subversion in the Berlin area.  Main targets railway communications and stations/ yards.  Fuel dumps in the Spandau and Tempelhof area with munition factories around Tegal and Charlottenburg.	Willi Mattner (Willi Mertin)   Made his way to Minden and then Berlin.  Contacted dissidents in the police and other roles.  Overrun by Soviets and caught.  Taken to a camp at Lindenburg and then Birgholz and Everswalde with known Nazis.  Discharged through ill health in mid-July and returned to Berlin where he was held in an internment camp.  Released and brought to Salzuflen and assumed repatriated to Britain.

Source:  SOE group database, O’Connor (2020a, b, c)

By October 1944 the final push to defeat the Reich (known as Operation ECLIPSE) entered a war of attrition.  The British, Canadian and Polish armies were pushing north into Schleswig-Holstein and needed to clear the Schelde estuary pocket, particularly Walcheren Islands to free Antwerp for access by Allied shipping that was realized on 28^th November 1944.  The US Army was concentrating on capturing Aachen, then Düren and Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia.  The 9th US Army fought a series of battles on the east Belgian – German border centred on the Hürtgen Forest in one of the longest, bloody and entrenched battles of the war, lasting 88 days.

Further east, Patton’s Third Army was tasked in taking the fortress at Metz which held a prominent position in the region whose defences blocked access into the Saar.  Dever’s 6^th Army Group, Patch’s 7^th Army and the 1^st French Army were trying to capture Colmar and the fort at Belfort, were struggling against the stiff German defences, with weather and logistical issues hampering progress.  The intensity of the fighting along the US front required a commitment and resilience not seen before in the European theatre.  The risk in the frontline areas is exemplified by the ‘Lost Battalion’ of the 141^st 1^st Battalion which became surrounded and cut off on a ridge near St. Dié-des-Voges after being ordered to advance across the existing frontline.  Insertion of special forces and agents like the Bonzos was a high-risk operation against a backdrop of constantly changing events on the ground both militarily and waning civilian support for the war.

After the Ardennes offensive (Battle of the Bulge, Ardennes Offensive, Rundstedt-Offensive) which took place between mid-December 1944 to 25^th January 1945, special operations units like M.E 42 and S.P.U 22 were close to the frontline and forced to move making future penetrations into Germany more hazardous.  Although facilities of S.P.U 22 (Operation EUPHEMIA) were based in Chateau La Fontaine, near Roubaix had been earmarked for penetration operations, the risk posed by the Ardennes Offensive caused a shift in planning and infiltration of agents.  The penetration of some agents would switch to Sweden via Denmark and from Switzerland disguised as neutral citizens (Boyce, 2005).

While the Allies were planning penetration operations by land or air, the Germans through the remnants of the SHD (Sicherheits und Hilfsdienst) used paratroopers and 5^th Columnists to be dropped behind front lines (TNA/ KV2-2748/5; Nebel, 2004; SHD GR P/ 7/212).  Planes and aviation fuel was increasingly in short supply thus limiting the scope of the operation.  However, despite this, these infiltrations posed a real threat to the security in the rear as exemplified in the Ardennes Offensive (Operation GRIEF) where German troops disguised as GI’s caused havoc.  Agents and collaborators were dropped or landed in over twenty different locations ranging from the Netherlands (Breda), and France covering: the south (Montpellier and Lyon), Breton, central and northern France and the Moselle.  The landings were in a captured B-17 and a Dakota bearing Luftwaffe markings.

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Operation HANNIBAL was the German naval operation to evacuate German troops and trapped civilians in the ‘Courland Pocket’, East Prussia, West Prussia and Pomerania by sea.  The planning started late 1944 when it was clear the Soviet winter offensive or the 3^rd Belarusian Front would commence and potentially cut off over 1.2 million civilians and armed services (Beevor, 2002).  The operation (Rettungsaktion) started on 23^rd January 1945 and lasted until capitulation.  For the Poles in London and Warsaw, the winter offensive presented a new question: were the Soviets liberators or conquerors (Kochanski, 2012).   While described as Germany’s ‘Dunkirk’ the operation was of a completely different scale and later would be come a key factor in the settlement of Germany’s unconditional surrender.  While the Kriegsmarine had some success, the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff off Pillau (Baltijsk) near Kaliningrad by the Soviet submarine S-13 under the command of Capt. Alexander Marinesko, was a catastrophe (Niven, 2011; Hunt, 2017; Eggleston and Rogers, 2018) for the German withdrawl.

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The Allies planned to clear part of the Rhine Valley through Operation UNDERTONE (Saar-Palatinate) during March 1945 with intense fighting around Hagenau, and after 10 days additional bridgeheads were established between Mainz and Mannheim making way to Karlsruhe.  The US Third Army was tasked with protecting the left flank of the Sixth Army and resorted to diversionary attacks over the Moselle.  The assault on Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen between 7th and 25th March 1945 was the first Allied crossing of the Rhine by the US 9th Armoured Division.  It was a much needed victory and a major psychological and strategic advantage by the Allies to reduce the Reich heartland to exist between the Rhine and the Oder.  The Rhine was nolonger protecting the remnants of the Reich that had become a redoubt.

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M.E 42 were also tasked with tracing any SOE agents held in POW or concentration camps by insertion behind the frontlines into Germany.  They operated out of the Chateau les Chenes, Fourstraat, Humbeek, in Belgium.  Maj. Betts and Capt. R. Leeper had acted as the main recruitment officers for the Bonzos and worked for SOE’s German Section (Section X which included Austria).  On 8^th May 1945 under Major Van Maurik, M.E 42 proceeded to Süchteln, Rheinprovinz just over the Dutch border from Venlo.  After the success of Operation VIERSEN (from 18^th to 24^th March 1945) which had fooled the Wehrmacht, two divisions in the 9^th Army (30^th and 79^th) was preparing to cross the Rhine – also known as The Ghost Army enabled the crossing with airborne troops securing the eastern banks of the Rhine at Hamminkeln and Wesel in Operation VARSITY on 24^th March 1945.  It was the largest airborne operation in one day involving more than 16,000 paratroopers in a joint Anglo-American (Lak, 2009) effort which was attended by Winston Churchill.  Once the area was secured, fighters planes were able to regroup on advanced captured airfields (Kelly, 2019)

Operation VIERSEN

Operation VARSITY

M.E. 42 operated under the charter through auspices of SHAEF and needed 21^st Army Group’s support for the covert operations into Germany (TNA/ HS6-689).  The real threat of a Nazi underground army being established required the Bonzos to have a reporting facility through MI9 which was part of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence.  MI9 had been dealing with intelligence obtained from enemy prisoners and had become skilled in weeding out any suspect characters.  It was clear from cipher traffic in early May 1945 there were strained relations with 21^st Army Group that required an urgent meeting between them and Maj. William Betts (Field Security Section) who would in turn report back to Maj. Ernest Van Maurick.  It appears the role of Bonzos as saboteurs posed a point of contention at this stage of the war.  However, in a report by Van Maurick on 11^th May 1945 (TNA/ HS6-689) indicated the role and circumstances for using Bonzos had shifted and downgraded recruitment due to the sheer volume of Wehrmacht troops held in Belgium and liberated areas of Germany in concentrated pockets.  The situation was such that screening of POWs was prioritised and needed the support of staff from STS 2 (Bellasis in Dorking used to train Bonzos) to screen them and using FANY’s to carry out administrative duties (TNA/ HS6-689) to ease pressures on the unit.  Chateau de Chevetogne, Ciney (Code name Alpha) in Belgium became S.P.U. 22 HQ in mid-October 1945, commanded by Lt. Col. Hazell and was the base for Polish (E/UP) agents awaiting infiltration into Germany.  Chateau d’ Aviette, Givet in the Ardennes of France became a training school for French and German Bonzos (O’Connor, 2020b).

Allies Front Line 8^th February to 21^st March 1945

On 7^th June 1945 Capt. Gibson escorted the following Bonzos (TNA/ HS6-689):

• Weber, Horst (Heinrich Wedekind) – CLINT Mission
• Von der Heidt Willie (Willi Herzberger) – COLON Mission.
• Bauer, Jakob (Josef Jeyen) – CURLAND Mission.
• Ryplewitz, Walter (Alfred Blaschke) – CATMORE Mission.
• Piske, Werner became non-operational due to parachute injury and returned to Britain.

On 8^th June 1945 Capt. William Chambers escorted:

• Klau, Erich (Ernst Kaiser) – CARHAM Mission
• Werner Porzig (Werner Schmidt) – CLINT Mission
• Kunzig, August (August König) – COLBURN Mission.
• Dehe, Pierre (Peter Eidt, Werner Schlack) – CARSTAIRS Mission.
• Ballion, Erich.  War concluded before being deployed possibly on MIRFIELD Mission.

The escorting officers took them to Lüneburg in northern Germany where they were met by officers from S.P.U. 22 representing the interests of M.E 42 and 21^st Army Group.  Capt. Gibson was temporarily attached to S.P.U 22 from March 1945 (TNA/ HS4-292).  For the two groups of Bonzos, the war was over once debriefed. 

The RAF’s operation EXODUS between 3^rd April and 31^st May 1945 had successfully repatriated POWs in converted Lancaster Bombers.  They flew 3,500 sorties carrying 75,000 men from Lübeck in Germany, Brussels and Juvincourt et Damary in northern France to Westcott, Oakley, Cosford, Dunsfold and Wing in Britain.  However, the Bonzos were shabbily treated in their holding area until back in Britain.  Lüneberg Heath had been where the ‘Instrument of Surrender’ or the unconditional surrender of all the German forces had been signed.  Later, Montgomery swapped his tent for a villa in the village of Häcklingen until August 1945. 

The negotiations for capitulation became a race to reduce Allied casualties and save Allied POWs.  Meanwhile, the Germans continued to evacuate as many people as possible from the remnants of ‘Courland Pocket’(Kurland), East Prussia, West Prussia and Pomerania by sea in Operation HANNIBAL to save them from Soviet advances in the east (Hunt, 2017; Dyck, 2019).  Now acting as President, Döenitz and Jodl, Chief of the Oberkommando de Wehrmacht, conspired to slow negotiations to assist the fleeing refugees towards the Allies.  The Nazi tactics irritated the Allies as they were prolonging the war and placing troops and civilians on both sides from further and unnecessary suffering.  The details of the negotiations indicated the Nazi leadership were arrogant in their demands and showed little insight into the destruction of Germany and the cause of it.  Döenitz believed the Soviets to be the ‘true’ enemy of the Allies and should embark on blocking Soviet interests in eastern and central Europe.  Dwight ‘Ike’ Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allies, had a deep dislike for the Nazi tactics and threatened to close the front lines to civilians and surrendering German troops, leaving their fete to the Soviets (Zigo, 2019).  The concept of an unconditional surrender was abhorrent to Döenitz and many critics suggested that this prolonged German resistance despite the increase in the death toll amongst the civilian and the military personnel (Luckhurst, 2014).

After the unconditional surrender had been signed, Döenitz signalled all shipping in the Baltic to leave ports of Courland and Hela by midnight 8^th May 1945.  Anything that was afloat and could carry refugees and remnants of the Wehrmacht were commandeered by Konteradmiral Conrad Engelhardt.  Shortages of fuel including coal meant many of the larger ships like freighter Sachsenwald or the SS Hansa, a former ocean liner could not return to the Hela Peninsula (Eggleston and Rogers, 2018) to evacuate more civilians or troops.  Meanwhile, Döenitz held onto the belief that the anti-Soviet undertakings of Winston Churchill would re-align with the Nazis to block Soviet expansion westwards (Operation UNTHINKABLE) and with wider support from the Allies, a new conflict was plausible (Gerth, 2024), but unrealistic.  The Allied economies and populous were drained and Europe’s infrastructure and economic base was significantly destroyed.

On 8^th May 1945 part of M.E. 42 moved to Süchteln, Rheinprovinz.  After the surrender of Germany, hundreds and thousands of German POWs were housed in special camps in Belgium and Northwest German coast held by the British, Canadian and Polish units.  The identification process of Nazis and war criminals began with those thought not to be a risk sent to labour camps.  These Labour Companies were part of the reconstruction of Germany and were involved in collection of the harvests (TNA/ WO219-2426) in Operation BARLYCORN. 

By 15^th June, it appears the roles of M.E 42, and S.P.U 22 had been fulfilled with a decision of merging the two took place once 21^st Army Group had unofficially given its approval.  This move coincides with cessation of hostilities the day before.  Some personnel would be replaced by FANY’s for administration and ciphers, while agents would now concentrate in penetrating Nazi underground organizations.  At this point of the war, Berlin had been captured by the Soviets.  On 7^th May 1945 the unconditional surrender to the Allies had taken place at SHAEF HQ in Reims, France.  The Soviets protested and a second, almost identical surrender document was signed in Berlin on the 8^th May 1945 (VE Day).

Chateau les Cedres at Humbeek was run by Major O’Bryan-Tear and housed ‘B’ Section.  Capt. Leeper and Maj. Betts were transferred to assist in the interrogation of German POWs.  Maj. Fyffe was sent to M.E. 22 to track down captured SOE agents that had been sent to concentration camps which had recently been liberated including operation by SAARF.

Twenty-Two Bonzos carried out missions, mainly sabotage of local railway lines to disrupt traffic and hinder the withdrawal of the Wehrmacht.  Only three were partially trained and not used for operations.  Those who had been in field operations were seconded to other units like 8^th Corps or attached to field security units in Copenhagen, Hamburg and Lübeck.

On 5^th June 1945, an advance unit of M.E 42 moved to Bad Salzuflen to concentrate on capturing Nazis disguised as soldiers in the Wehrmacht or Nazi party members posing as civilians in local communities.  By now the Bonzos had completed their tasks and being ‘released’ from further employment with some exceptions.  The disposal of some Bonzos became an embarrassment to the British since the individual families could be in British or American occupation zones and as their services were no longer required, felt it was time to dispose of them. 

As the Allies position stabilised in Germany, the remnants of the Reich were in ‘concentrated areas’ of the Ruhr valley by the U.S Ninth and First Armies.  The northern German plains of by the Schleswig-Holstein and along the Northwest German coast controlled by the British and supported by the Canadians, Poles and French.  The situation in the defeated Germany was dire.  Much of the Reich had been reduced to rubble.  In the US sector, they set up Rheinwiesenlager which were a group of nineteen concentration camps officially named Prisoner of War Temporary Enclosures (PWTE) holding up to 2 million Wehrmacht troops in tough conditions.  Eisenhower deemed them to be ‘(DEFs) enemy forces’ rather than POWs which meant they were not covered by the Geneva Convention of 1929 with their rights negated (Somenzari, 2019).  In part, holding a large volume of defeated troops was thought to have prevented ‘Werwolf’ action spreading wider during the period 1944-1946.  These groups had been trained by the notorious SS Officer Otto Skorzeny (Boissoneault, 2018).  Likewise, Stalin ordered German, Italian and Hungarian POWs to be put into transit camps in Poland before being sent to Russia as forced labour to rebuild the shattered Soviet economy and infrastructure.  Few survived the harsh conditions in the gulags (Grunewald, 2024).

Major A. Winlaw commanded M.E 42 for a short period replacing Van Maurick 15^th January 1946 before unit merged with 5 C.C.U on 28^th February 1946.  It is thought the role of M.E. 42 became a support role in Operation CROWCASS (the Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects).  The operation compiled lists of war criminals, SS personnel and non-Germans who participated in war crimes as a forerunner of the Nuremberg Trials from November 1945 to October 1946. 

It seems odd that many of the archived files have been blocked or redacted after all this time.  The use of former Wehrmacht troops was a high-risk strategy since any Bonzo in German uniform outside the frontline zone would be arrested on sight outside a 14 km zone (Boyce, 2005) and probably shot.

MAYFLOWER: List of Known Personnel and Agents

Little is known about the role of MAYFLOWER agents since the TNA has unlisted many files, making it difficult to gleam any details other than through personal files of which most are redacted or some remaining closed to public access.  Through the CEGESOMA in Belgium, the Belgian agent’s personal files (held by the Sûreté) have started to be declassified in 2025.  It appears the MAYFLOWER agents had a less rigorous screening before training and entering SOE/ SSA (TNA/ HS7-20), however their activities in the resistance were well documented and posed no security risk.  Their role was short-term and tended towards counterintelligence, a liaison role or acting as interpreters while screening German POWs for Nazi sympathisers and war criminals.  However, there are exceptions to this, and these are in the notes.  Certainly, they were attached to M.E. 42 and VICARAGE in some way in these roles and mostly worked out of S.P.U. 47 in Brussels.

Name	Origin	Previous Role	Mission	Notes
BINET, Jean, Louis Ferdnand. Sgt. (Tankiste)	Hastiere-Lavaux, Belgium	Borough Council Clerk.   Belgian Resistance 1941-1944	Recruited to participate in Operation MOUJICK on 1st October 1941 – a cross border operation between Belgium and France with network BAYARD in the section ‘Lion Belge’ as a courier in the Namur sector.  Involved in SOE parachute reception committees near Hastière with Dr. Marcel Lespagne, Jacques Lespagne, Guy Stinghlamber, Emile Binet, Alfred  de Kairelle, Léon Buisseret and Edgard Museu.   Sabotaged the rail tunnel d’Yvoir (Line 128) and the station at Mariembourg along with numerous communications and transport hubs.  Under command of Lt. Guy Stinghlamber sabateur (Moudjik) (S.S.A) and Oscar (Marcel) Van Impe (W/T operator) (S.S.A) in réseau ‘TEGAL’.   In June 1944 left his residence and worked from September 1944 until December 1944 with BAYARD line.   3rd Field Security Police unit based in Anvers 11th June 1945.  Then, upto 9th February 1946 posted to Service ‘Tegal’.	Imprisoned 13.02.1942 until 24.10.1942   Lt. Guy Stinglhamber sabateur (S.S.A) arrested on 13th February 1942 and executed on 22nd May 1944 at Brandeburg-Görden Prison, Anton-Saefkow-Allee with Emile Binet and Marcel Van Impe (Arboretum) for harbouring parachutists.   Dr. Marcel Lespagne shot 5th March 1943.     30th March 1950 requested posting to Far East.
BLAVIER, René, Louis, Théodore. Maj. (René Bruneel)	Chateau du Fourneau, Marchin, Hoyoux Belgium.	Professor   Belgian Resistance.   Sent to Britain and trained as a paratrooper at S.T.S 51 (Dunham House, Altrincham) 7-9th April 1945 (TNA/ HS7-20).	Posted to Brussels on 22nd March 1945   W/T Operator trained and ‘organiser’.   Used for intelligence and ‘intervention’ SRA file (A0547_2674_AA1333)	Posted to SAARF 20th February 1945 / Operation VICARAGE and repatriation of POWs in Section PDX (G5) and completed duties 30th June 1945 which covered: German penal groups, paramilitaries, deportees and internment camps.   1st August 1945 transferred to S.G.A.R.A for one month.
CENTNER, Robert (Caution)	St. Gilles Les Bruxelles, Belgium.	Joined Belgian Resistance March 1944.  Arrested for carrying false papers and released.	Field Security Police unit based in Anvers 11th June 1945.   SRA file (A0547_2674_AA1333)	Listed as a Lt. in the Belgian Sûreté March 1945 as a ‘camouflage man’.
CHARDOME, Marcel	Ranst near Antwerp, Belgium	From 1934 in the militia and later worked for Neuman.  Also assisted downed aircrew repatriation to Britain down escape lines.  In March 1944 investigating YAPOK, FABIUS and HECTOR II (agent caught) missions.   He joined as a Mayflower agent from March 1945	N/K   Used for intelligence and ‘intervention’   SRA file (A0547_2674_AA1333)	Member of Operation Henri Neuman’s Group G.   Operation YAPOK carried out in February 1944 (Shoelace), caught and escaped.   Operation HECTOR II caught.
CHARDOME, Rupert. Sgt. (Claessens, Rupert, Jack Alan)	Ranst, Belgium	Worked with Neuman covering PWE propaganda and sabotage in Brussels. Assisted in moving escapers and aircrew through escape line ‘Montano’(2nd Group).  26th January 1944 on the Gestapo ‘wanted list’ and left Belgium on 2nd April 1944.   Crossed Pyranees via Figneras 3rd May 1944. Arrived in Barcelona 15th May 1944.  Issued British passport and arrived in Britain via Gibraltar 8th July 1944 in Bristol.   Parents imprisoned for political activities and whereabouts not known.   Training at S.T.B.	Field Security Police unit based in Gand 11th June 1945. Intelligence and Intervention agent then transferred on 18th June with the S.G.A.A.R.A under Col. Rostenne.	Also involved in YAPOK, FABIUS and HECTOR II (agent caught) missions.     Requested a BBC message to let family know they were safely in Britain:   “Le Roi Candaule Est Un Petit Rigolo”   His brother Marcel also passed through SOE training.   Applied for work in the Far East 30th March 1950.
Lt. BONNE-COMPAGNIE, Madelaine, Antoinette, Lucie.	Accomplished sculptress prior to and after the war.	Lived near Ukkle. Belgian Resistance from 1942 (Christine) in Group G.   Sent to Britain September 1944 and trained as Belgium’s first female paratrooper at S.T.S 51 (Dunham House, Altrincham) 7-9th April 1945 (TNA/ HS7-20).	N/K   Used for intelligence and ‘intervention’ agent   SRA file (A0547_2674_AA1333)	Posted to SAARF.  As part of Belgian BLUEBELL Team.  Transported to Dachau to assist prisoners’ recuperation for 2 months of service.
DANHAIVE, François, Xavier, Émile (Anthony Butler, Piron)	Basécles, Belgium   Chemistry graduate.	Worked as a courier while a student at Brussels and Liege University for Henri Neuman (Caesar, Montano).  Neuman was part of SOE’s T section and was founder of the Belgian resistance group ‘Group-G’.  He carried messages, guns and explosives.  Planned to escape to Britain Spring 1943.   Left Brussels 25th April 1944 for Paris and Toulouse accompanied by Dutchman James Oliver and Georges Marcq who was caught crossing the frontier into Spain.  Left for Montréjeau with US Norman Pedro.  Guide picked up more escapees and crossed border through Col de Rounaillou near Hospice de France.  Driven to Barcelona, Huesca and Zaragoza to Madrid.  Changed name to Butler and pretended to be an Australian escaped POW.   Travelled to San Roque and Gibraltar.  Arrived by air Bristol 29th July 1944.	W/T operator and returned to Brussels on mission 22nd December 1944 and then from 20th February 1945 as a Mayflower agent attached to X/ MB.   Field Security Police unit based in Brussels 11th June 1945.	Capt. Leslie Arthur Manser (half Belgian) assisted by 2nd Lt. George John Kidd who organized border crossings for sabotage and intelligence around the Maas River in conjunction with SOE’s Belgian Section.  Both were attached to SOE field security (D/ CE).  Kidd was born and raised in Belgium and was fluent in French, Flemish and Dutch.  Was attached to S.P.U.47.
DE SMET, Ferdinand, Emile, Alphonse. (Smet, Ferdinand)	Cappy, Somme Belgium	Belgian Resistance
DE SMET, George, Emile (Deschepper)	Cappy, Somme.	Belgian Resistance   Worked at STS7 (Winterfold, Cranleigh), 21 (Arisaig), 22 (Rhubana Lodge), 52 (Thame Park, Oxford).
DE WULF, André, Emile-Fernand. Maj. (Jean Moreau) (André Danneels) (Athos) (Zero)	Bruxelles, Belgium.	Belgian Resistance working on the ‘Ligne Zero’ and ‘Athos’.  Ligne Zero was established in the Spring 1941 and initially collected economic and political information and regarded by many as an independent intelligence service.  Centred on Brussels – Schaerbeek.   Arrested and imprisoned for three days in 1941 at l’avenue Louise.   Had centres in Lyon and Montpellier with couriers crossing into Spain and Portugal and probably merged with other local lines under SOE’s Belgian section.   Joined the Fusiliers Battalion in Namur 27th December 1944.  Had been involved in the location of German defences in the Ardennes and V.1 launch sites.   Sent to Britain and trained as a paratrooper at S.T.S 51 (Dunham House, Altrincham) 7-9th April 1945 (TNA/ HS7-20	Posted to Brussels 22nd March 1945 as W/T operator and sabateur for infiltration into Germany.   Part of SPU 47.	Transferred to Operation VICARAGE 2nd April 1945.   With SAARF as 2nd Lt. acting as an administrative assistant from 18th May to 22nd June 1945 repatriating POWs from Germany, screening imprisoned Belgian political prisoners and dealing with Belgian Waffen SS up until July 1945.   Demobbed 12th April 1946 from the SSA. Retained on Army Reserves list. Left for duties as a ‘commercial agent’ or technitian with mining company Forminière – Tshikapa in the Congo with the SSA.
Sgt. ESSEX, Roland	Shenfield, Essex, Britain.	Attached to 84 F.S.S by the War Office M.O.1. (S.P)	Liaison role?	Sent to O.C.T.U Wrotham, Sevenoaks, Kent on 20th April 1945 prior to potential posting to India.  The course was for Signals Corps/ Intelligence and was interviewed for the posting 11th March 1945.
FRENCH, Francis, C.	London, Britain.	Shipping agent in Rotterdam for Alfred Holt & Co, Liverpool (Blue Funnel Line) as he was half Dutch.   Joined up 30th August 1941.	18th June 1945 sent to Norway.   7th September 1945 posted to Bad Salzuflen, Germany with M.E. 42.
GILBERT, Alfred, Henri, Elie. Known as Freddy. (Prevot, Philippe, Bill)	Belgian, Uccle, to south of Brussels.	Secretary.   Joined the resistance Corps 04 August 1942 to May 1943. Participated in sabotage and went into hiding June 1943 with public photos and a bounty of 500,000 Belgian Francs.  Ordered to kill Paul Colin, Nazi sympathiser and journalist but failed.  Colin was assassinated after many attempts on 8th April 1943 by Arnaud Fraiteur.    Joined army 21st October 1944 (4th Batailon de Fusiliers) after being a member of the SSA resistance movement.	March 1945 became a ‘Mayflower agent’.  Based in Brussels as intelligence and ‘intervention’ agent   Field Security Police unit based in Ostende 11th June 1945.   SRA file (A0547_2674_AA1333)	Active in the field 30th May to 11th June 1945.   Worked in the passport and visa office in Ostend post war for the Sûreté.
GRANGEAUD, Jean Jacques, Charles. 2nd Lt. (Rale, Jacques, Garnier)	Le Havre, France	Transferred to VICARAGE 1st April 1945   Agent with X/ MF (SOE German Section Mobile Facility) 10th February 1945   Formerly based at MASSINGHAM Algeria.		Dropped in Operation VICARAGE   25-26th April 1945
HASPEL, Willie, E.	German, Berkheim bei Esslingen am Neckar.	Member of the Wehrmacht and caught 21st April 1945 in Spiek in northern Holland.   Employed as a ‘stoolpigeon’ in POW camps.	Agent, location unknown.	Attached of M.E. 42 operations.
HAUSENDORF, Herbert F.	German, Sottorf bei Harburg-Hamburg, Germany.	Member of the Wehrmacht   Employed as a ‘stoolpigeon’ in POW camps from July 1945.	Agent, location unknown.	Attached of M.E. 42 operations.
Capt. HORNSBY, Frederick, W. D	Penrith, Cumbria, Britain	Former teacher, Instructor at STS 31 (Beaulieu) security training for agents serving in the Intelligence Corps.	Linguist who graduated from Oxford with French and German.  Posted to Germany	11th September 1944 appointed as GSO III (I) German section at SOE HQ then sent to Germany for intelligence work on foreign workers.
Capt. HUNT, Hugh, S.	Eastbourne, Britain.	Marlborough College OTC.   King’s Royal Rifles Corps from August 1940. Joined SOE June 1943 as an instructor at STS 31 (Beaulieu) and 39 (Hackett School) as paramilitary and propaganda instructor until posted to SPU 24 (Paris) December 1944.	Linguist who graduated from Oxford with French and German.  Post graduation studies in France and Germany. Posted to Germany ME 42 April 1945.	Administrative role for managing intelligence gathering for the ME 42 in Germany from May 1945 and set up offices as ‘out station’ Berlin September 1945.
JUNCA, Jean, Julien (Jaubert).	Montagut, near Arzacq-Arraziguet, Pyrénées-Atlantiques department	Enlisted 25th March 1941.	W/T operator in Corsica and France out of Massingham.  Originally employed by BCRA in Algiers. With Mayflower from 1st February 1945.	Transferred to Operation VICARAGE 1ST April 1945.
Sgt. Ronnfeld/ Ronnfeldt, Arthur (Ron).		STS 52 (Thame Park) Instructor in W/T security.	Departed 26th August 1944 for ME 42 and Mayflower	Based in Bad Salzuflen with M.E. 42.
La GRANGE, Pierre Daniel, Robert	Uccle, Brussels.		Field Security Police unit based in Brussels 11th June 1945.
Capt. NEUMAN, Henri Oscar   (Jerome Mertens, Cesar-Montano, Lt. Bernard Harrison, Emile, Capt. Van Dyck)	Brain-le Comte, Belgium   Lawyer.   At outbreak of war was evacuated to Nérac in Lot et Garonne.   Saboteur in ACTION and then Groupe G.	Was at university with Danhaive in Brussels.   STOCKBROKER Circuit.   Parachuted into Belgium 8-9th February 1944 with SHOELACE (Henri Dendonker W/T operator) and FABIUS at Basècles.  Operation focussed on contacting Belgian National Movement.   Joseph Désire Desterbecq arranged his escape through Théodore Janssens of the NOLA/ CARACAL mission via the VIC Line to Paris.  On 20th April 1944 arrived in Gibraltar.   Volunteered for another operation to Aix-la-Chapelle on 10th November 1944 in Operation PAINTER with Capt. Van Dyck and Francis Flour for counterintelligence work on werewolf, the Sicherheitsdienst and NSDAP.  Met contacts in Freiburg, but safe house was adjacent to Hitler Jugend Centre.  Went to Munich on 24th March 1944.	Operation VICARAGE Dropped on 25th April 1945 into Zone 1 Dorfstelle-Verderben   Field Security Police unit based in Anvers 11th June 1945.           A0547_720173_805905_FRE
SAFIN, Paweł	Kupno, Poland	Left Poland for France in 1931.  In 1939 with Polish forces in France and sent to Norway.  Transferred to MON for special duties with VI Bureau. Completed Cichociemni training (Badge no. 4661) in Britain 25th August 1944		Posted to EU/P 10th February 1945 as a MAYFLOWER agent.   Brother Piotr in German POW camp with sisters Helena, Zofia and Maria living near Poitiers, France.   Returned to Britain via Ostend 6th April 1945.
SROKA, Jaros	Lwow, Poland.	September 1940 – March 1941 Served in Soviet Army.   Ex-POW and enlisted in Polish Army Paris 12th January 1945.	‘Agent in the field’.
SZAFRAN, Kazimierz	Warsaw, Poland.	Enlisted into Polish Army, France, 12th January 1945	‘Agent in the field’   Training not in Britain.   Probably member of P.O.W.N.	To serve as agent in E/UP.
SZULC, Henryk.	Warsaw, Poland. (Registered on list of Jews in Warsaw).	Enlisted into Polish Army, France 21st January 1945	Probably member of P.O.W.N.	Assigned to E/ UP.
Capt. WINLAW, Ashley, E.E.	Former schoolmaster.	Cambridge graduate in linguistics. Intelligence Officer with Force 133 and returned to Britain	Completed paramilitary training and parachute training in Haifa July to September 1943   B.L.O Greece September 1943 to November 1944 for ME 126 in Operation COACHMAN 34 near Larissa.	G.S.O II during command of ME 42.   Duties were for the collection of intelligence from agents for O.C ‘C’ Detachment in Ruhr.
WORTMAN, Alfred.	German, Duisburg, Germany	Former industrial lawyer, in reserve occupation until called up into Wehrmacht POW captured 28th March 1945 at Westerborken	Acted as agent working in the Besatzungsamt in Lunen.   From 15th June 1945 to 6th July was a PEEWIT (Political Warfare Executive or PWE) in camp 2221 (near Brussels) and then 15th July 1945 to 22nd July in camp 2223 (Terlanenveld) as part of Operation COWCROSS.  Then moved to camp 2227 (Zedelgem for Latvian POWs) from 25th July to 15th August 1945.
WUNDRAK, Ludwig, F.	German, Berlin-Friedenau, Germany	Wehrmacht POW captured on 14th April 1945 at Steenwijk, Netherlands.	Agent acting as a ‘stoolpigeon’ in POW camp N/K.
ZAMBRZYCKI, Zenon.	Warsaw, Poland.	Enlisted into the Polish Army 12th January 1945 in Paris.	Probably member of P.O.W.N.   Agent for SOE in E/ UP.	Role N/K.   After the end of the war, he assisted the U.S. Army as a guard and translator during the Nuremberg trials. Zenon immigrated to the U.S. in 1952
ZOBZAK, Bolesław	Chrzybko Wrilkie, Poznan, Poland.	Enlisted into Polish Forces in Paris France, on 17th January 1945.  To be trained in Europe.	Agent for E/ UP in SOE.   Probably member of P.O.W.N.   Short term employment.	Attached to 63 Field Security Section, (FSS) Belgian Section to assist as a linguist/ translator to Theatre Documents Section.

Based on TNA/ HS9 Personal files and the Belgian State Archives (Cegesoma).

The following files of agents have been ‘weeded’, destroyed or withheld:

• Capt. James Roderick (Roddy) Clube transferred to SIS
• Maj. William Guthrie became an academic and orator based in Cambridge University.
• Sgt. Antoni Hartog had been based at STS 24B (Inverie House, Knoydart near Mallaig), STS 2 (Bellasis, Box Hill, Dorking) training BONZOS then M.E.42 where he escorted last BONZO back to Britain.
• Capt. J. D.  Helps had been in Section X before posting to M.E. 42
• Maj. Hubert O’Brian
• Sgt. Arthur Ronnfeldt
• Maj. Hubert O’Brian-Tear, ex-Jedburgh Team BENJAMIN parachuted into the Meuse region 21-22August 1944 then joined B Detachment M.E. 42.  Role unknown and probably based in Cuxhaven area.  Became an MI6 agent based in Bern, Switzerland from December 1972 until April 1977.

Operation VICARAGE

It appears MAYFLOWER agents were embedded into M.E. 42 and that some agents were transferred to Operation VICARAGE run by SAARF (TNA/ HS7-20; TNA/ HS7-21).  Operation VICARAGE was created in March 1945 with the outlining planning taking place earlier in the year.  SHAEF had on-going concerns for the safety of POWs (TNA/ HS7-20) and intelligence reports indicated camps in the East were bring emptied out and inmates force marched west (TNA/ HS7-20); Nichol and Rennell, 2002).  The possibility of massacre and the appalling conditions the POWs were facing prioritised through parachute battalions held in reserve to be reallocated duties. 

Initially, 501^st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101^st Airborne Division were designated as the stand-by unit.  Due to the complexities of the collapsing Reich and the ever-changing frontlines, SHAEF decided to develop the project into a multi-national organisation manned by volunteers since the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge) had placed a strain on the US army, replacement units and supply lines.  Operation VICARAGE was headed by Brig. J.S. Nichols with US Col. J.E. Raymond as deputy commander.

Contact Teams would consist of the 3 combatants along the lines of the Jedburghs with two officers and an enlisted W/T operator.  The volunteers were drawn from British, Belgian and French forces were mainly recruited from SOE, Jedburghs and SAS while the US volunteers were from the OSS, 82nd and 101^st Airborne Divisions with a few former Jedburghs.  There was an urgent need for German and central European languages where the volunteers came from the Polish Independent Grenadier Company (many from the Operation BARDSEA/ MONICA) and recruitment of another group of German speaking Bonzos.

It was planned that 60 teams ready by 1^st May 1945 with an additional 60 teams to be in place soon after.  Prioritising Special Forces backgrounds and language skills enabled a rapid build and those volunteers needing parachuting or other skills were trained by SOE in their bases and RAF Ringway or at Wentworth (known as X Training Unit based in the old golf club house which was regarded as a security risk) where training was tailored to individual and team’s needs (TNA/ HS 7-21).  SAARF decided female volunteers despite their previous experience with the French Resistance would not be part of the parachute teams and would be infiltrated overland.  Training of teams started on 7^th April 1945 at STS 51a (Dunham House, Cheshire for parachute training at Ringway) and planned to be completed by the end of the month (TNA/ HS 7/21).  All together the number of recruits totalled 400 with 120 French, 96 British, 96 American, 30 Belgian, 30 Dutch, 10 Luxembourgoise, and 18 Polish. 

The Belgian contingent made up of 8 teams under (No. 1 Stapler, No. 2 Tray, No. 3 Crayon, No. 4 Notebook, No. 5 Duplicator, No. 6 Fountainpen, No.7 Escritoire and No. 8 Stamp) was sent ahead to on 21^st April 1945 to Brussels in a ground support role for the Allied Army Groups who had now crossed the Rhine.  Initially, SHAEF forward divisions identified three POW camps in the area held 145,000 Allied POWs (TNA/ HS 7-20).  Later, around mid-May the BLUEBELL teams would merge with teams POPPY and BLUEBELL.

In the early afternoon of 25^th April 1945, the operational planning for VICARARAGE commenced with the hand delivery of the necessary maps with the LZ’s marked and the route from RAF Dunmow via Dungeness, Cap Gris Nez towards Brussels (B58 Melsbroek Air Base) and Osnabrück.  SAARF requested 2 runs per DZ where S/L Faure indicated ‘blind drop’ operations could not guarantee this request (TNA/ AIR 37-349).  Due to the initial inability to ascertain the precise number of officers and non-commissioned officers, S/L Faure approved supper for all ranks was conducted in the officer’s mess, resulting in a deviation from standard mess-hall protocols.  In the end, the SAARF teams were made up of 9 officers and 12 N.C.Os.  A third aircraft was added to the mission due to payload issues where eight panniers weighing 120Lbs each plus the agents for each DZ caused a shift in logistics where the C-47s normally used, were replaced by Short Stirling’s converted to transport duties (TNA/ AIR 37-349).

Operation VIOLET was dispatched (Take Off Time or TOT) at 23.59 (TNA/ AIR 37-349) to ascertain the conditions in camp Stalag XI-A (Stammlager), a labour camp located near Altengrabau.  Between 1939 and 1945 housed 55,000 prisoners.  The 6 teams were to be dropped at three locations but became scattered and lost communication with each other.  The RAF crews probably did not return to base as a fire caused a series of munitions and ordinance to explode (TNA/ AIR 37-349).

Airborne Operation VICARAGE Missions under the code name VIOLET

Date	Location	Personnel
25th April 1945 ERASER from RAF Great Dunmow.	Drop Zone 1 – Dorfstelle-Verderben near Altengrabow, Stalag XI-A. Captured immediately on landing and taken to Stalag XI-A.  Commandant co-operated and assisted in setting up Plan CASHBOX.	Maj. Philipp Worall.
25th April 1945 BRIEFCASE	Drop Zone 1 Lt. Cousin captured and taken to Stalag XI-A with the rest of the team in hiding.	2nd Lt. Cousin (Pierre Cambon) Capt. Henri Neuman, a Belgian was included in the French Team evaded capture.
25th April 1945 PENNIB	Drop Zone 2 (Probably Wüstenjerichow) Landed near a wood and remained in W/T contact.	Maj. Sam Forshall – British Team.  Capt. Dobbie.
25th April 1945 CASHBOX	Drop Zone 3 – Harnischler-Feld (written in the briefing but not known but could be Hohenziatz). Capt. Brown was joined by Maj. Worral.  Rest of the team captured and joined ERASER in Stalag XI-A.	Capt. J. Brown (OSS Team), Sgt. Paroda and W/T operator Murphy.
25th April 1945 SEALING WAX	Drop Zone 3 No news reported, but on 11th May communicated they were in the Alten-Grabau area.	Capt. Paul Aussaresses (Jean-Jacques Soual) – French Team and Ex-Jedburgh. 2nd Lt. Cholet. 2nd Lt. Garnier.
25th April 1945 PENCIL	Drop Zone 3 Landed near Stalag XI-A and remained in W/T contact.	Capt. Warfield (82nd Airborne Division/ OSS), W/T operator Sgt. Potter

Source: TNA/ HS7-21; SOE database, Dilley (2005).

Team ERASURE were caught immediately and taken to Stalag XI-A and then Team BRIEFCASE and the OSS W/T operators from CASHBOX.  Maj. Worrall convinced the camp commandant, Col. Ochernal that both Allied and Soviet Armies would over-run the camp within days.  Col. Ochernal agreed to allow the teams to inspect the camp and contact SAARF with their needs for the POWs.  The camp held only 20,000 POWs, a lot less than anticipated (TNA/ HS7-20). 

On 2^nd May 1945 an agreement over the handling of the POWs was agreed between Col Ochernal, SAARF and Maj. Worrall.  The US 83^rd Division had in mid-April liberated a sub camp of Buchenwald at Langenstein and arrived on 3^rd May 1945 with trucks and ambulances to begin the evacuation.  The Soviets arrived on 4^th May 1945 and took control of the camp and subsequently blocked any attempts for Italian and Polish POWs to be transferred west with the mood of the camp altering whereupon the Soviets expelled the SAARF teams with two hours’ notice (Dilley, 2025).  However, the Allied POWs were allowed to leave while the Soviets refused Polish and Italian POWs to allow them to go west.  On 5^th May the Soviets ordered the team to leave and transported them to Zerbst (Anhalt).  Maj. Worrall arrived back at Wentworth on 11^th May 1945.

The SEALING WAX team were dropped 24km from their intended target and while they managed to outsmart the Germans, they were captured by the Soviets on the 15^th May 1945 near Kuhberge.  After interrogation, they were transported to a POW camp at Zerbst since the French team’s explanation and cover story was not believed.  Stripped of their uniforms and possessions, they managed to escape on 7^th June 1945 and made their way to the US zone near Halle. 

Operation saw 5 teams dispatched on 26^th April as an overland insertion, returned the next day to SAARF base due to localized difficulties and this may be related to the air drops of Jeeps to the teams (TNA/ HS 7-21).  These teams: No. 1 PENHOLDER, No. 2 INK, No. 3 INKSTAND, No. 4 PAPERKNIFE and No. 5 GUM appear to have remained on standby until the disbandment of the unit.  However, GUM appears to have been embedded with 53rd Welsh Division in Hambourg and the PENHOLDER team in support.

On 8^th May 1945 Operation POPPY with ten teams were due to leave Tilbury and work for the 21^st Army Group but was switched to air transport.  The operation was commanded by Lt. Col. Cammaerts and consisted of two British, three French, two American and one Polish team and sent to Luneburg.  The French team were posted to Hamburg and the other teams to Schleswig- Holstein and then onto Denmark.  The focus of their operations was to identify senior Nazis and their families in specific locations known to the Allies, Nazis and any SS who had committed war crimes.

The Belgian contingent was attached to 12^th Army Group in Weisbad in the state of Thuringia with three teams STAPLER, ESCRITOIRE and STAMP held back in early May due to security clearance delays, however they inspected several camps and relayed details of the inmates and their state without permission which was later ‘smoothed’ over (TNA/ HS7-20).  They were joined by teams LABEL and FOLDER to prioritize securing the safety of senior political prisoners and resistance members above the ordinary ranks still held in the camps.  12^th Army Group’s behaviour towards SAARF teams was completely different to the more amicable 21^st Army Group.

On 5^th May orders were received for more teams to be dispatched to 21^st Army Group via air to Faßberg in Lower Saxony, Germany.  Their mission was to screen POW camps and its inmates and place priority on SOE agents whose Country Section Representatives need to check daily the telegrams and compiled index cards (TNA/ HS 7-20) in reading rooms set aside for them.

Team	Personnel
British	Lt. Col. Francis Cammaerts (Roger), leader. Former leader of the JOCKEY Circuit. Lt. Bosheneck Florias, W/T operator
British	Maj. Hill, leader Capt. Evans Moulton, W/T operator
Polish	2nd Lt. Witold Sikorski, Leader and Cichociemny trained who saw service in France (DAVERSHAM/ DAVIDSTOW 1A). Cpl. Fiatowski Sgt. Józef Persich, W/T operator and Cichociemny trained who saw service in France in Continental Action operations near Montrevel.
American	Capt. Fitzgerald, Leader 1st Lt. Schimpf Unknown W/T operator due to damaged file.
American	Capt. Schmees, Leader 1st Lt. Cutting Pvt. Mauldin W/T operator
French	Comm. Granville, Leader Lt. Esch Pvt. Bernier, W/T operator
French	Capt. Leluc, Leader Lt. Calvez Pvt. Delaz W/T operator
French	Capt. Firdjon, Leader Lt. Vieux-Change Pvt. Lafitto W/T operator.

Intelligence reports dated 27^th April 1945 indicated that in six camps: Dachau, Regensburg, Lubeck (Oflag XC), Aschendorfagmoor (penal camp), Neusustrum (Camp no. V) and Börgermoor held 38,000 prisoners in appalling conditions many of whom were political prisoners, resistance fighters and POWs amongst the Jews (TNA/ WO219-5109) and need of an urgent intervention by SAARF contact teams to ascertain the resources and evacuation transport needed to clear the camps.  In total 52 teams were now ready: 22 British, 17 US, 5 French, 2 Belgian and 6 Polish with a further back up of 32 British, 32 US, 40 French, 2 Belgian and 6 Polish.  Although Castle (Oflag IV-c) near Leipzig which housed 800 POWs made up of inveterate escapers and ‘prominent’ prisoners, was liberated on 16^th April 1945 by the US 9^th Armoured Division.  A team from SAARF visited the castle before the evacuation to ascertain the condition of the prisoners and their treatment since the SS had planned to use the prominent inmates as hostages.  The team was made up of Maj. Henry Coombe-Tennent and Patrick Leigh Fermor.

The situation in the former POW and concentration camps remained dire with Capt. Cammaerts pleading for re-supply to help the French women held in Ravensbrück and Neubrandenburg with a supply sent on 13^th June 1945 despite the shortage of transport aircraft and managed to meet Capt. Cammaert’s plea for delivery before 16^th June indicates how close to death the former inmates were.  The supplies arrived via Celle and road transport on 15^th June 1945. 

Two MOLESEY teams comprising of SOE personnel arrived in Brussels on 7^th May and were ordered to 12^th Army Group at Wiesbaden and join Col. Glesger’s ‘T’ Force (TNA/ HS7-21, Ellison, 2013).  ‘T’-Force was a joint US-British mission to secure German scientific and industrial technology before it could be destroyed or fall into the hands of the Soviets under the constant threat of ‘werewolf’ activities (TNA/ WO219-2426; Longdon, 2010).  On 10^th May the teams were ordered to two teams were despatched to Schleswig-Holstein and a French team to Hamburg.  Lt. Col. Cammaerts, now leading the teams left for Denmark on 12^th May 1945 consisting of two US, one French and one Polish teams.  The following day, a further eight teams made up of one US and seven French left by Air as Operation DAISY to US area in Austria whose HQ was in Heidelberg.  This left ten to fifteen teams standing by for parachuting into Czechoslovakia as Team BLUEBELL of which only one team was despatched there on special duties (TNA/ HS 7-21).

On 20^th May 1945 the teams were distributed as follows:

6^th Army Group          15 teams (5 US, 7 French, 3 Belgian)

12^th Army Group        5 teams (3 Belgian, 2 SOE)

21^st Army Group         30 teams (14 British, 2 US, 7 French, 4 Belgian, 3 Polish and an administrative detachment at rear HQ.

On 21^st May 1945 a further 27 teams were on standby comprising of 2 British, 2 SOE, 5 French, 8 US, 3 Polish and 2 Belgian destined for 6^th Army Group in Heidelburg area with the remaining 25 teams allocated to 21^st Army Group in Bad Oeynhausen and transported by air.  One of the original VICARAGE French team was reported still missing (SEALINGWAX).

In November 1944 two teams of British Liaison Officers (BLO’s) were due to be parachuted into Poland in Operations FERNHAM and FLAMSTEAD but held up due to poor weather and remained in Brindisi awaiting further orders (Hyperlink: Home Army & SOE/ Operation Flamstead and Fernham).  The Soviets had overrun the proposed LZs in January 1945 and the teams stood down.  Amongst the teams was a distinguished Pole named Andrew Kowerski (Maj. Andrew Kennedy) who was a lifelong friend and a lover of Christine Granville (Krystyna Skarbek) (Mulley, 2013).  Andrew was returned to Britain on 18^th March 1945 and reassigned to MP Section and then seconded to Section X on 29^th June 1945 where he was to assist SAARF leading an Enforcement Team in the North Rhine Sector controlling the Black Market for food (TNA/ HS9/ 830-3).  On 20^th July 1945 was posted to the Intelligence Corps and promoted to Captain whose duties were to interrogate German personnel and examine records held by the 8^th Corps seeking out SS Personnel.

In total, 21^st Army Group had 19 teams in the field with a further 6 in reserve.  A further 74 teams were inserted into the field by Jeeps or air across the Allied held sector to assist in screening POWs and other inmates to distinguish between criminals and Nazis.  By 23^rd May 1945 SAARF provided the disbandment proposals to SHAEF with the teams returning to WENTWORTH.  In a handwritten report dated 27^th May 1945 by Major G Newham on his team’s activities, made an apology for their inability to have done more, however on arrival at Buchenwald they were trying to trace ‘Tommy’ Yeo Thomas (White Rabbit), Chris Burney (AUTOGYRO Circuit) and Henri Peulevé (SCIENTIST Circuit) who had either been evacuated or had escaped execution.  Yeo Thomas had survived the camp by adopting a deceased inmate’s identity with the help of a German guard, Arthur Dietzsch and worked as an orderly in the Typhus experimental block (TNA/ HS7-20; Van Maurik, 2018).  Capt. Peter Belgeonne (Head of Belgian Section S.P.U 47) filed a separate report on their investigation into war crimes at Mauthausen where on 6^th September 1944 the SS clubbed to death 47 men.  He concluded many were resistance members.

On 1^st July 1945 SAARF was disbanded (TNA/ HS 7-20).  Force 136 in India approached SAARF to recruit personnel for duties as reinforcements to their teams while the 2^nd Army requested some SOE personnel could be employed as ‘welfare officers’ touring the Wehrmacht POW camps to check on welfare and morale as they weren’t suitable for the duties in M.E. 42 (TNA/ HS7-20).  This note distinguishes the different roles of the two organisations.  At the time of disbandment 21^st Army Group had 3 teams and 12^th Army Group 5 teams still operating and shifted into a liaison role before relocating back to Brussels. 

Once the teams had entered the camps and established the condition of the POWs, airfields at Hailfingen near Rottenburg am Neckar, Entzheim near Strasbourg, Bad Wurzach, Biberach and Villingen-Schwenningen in southern Germany were used as transport hubs.  However, the poor state of the POWs increased the pressure and timing of the repatriation process (TNA/ HS 7-21) as many could not initially be transported out.

The lack of clarity and the role of SHAEF in the planning of operations caused delays lasting days where the situation on the ground would have shifted.  This added an extra ineffective layer of activity.  The final report on SAARF indicated the Allies were fully aware of the unnecessary additional suffering of POWs who had been on forced marches west.  Delays in decisions simply added to their burden and suffering.  The care and provision of food and medical supplies should not be overlooked.  While the state of the POWs was of great concern and in clear breach of the Geneva Convention, the rehabilitation of survivors from the concentration camps required special rehabilitation programmes. 

SAARF had successes with tracing SOE, resistance and political prisoners while at the same time dealing with large numbers of displaced persons (DPs) amongst the chaos and ruins of Europe (TNA/ WO219-2426).  Those teams based in Kiel had some success in tracing prominent Nazis, Gestapo officials and several thousand SS personnel who were located in a camp at Neuengamme near Hamburg and assisted by the 17^th Field Security Section (TNA/ WO219-2426).

Return of Polish Agents and Couriers

The following list exemplifies the need for extensive searches and interrogation of returning Polish agents to clarify the fate of Cichociemni who were listed as POWs in the hope they had survived the war.  The Foreign Office decision made on 21^st August 1945 stipulated that those Polish agents allowed to return could only have been part of the exiled forces (TNA/ HS 4-266) and not the AK.  This would prove problematic with those entrapped in the Soviet Occupied Countries and in the Soviet controlled German Sector.  Those Poles troops who participated in Operation MARKET GARDEN were guided to report to the Polish authorities within the British Liberation Army at Hamburg.  The Foreign Office veto rankled the Polish Ministry of Interior and SOE who felt that individuals should have their cases discussed rather than a blanket veto (TNA/ HS 4-263).  In several cases, the Foreign Office veto was over-turned with civilians and AK combatants managing to be brought to Britain after forceful lobbying.

The data exemplifies the size of the problem facing S.P.U 22 and SAARF:

Total number of agents sent into the field                                                      344

Total number known to be in German camps                                                60

Total number not accounted for                                                                     58

Total number of agents returned to Britain                                                    56

Total number of Polish (AK or MON) agents seeking British help               26

This means 58.2% of the agents were unaccounted for and probably murdered or killed in action (KIA).

List of Polish Agents Missing or Returned to Britain from POW and Concentration Camps through S.P.U 22, M.E. 42 or SAARF

Names of Agents to be repatriated to Britain	Alias	Date of Insertion/ Drop/ Operation	Last Known Location
Adrian, Florian Edmund. Capt.	Liberator, Libra	26-27th January 1943 GAUGE	Arrested by Gestapo in Kielce on 23rd June 1944 under the pseudonym Czesław Wawerski and shot.
Antoszewicz, Jerzy. Maj.	Antoni		AK officer.  Played a part in the Wachlarz.  Arrested by Gestapo March 1944 and then released under the name of Jan Jakrzewski.  Commanded Iwo Battalion in the 72nd Infantry Regiment until surrender.  It was reported he had been murdered under the name of Wawerski in June 1944.  Listed as POW in VII-A, Murnau. Repatriated on 25th June 1945 by SAARF Team DESK.
Bator, Michał. Maj.	Opór, Płat	25-26th January 1943 BRACE	Listed as POW but killed during Warsaw Uprising 1944.
Bałuk, Stefan, Klemens. 2nd Lt.	Starba, Nir	8-9th April 1944 WELLER 2	Listed as a POW. He was assigned to the Legalization and Technology Department as a forger and producer of fake documents.  He had a distinguished service in the Uprising fighting in the “Agoton” company of the “Pięść” Battalion in the Old Town and captured the fighting on film as a documentary of the Rising.  He also broke through the German lines on 13th – 14th August to deliver radio spares.  On 27th August, he used the sewers to take messages to Gen. Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski in a high-risk operation.  Caught and sent to Oflag II-D in Gross Born-Rederitz and escaped in January 1945 to rejoin remnants of the AK.      Caught by the NKVD and released in 1947.
Bętkowski, Jacek. Lt. Col.	Topór 2	30-31st July 1944 JACEK 1	He initially commanded District 3 which covered Śródmieście.  From 28th August took over the command of the “Topór” section in the Śródmieście-Południowe area and then commanded the “Golski” and “Zaremba” of the “Piorun” Battalion. POW camp X-B then VII-A, Murnau. Former Deputy Chief in Budapest. Repatriated on 29th June 1945 by SAARF Team FOUNTAIN PEN
Bezeg, Jan. Lt. Col.	Czyżewski, Prut Longin	–	AK Officer, POW camp VII-A, Murnau SAARF Team FOUNTAIN PEN
Bichniewicz, Jerzy. 2nd Lt.	Błokitny, Pielesz	29-30th October 1942 PLIERS	Died in plane crash near Helleren, Norway although listed as a POW.
Bilski, Kazimierz. Capt.	Rum, Skaza	25th July 1944 WILDHORN III	From 12 August 1944, commander of the “Rum” Assault Battalion (north-western sub-section: Królewska Street – Zielna Street). On the night of August 30/31, commander of the left wing of the attack  to break through to the City Centre, in the direction of the Old Town. He captured the Police School on Ciepła Street and reached Hale Mirowskie.   Captured during Warsaw Uprising in September 1944 and sent to POW camps Stalag VIII-B, VII-A, Murnau Repatriated on 6th June 1945 by SAARF Team FOUNTAIN PEN
Bomba, Edward. Sgt.	Henri Berger Toreador Emile Jules Boucheron	3rd March 1944 DARENTH B	Cichociemni trained (3626/ 2074) W/T operator.  Role organiser and sabotage. Dropped with DATCHWORTH/ PETER 22 Over Lot / Garonne.   20th July 1944 Arrested in Paris and sent to Buchenwald-Dora 18th August 1944.  Survived and emigrated to Florida, USA.
Brzezinski, Franciszek. Maj.		Polish Army Agent in Switzerland	Listed as POW in Oflag VII-A Murnau. Temporarily attached to Polish II Division for repatriation via France.
Brzosko, Zygmunt. Capt.	Burek	22nd July 1943   COVEY	Set up POWN HQ in the Beaulieu district near Roche-la-Molière with Puciłowski as ‘Station Roland’.  In 1943 POWN HQ transferred to Paris.  On 6th January 1944 a parachute drop provided an S-Phone to improve communications for resupply drops.   He provided reception committees for: COLONY/ JOHN 11 and BATCH 1/ JOHN 52   Arrested by the Gestapo on 24th July 1944.  The Station continued to operate by Capt. Stanislas Mozdyniewicz (Lotnik) WW1 veteran and Col. Antoni Zdrojewski (Nestor, Daniel) who ran the Nurmi circuit. Arrested on 8th August 1942 by Vichy Police in Lyon, was released.  Escaped to Spain and interned in Miranda de Ebro.  Escaped and arrived in Britain March 1943.  Returned in Operation COVEY.   Brzosko, deported from Paris to Buchenwald (convey. 77105) then transferred to Dora, Ellrich and Bergen-Belsen.  Liberated on 15th April 1945.
2nd Lt. Jan Ciaś,	Jan Kulaj, Jan Kawka	12th April 1944   WELLER 14	Cichociemni trained.   Ciaś was a courier for MON and trained as a W/T operator and dropped over Bełżyce. Initially based in Bychawa then Kielce District.   Caught in a round up and tortured, managed to escape and eventually masqueraded as a POW James Gillilland of the Cameron Highlanders.   repatriated on SS Duchess of Richmond via Naples and Gibraltar to Gourock docking on 17th April 1945.
Czer (Szewczyk), Piotr. 2nd Lt.	Czer	17-18th February 1943 FLOOR	Had been assigned to the Lvov-Miasto area for sabotage missions and participated in the liberation of Lvov between 23rd and 27th July 1944.   Arrived in Paris in 1945.   He returned to Warsaw on 15th October 1945 where he was arrested by the NKVD, charged with spying, and sentenced to death.  Later this was changed to 15 years in prison after petitions sought commute the sentence and was released under amnesty on 8th May 1956.
Chirurg. Pvt.			AK POW. No records or known whereabouts
Dr. Chorzewski, Zenon			Listed as a POW and repatriated to Britain by SAARF. Returned to Gdansk, Poland and in post war period pioneered surgical procedures at the Railway Hospital, Navy and Home Office Hospital for injured war veterans.
Ciecek, Mieczyslaw	Dąbrowa Dombrowski	Polish Ministry of Interior (MON) agent.	Listed as POW. Possibly an escapee and repatriated to Britain.   Believed arrested by UB on 13th August 1951 in Kraków.  Sentenced to death and shot in Mokotów prison in Warsaw.
Czajkowski, Andrzej, Rudolf. Capt.	Garda	16-17th April 1944 WELLER 10   E/ UP courier	Oversaw resupply drops to Warsaw and remained underground after the collapse of the Warsaw Rising 1944.  Arrested in December 1944 in Częstochowa by the Gestapo.  He survived being imprisoned in Groß-Rosen concentration camp and Mittelbau-Dora that ironically made V1 and V2 rockets.  He returned to Poland in 1949 and was arrested in Kraków on 13th August 1951 by the UB for espionage and sentenced to death.  Despite appeals, he was shot on 10th October 1953. Liberated by US 1st Army. Returned to Britain via Euphemia (S.P.U. 22) on 8th May 1945.
Czuma, Józef. Capt.	Skryty, Krótki	17-18th February 1943 FLOOR	Leader of AK unit Skryty.  Arrested by Gestapo on 12th July 1944 and murdered in Pawiak prison. Listed as POW camp VII-A, Murnau, but not appear on roll.
Dobrzański, Jerzy. Capt.		Thought to be an E/ UP courier who fought in Carlsbad, Czechoslovakia.	Arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and sent to Gross-Rosen, then in Sachsenhausen concentration camp.  Representing underground unit of 1,000 Poles who fought at Carlsbad in Czechoslovakia.   Camp liberated 20-21st April 1945 by 1st and 47th Polish People’s Army under Soviet control.   Repatriation via SHAEF with debriefing by General Tabor.   Post war ran a successful transport company and rally car driver.
Hardie-Douglas, Joanna, – Polish Citizen. Married to Jerzy Hardie-Douglas, Capt. British Military Mission to Poland prior to the war.			POW in Stalag VI or VII-C SOE reported interest. Repatriated by S.P.U.22.   AK nursing volunteer attached to No.7th Company in No. 6 Group during the Warsaw Uprising under the command of BELT. (TNA/ HS4-211)
Eckhardt, Hugo Mieczyslaw, Lt.	Bocian, Czajka	1-2nd September 1942 SMALLPOX	Listed as POW, murdered November 1942 in Dawidgródek, Belarus.
Gałacki, Adolf, Marian. Lt.	Maszop, Bujda.	12-13th April 1944 WELLER III	Took part in the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944 and taken prisoner. Listed as a POW, he had been held in Oflag II-D Gross-Born labour camp and after liberation by the 1st Polish People’s Army returned to Poland. He continued contact with underground movement until his escape in 1946 to the USA.
Gertz, Wanda.Maj.	Kazik		AK women’s officer. Fought in Polish Legion in WW1 and in the Ochotnicza Legia Kobiet during the Polish-Russian war 1921. Was part of the Kedyw and fought in the Warsaw Uprising 1944.  Captured after the collapse of the Rising and imprisoned in several camps.  Forced march from Molsdorf to Blankenhain in April 1945 and liberated on 13th May 1945 by US 89th Division. Worked with DPs in Germany and Italy and the Polish Resettlement Corps.
Glawacki, Tadeusz		Polish agent (VI Bureau)	Based in Budapest and had list of collaborators and German agents in Hungary and prioritised for repatriation to Britain with his wife via Plzen.
Gorecki, Gustaw. Lt.	Gustaw		AK officer.  Listed as a POW and repatriated via Paris.
Gaworski, Tadeusz. Capt.	Lawa	25-26th January 1943 BRACE	Led a platoon attack on the airfield at Okęcie during the Rising.  After the collapse of the uprising, he escaped to the Kampinos forest and joined Palmiry-Młociny regiment.  He was part of the units that successfully attacked the SS RONA brigade.  He escaped and joined units in the Brudzewici forest and continued to harass German units with success including the attack on the Piaski Królewkie saw mill.    Entailed with escorting Bor-Komorowski’s family to Britain and arrived on 9th October 1945.
Grocholski, Kazimierz. 2nd Lt. PAF			POW since 1939 held in camp VII-A, Murnau.   Brother worked for VI Bureau and agreed to allow Kazimierz to join him in Britan.
Górski, Jan. Col.	Hanski, Antoni	14-15th March 1943 STEP	He conducted sabotage operations near Warsaw and Kraków and was caught in Kraków in August 1945.  He was executed either by firing squad or, while trying to escape from the camp at Lengenfeld, a sub-camp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp in the Fitchel Mountains in Bavaria close to the Czech border.
Górski, Wojcioch. 2nd Lt.	II Biały, I Jacob		Listed as POW was enlisted in the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade prior to repatriation to Britain.
Gutry, Kazimierz. Capt.	Zuch, Suchy		Listed as a POW.  Arrested by Gestapo in Yugoslavia end 1941 probably in Jagodina.  No listings and presumed murdered.
Gutry, Władysław. Capt.	Grot		Listed as POW.  Arrested by Gestapo in Yugoslavia end 1941.  No listings and presumed murdered.
Hencel, Jan. 2nd Lt.	Pik	29-30th October 1942 PLIERS	Listed as POW. The plane crashed into the mountainside at Helleren, south of Stavanger in Norway.
Hermal, Ludwik. Lt.			AK officer.  Listed as POW. No other details known.
Hörl, Jan, Wilhel. 2nd Lt.	Frog, Flet	13-14th March 1945 STOCK	Arrested by the police on 6th August 1943 in Lublin.  Interrogated by the Gestapo in Pawiak prison, he was subsequently shot in the ruins of the Jewish ghetto.
Dr. Hurwicz, Maria.			AK soldier held in women’s camp Stalag VI-C.  To be reunited with husband and work/ assist in rehabilitation camp in Poland.
Ipohors-Lenkiewicz, Wiesław. Lt.	Zagrode, Czapla	30-31st March 1942 LEGGING	Listed as POW, however on 14th January 1943 he was arrested by the Abwehr in Kiev and disappeared – presumed murdered.
Jachciński, Henryk. Lt. (US citizen, volunteer)	Kret	20-21st February 1943 RIVET	During the Uprising he was platoon commander of heavy machine gun detachment “Gustawa” based in Ochota before being sent to reinforce “Ryś” Battalion in Mokotów on 19th August 1944. Captured and then sent to Stalag XI-A.   Repatriated on 4th August 1945.
Jackiewicz, Bolesław. Capt.	Łabedz, Wilia	8-9th April 1944 WELLER 4	Listed as POW. A veteran of Narvik, was assigned to the Radom-Kielce District and after the AK were disbanded, joined WiN until his arrest in November 1945 and released in February 1947.
Jalenski, Czesław, 2nd Lt.			Listed as POW. AK officer held in Murnau and carried list of whereabouts of leading AK figures and was repatriated to Britain.
Jemioła, Pawel/ Jan Freisler,.	Ksawery, Jan Freisler, Jan Bielański		Listed as POW. AK Courier and known as Jan Freisler from Nowy Sącz.  Ran a courier network carrying political intelligence to Budapest.  Caught several times by the Slovak border guards and managed to escape.  In 1941 caught with Mieczysław Horyński who was murdered in Auschwitz.  On the German occupation of Hungary, he returned to Poland and formed the ‘Świerk’ unit that operated in Nowy Sącz to Beskid Sądecki.  He hid in Kraków and escaped to London via Paris in May/ June 1945. Returned to Poland to support WiN and was caught on 31st October 1945 by the UB.  Imprisoned in Mokotów prison and tortured.  Imprisoned for 8 years on 30th April 1947, Bolesław Bierut commuted his prison sentence to death and carried out immediately.
Jankowski, Stanisław. Lt.	Burek	3-4th March 1942 COLLAR	Listed as POW.  He worked in the AK Wydział Legalizacji i Techniki, WD-68 as a forger.  During the Warsaw Uprising fought with the Radosław Group and then taken prisoner.  Sent to Stalag XIII-D in Langwasser near Nürnberg.  On 12th April 1945 many prisoners were marched to Stalag VII-A. Liberated on 16th April 1945 by US he returned to Britain and studied architecture and on completing his studies returned to Poland to work on the reconstruction of Warsaw.   The camp became the Polish Military Centre (Osrodek Wojskowy Langwasser pod Norymberga, 1945-1946) for POWs and DPs. 20% returned home and the majority worked for the US labor Service as guards at the US military camps housing POWs and Nazis.
Jarosz, Janusz	Szermier	14-15th March 1943 STEP	VI Bureau agent, captured on 6th August during Warsaw Rising 1944. He was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp before being transferred to Dachau and then Buchenwald.
Joule			N/K.  Courier for MON? Picked up with 2 other couriers Ksawer, Gustaw. M.E.42 to investigate and arrange repatriation to Britain.
Juszczakiewicz, Stanisław. Col.	Kuba Kornik		AK Career officer.  Served as the commander of the Łódź District until 1941.  Arrested trying to get to Warsaw and escaped.  Transferred to Warsaw May 1942 as head of Dept. 1. Formed on 8th August 1944 ‘Kuba’ unit.  On 13th August 1944 seriously wounded and evacuated after the collapse of the Uprising to Oflag Sandbostel (Stalag X-B) and Lübeck (Oflag X-C).  Temporarily commanded the POW camp after liberation by the British and was sent to Paris for repatriation to Britain.
Kalinka, Józef. Lt. Col.			AK officer. Arrested in 1943 and sent to Auschwitz.  Repatriated by air from Plzen.   Repatriated with his son Lt. Bogusław Kalinka.
Karas, Maj.	Haka		AK women’s officer held in Burg near Herborn, Hesse. OSS assisted by US 12th Army Group in repatriation via S.P.U 22.
Kazimierczak, Stanisław. Sgt.	Ksiądz, Zrebak	16-17th February 1943 VICE	W/T operator and later inspector for the Wilno and Nowogródek District.  Arrested on the border of the General Government with false papers.  Believed to have been sent first to Auschwitz-Birkenau and then Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg where he is thought to have died.
Kijakowski, Czesław (Sagieda – Salski)	Bitner		MON Courier. Left UK 27th February 1941, Liverpool to Spain. Returned 11th January 1943 and returned to Spain via Gibraltar 20th April 1943.
Klima, Franciszek (Hoskens, Newdick)	Oszczep Witoski Dysk	11-12th May 1944 WELLER 18	MON courier.   Had New Zealand citizenship and little is known about his activities.
Klimowski, Tadeusz. Capt. Sometimes addressed as Ostoja-Klimowski	Klon	6-7th January 1942 SHIRT	Commander of 2nd Team of Wachlarz in Równe District and became Chief of Staff for the 27th Volhynian Infantry Division.  Injured, was sent to Warsaw and became deputy commander of the Iwo Battalion and then Ostoja Battalion.  Arrested on 5th October 1944 sent to POW camp Sandbostel under assumed identity.  Transferred VII-A, Murnau  and freed on 25th April 1945 by US Army.  SAARF Team FOUNTAIN PEN   Repatriated and entered the Polish Resettlement Corps on 14th March 1949.
Klimowicz, Władysław, Tadeusz. Lt.	Tama, Kafar	1-2nd October 1942 GIMLET	Listed as a POW. Assigned to the Kedyw Śląsk District and later arrested in Warsaw he took poison during his interrogation in the Gestapo HQ in Aleja Szucha 25 street in Warsaw.
Kolnowski, No known first name or rank.			Arrested by Soviets in Warsaw in October 1944.  Listed as a POW, little trace remained.
Konieczko, Stanisław.			Listed as POW in Flossenbürg.  Located in Dachau. Repatriated by SAARF
Kontrym, Boleslaw. Capt.	Zmudzin, Biały	1-2nd September 1942 SMALLPOX	Kontrym was assigned to the Wachlarz for sabotage operations.  Appointed commander of the 3rd battalion (36th Infantry Regiment) until capitulation and sent to POW camps: Lamsdorf, Fallingbostel, Bergen-Belsen, Gross-Born and Oflag X-B Sandbostal.   Initially refused repatriation to Britain due to date of application and returned 11th July 1945.
Kossakowski, Tadeusz. Gen.	Krystynek	29-30th May 1944 WILDHORN II	Listed as POW.  Commanded the AK Armament Production Plant in Warsaw.  Captured in September 1944 and sent to Oflag XVIII-C in Landwasser which became Stalag XVIII-B, then Colditz, then Oflag XVIII-C Markt Pongau near Salzburg in Austria.  Became a DP camp. Returned to Poland to head Polish People’s Army before entering industry.
Kurczewski, Alfred. Capt.	Ambrozja		Deputy Chief of Civilian Combat in Warsaw Uprising 1944 commanding 1st Company ‘Piorun’ and arrested when the uprising collapsed. Found in Oflag XC, Lubeck.  Returned to Poland in February 1946 and arrested in 1949 and sent to Mokotów prison and tortured.  Sentenced to death for being a fascist-Nazi criminal he was released in 1956.
Lewko, Kazimierz. 2nd Lt.	Palec, Gazowy	14-15th September 1943 NEON 9	Listed as a POW.  Shot down over the coast of Denmark near Esbjerg with all killed in action.
Lewkowicz, Bronislaw Franciszek. Maj.	Kurs, Jarosław	27-28th April 1944 WELLER 21	Posted to the aviation department in the 3rd Operational Department as an operational and tactical officer.  He was sent to the AK base in the Kampinos Forest where he was attached to the “Palmiry-Młociny” Regiment.  Their base was a location for airdrops during the Uprising.  On the collapse of the Uprising, he joined to 25th Infantry Regiment and escaped towards Piotrków and killed on 4th November 1944 in a skirmish with Soviet and Hungarian troops.   Listed as POW camp VII-A, Murnau, his name is not on the roll.
Łopianowski, Narcyz. Maj.	Grot, Władysław	15-16th April 1944 WILDHORN 1	Commander of Armoured Centre in Warsaw.  Commanded Bełt, Sokół and Stefan Battalions.  After the Uprising he was sent to Stalag Küstrin and VII-A, Murnau.  Not on roll.   Repatriated on 25th June 1945 SAARF Team DESK
Marcjan, Marii	Magda		Courier working between France and Switzerland allotted to Women’s Auxiliary Service for entry into Britain to circumvent Foreign Office block.
Marek, Jan, Franciszek. 2nd Lt.	Walka, Zew	6-7th January 1942 SHIRT	Listed POW, however nothing is known of his whereabouts.
Marynowski, Edmund. F/Lt.	Sejm, Senat	27-28th April 1944 WELLER 21	Attached to the AK HQ as flight liaison in the Aviation Command.  During the Rising, he fought with the “Zaremba-Piorun” Battalion as the commander of the “Jura” Company.  After the collapse of the Uprising, he was imprisoned in Stalag 344 Lamsdorf, and then to Oflag VII-A Murnau in Bavaria with liberation on 29th April 1945. SAARF Team FOUNTAIN PEN
Makowski, Michal. Capt.	Capt. Michal Benn, Andrzj 2, Tomek 2.	Operation EDES 16th September until 13th December 1944 with Force 139 in Greece.  Attached to Gen. Zervas.	Completed his Cichociemny training in Italy.  Acted as PLO in Epirus and Corfu. Was due to parachute into Poland post FRESTON team.  Went to Poland and helped family escape via Paris, France.
Mazecki, Janusz. Lt.			AK Officer.  Listed as POW. Nothing known of his whereabouts.
Mazgaj, Kazimierz. Cpl.	Leon		Cichociemni trained, but little detail on his activities.  Listed as POW possibly in Gross-Rosen. Sent to Polish Legation in Paris for repatriation.
Mich, Stefan. Capt.	Jeż, Ciotka	8-9th April 1942 CRAVAT	Part of Section V Wachlarz based in the Wilno-Daugavpils-Połock area.    Commanded the Koszta Company and attacked the PAST building on 20th August 1944.  On 10th September 1944 became commander of the Sosna unit and fought in the city centre.    POW in Sandbostel and liberated by the British on 29th April 1944.   On evacuation from POW camp made his way to the 1st Polish Division, Hamburg and later returned on 21st July 1945.
Michalczewski, Wincenty. Lt.	Mir, Cel. Witold Romeyko	3-4th September 1942 MEASELS	Listed POW.  Part of the Wachlarz 4th Quatermaster Dept IV.  Caught by the Gestapo in Lviv on 17th April 1943 was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and then moved to Mathausen-Gussen on 8th November 1943.  Liberated on 5th May 1945 and repatriated to Britain on 17th May 1945.  Returned to Poland in 1948 working for a construction company in Radom and had a distinguished career in construction and supplies as a designer. .
Milewicz, Zygmunt. Capt.	Róg	3-4th March 1942 COLLAR	Initially assigned to Syrena Air Transfer Dept planning drops over Poland.  On 1st September 1944, he commanded the Czata 49 battalion in Czerniaków.  During the Rising, he managed the reception committees for airdrops in the Śródmieście District.  Seriously wounded, returned to the lines to manage the air drops from November 1944.  In July 1945 left for Britain and joined the PRC.
Mrazek, Zbigniew. Capt.	Aminus	12-13th April 1944 WELLER 14	Joined the Baszta Regiment during the Uprising and fought in the Mokotów district where he was wounded.   POW camp XI-A after taken prisoner in the Uprising, then to VII-A, Murnau SAARF  Team DESK Wife repatriated to Britain.  Decided to return to Poland in 1947 to read Law and spent much time being ‘rehabilitaed’ to practice law iin the 1950s.
Nikodemski, Victor		From December 1941 to April 1943 was operating in Puy Dome and Lyons area. Associated with Grassal, Jaculewicz and Dziezgowski in the NURMI Circuit.	NURMI Circuit, France. Part of the P.O.W.N Organisation led by Colonel Antoni Zdrojewski (aliases: Nestor, Daniel). Liquidated offices at 25 Quai d’ Orsay Paris, in March 1946.
Ossowski, Stanisław. Capt.	Jastrzębiec 2	30-31st July 1944 JACKET 1	Arrived in Warsaw at the outbreak of the Uprising and attached to “Topór” section in the Śródmieście with Jacek Bętkowski as an assault team.  On 15th September was wounded on the assault on the Chinese Embassy building and then made commander of the “Iwo” and “Ostoja” Battalions before being captured under a false identity and sent to Germany.  He was released on 29th April from XB Sandbostel POW camp by US Troops but recorded as being in VII-A,   SAARF repatriation to Britain on 25th June 1945 Team FOUNTAIN PEN.
Patkowski, Stanisław, Lt.	Stanisław Prus	VI Bureau agent sent to Ankara, Turkey autumn 1944.	Arrived in Britain with Ms. Hanna Lerner who worked for the British in Istanbul.
Piasecka, Irena. Capt.	Elżbieta, Kreska		AK Officer. Former head of AK Information and Propaganda Office. During the Uprising was responsible for communications and fought at Holy Cross Church located on Krakowskie Przedmieście.   On capitulation, sent to Lamsdorf (Stalag VIII-B) until 30th October 1944 and then transferred to Molsdorf Oflag IX-C) and Blankenheim.  Freed by the US Army.  Repatriated to Britain she was sent to support WiN as a refugee registered with the Red Cross from Aschaffenburg Displaced Persons Camp (Jaeger Kaserne) for Poles.  In October 1945 arrested and escaped by jumping out of the window of the Ministry of Security and broke both legs.  Returned to Britain in January 1946.  Returned to Poland in 1974.
Pijanowski, Wacław Jan. Lt.	Dym, Rażny	26-27th January 1943 GAUGE	Assigned to Aviation Dept. of III Operational Department as head of technical and supply section.  Produced grenades and petrol bombs during the fighting.  Escaped as a civilian and then imprisoned in Prusków (Dulag 121 transit camp), Oflag IX-C Erfurt and Ohrduft camps. Listed as POW in Ohrdurf.  It was a forced labour and concentration camp and part of Buchenwald camp complex.  Liberated 4th April by US 4th Armoured Division and 89th Infantry Division of the 3rd US Army.
Piotrowski, Julian. 2nd Lt.	Rewera 2	30-31st July 1944 JACKET 1	He fought as tactical adjutant to “Topór” section in the Śródmieście with Jacek Bętkowski Stanisław Ossowski as an assault team and operated around Wspólna, Emilii Plater and ul. Noakowskiego.  Captured, he was imprisoned in Ożarów, Kostrzyn, Sandbostel then VII-A, Murnau. Repatriated by SAARF on 25th June 1945 by Team DESK
Poliszuk, Jerosław Dawid. 2nd Lt.	Arab, Arba	14-15th September 1943 NEON 6	Arrested by Gestapo 15th October 1944 and imprisoned in Pawiak before being transported to Groß-Rosen and after to Hersbruck.  Liberated at POW camp VII-A, Murnau on 29th April 1945. Listed as in Dachau. SAARF Team FOUNTAIN PEN
Pomykaj, Witold. 2nd Lt.			AK officer held in Oflag X-C Schwadtau near Lubeck.  Initially refused entry to Britain until learned he worked for the department of information for the AK and had confidential information.
Puciłowski, Antoni. 2nd Lt.	Jean Sawin Roland Tworek	23rd July 1943 COVEY	Trained Cichociemni (0187) Part of Operation MONIKA to infiltrate Brig. General Jozef Zdrojewski (Daniel, Nestor) to lead Polska Organizacja Walki o Niepodleglosc (POWN).   Arrested 26th April 1944 at Roche-La-Molière near St. Etienne.  Taken to Montluc prison in Lyon.  Shot on 16th June 1944 at St. Didier-de-Formans, Ain.
Putowski, Leon. Lt.	Pakulski,		Listed POW.  Fought in the Warsaw Rising 1944 with Pięść Battalion on Kazimierz Wielki Square. Not known whereabouts and possibly murdered.
Raczkowski, Czeslaw. Capt.	Włodek	15-16th February 1941 ADOLPHUS	Listed as POW in Stalag XIII-C in Hammelburg, near Wurzburg.  Used as a work camp distributing Red Cross parcels until liberation on 6th April 1945 by US 14th Armoured Division.   He was part of the Delegutry.  Dropped in Czechoslovakia in error and imprisoned for there for 3 months before entering Poland.
Razski, Mrs.			Wife of Air Commodore Razski.  Escaped to Plzen with NKVD showing interested in her and crossed the ‘Green Border’ to the Allies sector. Priority repatriation to Britain.
Riedl, Adam, Pawel. 2nd Lt.	Rodak, Krata	13-14th March 1943 DOOR	Riedl was assigned as Adjutant to the commander of the Kielce Home Army District.  Arrested either in January or March 1944, he was sent to Groß-Rosen concentration camp and murdered.
Rogowski, Jan. Lt.	Czarka, Kacz	3-4th March 1942 COLLAR	Listed as POW. Arrested by Gestapo with Jan Piwnik.  Both managed to escape and reached Warsaw in September 1942 and then sent to an AK cell in Kielce.  In June 1942 he commanded the 1st Warsaw platoon of the 2nd Battalion.  On 18th January 1943, he staged a daring prison break in Pinsk and continued daring missions to sabotage and raid arms dumps or steal cash until finally wounded after attacking a train at Łączna on 12th – 13th July 1943.  Caught by the Gestapo on 3rd January 1944 driving a lorry over a bridge with Fryderyk Serafiński at Białobrzeg with supplies, he was taken to Radom and tortured before being shot on 16th February 1944.
Romaszkan, Roman, Antoni. Lt.	Tatar, Wesoły	8-9th April 1942 CRAVAT	Listed POW Assigned to Section V of the Wachlarz in Vilnius as a commander of a sabotage patrol.  Returned to Warsaw due to ill health and then returned to the field as part of the Kedyw in Kielce. September 1943 became an instructor in the Jerzyki Special Insurgent units.  In December 1943 attempted an attack in Volhynia and then commanded 27th Volhynian Infantry Division.  Failed to join the Uprising due to detention in Praga.    Arrested by the NKVD on 26th December 1944 and sentenced to 6 years in prison and released under amnesty on 5th December 1945. On 15th February was killed in a car crash thought to be ‘orchestrated’ by the UB.
Rostek, Jan. Lt.	Dan, Aga	27-28th March 1942 BOOT	Listed POW, but was transferred to the intelligence unit in Kiev and arrested on 14th January 1943 by the Abwehr and murdered.
Rowecki, Stefan. Gen.	Kalina		Arrested by the Gestapo on 30th June 1943 in Warsaw through betrayal by Ludwik Kalstein, Eugeniusz Świerczewski and Blanka Kaczorowska – Gestapo agents.  Sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp and on the orders of Heinrich Himmler killed on 2nd August 1944.   Camp liberated 20-21st April 1945 by 1st and 47th Polish People’s Army under Soviet control.
Rubach-Połubinski, Zbigniew, Lt.	Admiral		AK Officer in Zamośc and was Head of the Legalisation Office Dept I (P) in Warsaw.   Listed POW No known whereabouts.
Rudnicki, Stanisław, Gen.			Imprisoned by NKVD on Soviet invasion under a false name, went to the Polish II Corps and commanded 6th Infantry Division.  Commanded 1st Armoured Division based in Germany until 1947.
Runge, Tadeusz, Maciej. Maj.	Osa, Papa, Jan Kurcz, Witold	9-10th April 1944 WELLER 2	Acted as Quartermaster for the Area Supply Centre (CTZ) for the Kedyw.  In the Warsaw Uprising fought with the Czata 49 Battalion. He was wounded in the head and hand and hospitalised by travelling through the sewers.  Caught and imprisoned in Pruszków (Dulag 121), a transit camp and then Skierniewice in central Poland, he escaped on 15th November 1944 and hid in Milanówek and then Podkowa until 19th July 1945.  He remained underground working for NIE. As a wanted man by the UB, he escaped to Czechoslovakia and crossed the ‘green border’ and on 5th September 1945 reached the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade based at Bersenbrück.   Joined the PRC on 17th September 1945 and then in 1973 returned to Poland.   However, he was listed as a POW in VII-A, Murnau.
Samatus, Tadeusz	Lis Rubenstein	17-18th February 1943 RASP	MON Representative parachuted into Poland in 1943.  Arrived in Plzen with his wife travelling on false identity papers and passport in the name of Rubenstein. SAARF repatriation.
Sawicki, Kazimierz. Gen.			Career officer.  Interned in Hungary and decided to return to Poland.  Commanded the AK Lwow area from September 1941 until 31st July 1943.  Head of the 3rd echelon of the Staff in AK HQ.  Caught and imprisoned XIII-D Langwasser and then Colditz.   Listed as a POW he was repatriated to Britain in 1948 and later became President of the Polish Republic on 8th August 1955 until resignation on 11th October 1955.
Träger, Augustyn. Col.	Sek T-1		Ex-Chief of Staff to Okulicki.   Had worked on the spying on the trials of V1 weapon on the Island of Usedom (Uznam) as part of Bałtyk 303 cell.   His son, Roman penetrated Peenemünde who had been conscripted into the Wehrmacht and reported on the V1 launches as ‘aerial torpedoes with flames emitting from the rear’.   Believed to have been POW released by Soviet Army and escaped over the ‘Green Border’ to Plzen. Arrived in Britain via Brussels without full interrogation or debrief.
Skrobanski, Zygmunt.	Bikle		AK Officer operating in the Wola and Old Town districts of Warsaw during the Uprising but attached to Department II of the AK in Warsaw.  Caught and late in the war was transferred to Murnau. SAARF Team FOUNTAIN PEN
Siakiewicz, Władysław. 2nd Lt.	Mruk, Sojka	14-15th September 1943 NEON 9	Listed as a POW.  Shot down over the coast of Denmark near Esbjerg with all killed in action.
Skowroński, Ryszard, Kazmierz. 2nd Lt.	Lechita, Antena	14-15th September 1943 NEON 9	Listed as a POW.  Shot down over the coast of Denmark near Esbjerg with all killed in action.
Slewinski, Jerzy. Lt.			AK officer listed as POW. Repatriated to Britain with little known details.
Smietanko, Władysław Ryszard. 2nd Lt.	Cypr, Rowny	30-31st August 1944 JACKET 1	Specialist W/T operator and communications and sent to Warsaw AK HQ. Operated W/T in Wanda 02 station.  Captured and sent to Oflag X.B Sandbostal.   Repatriated probably via M.E. 42 on 19th July 1945.
Smolski, Kazimierz. Lt.	Sosna, Szkło	3-4th September 1942 MEASELS	Assigned to Section IV in the Wachlarz and based in Borysów.  Arrested on 9th December 1942 during the mass Gestapo arrests in Minsk.  Imprisoned he escaped the slaughter of prisoners in a grenade attack by guards and after torture sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau on 10th December 1942.  Transferred to Mathausen-Gussen in December 1944.  Transferred first to Redl-Zipf as a slave labourer (V2 rocked facility known as Schlier) and then Gusen II (St. Georgen).  Liberated on 6th May 1945. Repatriated to Britain from Linz, Austria by SAARF.    He returned to Poland in July 1945 and joined the Polish People’s Army until 1946.
Sokołowski, Stanisław, Antoni. Capt.	Ziomek II, Mucha III, Skarbek	28th June1942 Ad-Glove In Continental Action, France	Listed POW held in Dora Concentration camp near Nordhausen.  Had been held in Stalag XI-B Fallingbostel.   SAARF repatriation 7th May 1945.
Stoły, Olgierd	Stewa	Courier 14-15th March 1943 STEP	Arrested 6th August 1944 during the Warsaw Uprising.   Listed as POW. Whereabouts not known.
Sulkowski, Danuta			Found in Stalag VI and VII-C POW Probably left for Britain via S.P.U 22.
Szpakowicz, Wieslaw. Lt.	Pak, Cwok	29-30th October 1942 PLIERS	Died in plane crash near Helleren, Norway although listed as a POW.
Szpakowicz, Wieslaw. Lt.	Pak, Cwok	29-30th October 1942 PLIERS	Died in plane crash near Helleren, Norway although listed as a POW.
Szubiński, Władysław. Capt.	Dach, Assessor	1-2nd October 1942 LATHE	Assigned offensive intelligence officer attached to II Department of Information and Intelligence. Arrested by Gestapo in November 1942 in Warsaw, he was taken to Pawiak prison and probably murdered.
Tajchman, Michał. Capt.	Mikita, Tyran	26-27th January 1943 GAUGE	Worked as head of the aviation dept 3rd Division in AK HQ.  Initially trained as a rear-gunner with 301st Bomber Squadron, he also attended artillery school.  He participated in the Warsaw Uprising, however there are conflicting accounts of what happened to him ranging from KIA, arrested by Gestapo in Warsaw 1944 and murdered or murdered by the UB in 1946.
Taworski, Tadeusz, Stanisław. Lt.	Czujny II, Dubr II	Claimed 4-5th May 1944	Listed POW.  There is no trace of any matching details on returned POW lists.
(Ryś) Trojanowski, Mieczysław. Brig.			Listed as POW. AK career officer, fled to Hungary after the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939.  Part of the Polish underground acted as a liaison between the AK and initially the exiled army HQ in Budapest.  Arrested after the Nazi invasion of Hungary and sent to Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.  He was murdered on 4th April 1945.
Truszkowski, Adam. 2nd Lt.	Jerzy Józef		AK Officer. Broadcasted the call for uprising on Polish radio. Listed as POW in Oflag XC, however appears KIA during the Uprising.
Weber, (?). Col.			Listed as POW.  No known trace.
Wiącek, Wiktor. Lt.	Kanarek Rakoczy	19-20th March 1943 BEAM	Sabotage instructor in Vilnius and later attached to the Zygmunta Szendzielarza “Łupaszki” unit.  Was responsible for many sabotage, liquidation and derailments against the Soviets, Germans and Lithuanian troops in the region.  Carried out reprisal raids against the Lithuanians at Dubinki after atrocities at Glinciski on 23rd June 1944.  After the disbandment of the 5th Brigade went into hiding and assumed crossed the ‘Green Border’ on 1st August 1945 and arrived in Britain on 7th September 1945.
Wierzejski, Tomasz. Maj.	Zgoda	13-14th May 1944 WELLER 29	Initially posted to Vilnius, he was posted to Warsaw to command.  On 19th August, he was injured when an explosion caused serious damage to their post and injured again a few days later.  He took over the command of the “Czata 49” Battalion and later fought in the Czerniaków area as Warsaw was reduced to rubble.  Sent to POW camp Murnau VII-A, he was liberated by US 12th Armoured Division on 29th April 1945. Repatriated on 5th June 1945 by SAARF Team FOUNTAIN PEN
Wilczkiewicz, Zbigniew. 2nd Lt.	Kij Świder	24-25th May 1944 WELLER 23	In Warsaw, he was a platoon leader in the Kiliński Battalion.  He saw extensive action in the streets of Warsaw during the Uprising.  With the defeat of the Battalion, he became commander of the 9th Romański company in the Rum Battalion, then of the 1st company of the 4th Gurt Group.  After capitulation he was sent to VII-A, Murnau. Repatriated by SAARF on 25th June 1945 by Team DESK.
Wilski, Jerzy. Maj.		23-24th September 1944	Listed POW. Mathausen on IRC roll of names.  Listed as refugee.   Details do not match known operations or AK roll.
Wisniewski, Edmund	Georg		AK, imprisoned in Auschwitz and Buchenwald after Warsaw Uprising 1944.  Made his way to Brussels.
Winiarski, Zdzisław. 2nd Lt.	Przemytnik	11-12th May 1944 WELLER 18	Zdzisław Winiarski was sent to Białystok on 22nd July and failed to meet his contact, so returned to Warsaw.  During the Uprising, he fought with the NSZ and Chrobry II group.  From 5th August he was a leading officer in the “Kiliński” Battalion and then from 1st September “Rum” Assault Battalion.   VII-A, Murnau, repatriated on 25th June 1945 by SAARF Team DESK
Witkowski, Ludwik. Capt.		20-21st February 1943 FILE	In July 1943 he joined the Batalionu Saperów Praskich under the command of Capt. Józef Pszenny (Chwacki) and later commanded his own cell “Kosa” which was responsible for many actions against the Germans.  These including stealing weapons from a train at Skruda near Niwa Babicka and attacking other trains at Choszczówka and Dębe Wielkie in the autumn of 1943.  On 26th July 1944 he was commander of a Guards unit in Warsaw and captured the Victoria Hotel.  He also attacked the police HQ.  Taken prisoner on the capitulation of the Rising, he was treated as a POW and sent to Lamsdorf (Stalag VIII-B) then VII-A, Murnau.   Repatriated by SAARF 29th June 1945.  Team FOUNTAIN PEN
Wojewoda, Bolesław and wife.			MON Agents working in Budapest and Slovakia.
Wojciech, Siedlecki. Pvt			AK soldier found in POW camp near Lille.  He was 16 years old.
Wojtowicz, Jan. 2nd Lt.			AK officer listed POW No known details.
Wolniak, Bogusław. Maj.	Mieta	24-25th July 1944 WILDHORN III	Listed POW. Assigned to V Communications Dept.  During the Uprising was 2nd in command in Śródmieście. After capitulation was imprisoned inn Oflag VII Woldenberg and liberated by the Soviets on 30th January 1945. Returned to Poland and from February to June 1945 was technical head of communications for the remnants of the AK. Arrested on 23rd June 1945 by the NKVD, released under amnesty on 6th October 1945.  Became a journalist on Głos Anglia in Kraków before working as an estimator in the construction industry.
Zahorski, Wiktor. Maj.	Tramp, Zadora, Witold		Listed as POW. Arrived in Belgrade August 1940 and commanded II Bureau cell.  Arrested by Gestapo in Beograd, Yugoslavia September 1941.  Little known about his whereabouts and assumed murdered.
Zalewski, Janusz. Lt.	Chinek, Zand	30th March 1942 LEGGING	He was arrested with Wiesław Ipohorski-Lenkiewicz by the Abwehr on 14th January 1943 and killed on 8th March 1943.
Zaorski, Wacław. Capt.	Ryba, Łuska	3-4th September 1942 MEASELS	Assigned to Section IV of the Wachlarz, based in Minsk where he took part in sabotage operations and blowing up rail networks at Plisa, Belarus on 4th December 1942.  Later he became commander of the AK base at Bobruysk in Belarus. Arrested on 8th December 1942 by the Gestapo, poisoned himself during torture. Listed POW
Zapała, Leon. Lance -Sgt.	Rene Lefevre Owidjusz	6th January 1944. COLONY/ JOHN 11 (Part of operation BARDSEA)	Cichociemni trained (3286/ 1589). Kms S.S.E of La Tour-du-Pin, towards Les Abrets in the Isère Department.   Arrested 3rd August 1944 in Leforest, Pas-de-Calais and deported to Sachsenhausen.  Camp liberated 20-21st April 1945 by 1st and 47th Polish People’s Army under Soviet control.  Survived and returned to Roche-La-Molière in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, just west of St. Etienne.
Zarembiński, Wiktor. Maj.	Zrab, Azis	3-4th September 1942 MEASELS	Zarembiński was assigned to the Lwów District as the deputy commander of the Lvov City Inspectorate.  Captured by the Gestapo on 17th February 1943 in Lvov and tortured before committing suicide.
Zawadzki, Alfred. Lt.	Kos, Blady	8-9th April 1942 CRAVAT	Listed as a POW.  He was assigned to the 3rd Operational Department in the Silesian district.  In December 1942, he was arrested by the Gestapo on the Piotrowice railway station and transferred to Cieszyn and murdered.
Zborowski, Józef		Poland 1944	Dropped into Poland via Italy in 1944 and had belonged to the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade.  Little known of the operation but thought to be near Rzeszów and possibly killed in the jump.
Żórawski, Bogusław, Modest. Capt. Navy Plus, family	Mistral, Tajfun.	16-17th September 1943 NEON 2	He was attached to the “Lombard” team in offensive intelligence of the 2nd Department in Warsaw monitoring shipping.  He was caught during the Uprising and transported to Kraków form which he escaped only to be caught again and sent to Germany for labour and freed by French forces on 29th April 1945 from Ravensburg Wife repatriated to Britain.
Zyga, Ryszard. 2nd Lt.	Lelum, Słon	14-15th September 1944 NEON 6	Arrested by Gestapo 15th October 1943 with Jarosław Poliszuk (Arab) and imprisoned in Pawiak.  Then transported to to possibly Groß-Rosen and after to Hersbruck and Dachau, from where they were liberated on April 29, 1945 by the US 42nd Infantry Division.   Listed as POW camp VII-A, Murnau then transferred to Dachau.   Repatriated by SAARF 29th June 1945.

Sources: Chlebowski (1988); Lorys, (1993); TNA/ HS3-66; TNA/ HS4-263; TNA/ HS8-880, List of the fallen insurgents compiled by the Warsaw Uprising Museum, Warsaw and cross referenced to Sonderfahndungsbuch-polen and La Memoire de la Deportation.

On 11^th June 1945 “T” Force Detachment based at the HQ 12^th Army Group requested female members of the Polish Army were to be flown to Britain and report to the GHQ based in the Rubens Hotel, Victoria London (TNA/ HS 4-263).  The women had been in a Polish women’s POW camp and had most likely been imprisoned after the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944.  The group presented several issues relating to transportation and responsibility for them since they were not technically SOE or the exiled Polish army, but AK veterans.  The women were listed as:

1. Dr. Leszczynski/ Toszcynska, Zofia
2. Dr. Deresz, Irena
3. 2^nd Lt. Litwinowicz, Aleasangra
4. Lt. Wojewodzke, Bronwisława
5. 2^nd Lt. Golebiowska, Halina
6. Packiewicz/ Jankiewicz, Jadwiga
7. Chruscial, Wanda Valina
8. Chruscial, Jadwiga

An additional group of AK members who are listed as the Odessa Group (TNA/ HS4-211) includes: Zbigniew Tabecki, Lt. A. Wegierski, 2^nd Lt. K. Bieda, 2^nd Lt. W. Daszkowski and K. Buszko who arrived in Britain SS Duchess of Richmond via Naples and Gibraltar to Gourock docking on 17^th April 1945.  In London, a group of escaped Polish POWs had made their way to Switzerland to the Polish Legation in Bern (TNA/ HS4-214) that caused concerns amonst the Polish Government-in-Exile, the Swiss and Britain’s Foreign Office stance on repatriation.  Indeed, groups of Polish POWs arrived in the Gambia and Sweden too, adding to the growing problem of who should be repatriated to Britain.

Additionally, as displaced people, several agents or members of the AK made their way to consular offices in Paris, Brussels and Plzen.  344 Agents had been sent to the field of which 60 were known to have been captured by the Germans.  51 military agents were repatriated to Britain with an additional 5 wives with civilian status who had escaped over the ‘green border’ with SAARF tracing a further 26, leaving 58 Poles unaccounted for (TNA/ HS 4-263).  The ‘unaccredited’ displaced Poles presented both logistical and moral problems due to the stance by the Foreign Office. To circumvent the F.O, many joined the Polish 1^st Armoured Division in Hamburg (TNA/ HS 4 – 264).  Some exceptions were made as in the case of Gen. Bor-Komorowski’s family and Tadeusz Gaworski who accompanied the family for security purposes.  They were directed to 25 Rue des Gaullois in Brussels, the former Polish legation house.

Those former agents who arrived in Plzen were:

1. Wojewoda, Cecilia.
2. Wojewoda, Boleslaw – Consular official in Budapest and Slovakia
3. Ferecki, F – Consular official in Budapest, Uzhhorod and Slovakia
4. Razera, Mme.
5. Lis, Samotus (Rubenstein)
6. Lis, (Rubenstein) Mme.

They were directed to 25 Rue des Gaullois in Brussels too.

Postscript:

Much of Europe was in tatters and ruined with public services and transport networks inoperable.  Although the Marshall Plan would repair and reset the European economies during the emerging ‘Cold War’, the need for organisation like M.E. 42 and S.A.A.R.F to root out war criminals and SS personnel masquerading as Wehrmacht POWs was essential in the repairing of Germany and Europe.  The BONZOS reports from M.E 42 and Operation EUPHEMIA plus agents from Project EAGLE indicated a significant number of former Nazis and SS units had disguised themselves as ordinary Wehrmacht soldiers to avoid detection confirmed the Allies fears.  The immediate post-war period was brutal with over a million persons, harsh weather and food shortages that placed both countries and communities close to starvation (Denis, 2013).  However, the Allies faced a dilemma since many of the leading civilians were Nazi party members who were needed to restore order, basic public services and communications networks.  Many had no option but join the party to maintain their civilian and professional roles.  Mass rape in Soviet ‘liberated’ areas shocked the Allies (Beevor, 2002) and was covered up by Stalin’s euphemism ‘immoral event’ that went unpunished by the NKVD (Davies, 2006: 341) leaving the Soviet soldiers to run amok.

For some, the war had not run to its conclusion.  While Germany was divided between the Allies and the Soviet Sector, the hunt for former Nazis, war criminals and looted works of art continued for many decades.  Capt. Andrew Kowerski-Kennedy spent from 1952 to 1954 with Ivan Stanley Moss (referred to as W. Stanley Moss or Billy Moss) seeking out the whereabouts of the remaining Reichsbank reserves of gold and cash believed to be buried in the Klausenhof Mountain near Einsiedl in Bavaria.  They also searched for the Abwehr cash reserves that were thought to be hidden in the nearby area of Garmisch-Partenkirchen forests (Sayer and Botting, 2003).  They were also accredited during this period in uncovering Himmler’s ‘Lebensborn’ programme based on Nazi eugenics.  To produce ‘pure Aryans’ as part of the Reich’s long-term survival and dominance in Europe and Scandinavia, the programme remains controversial to this day for its survivors and families.  The technological race to strip the Nazis of their achievements under the ‘nose’ of the Soviets is well documented (Anon, 2024) and remains a fascinating phase of the concluding days of the war.

Many of the agents in the S.A.A.R.F operation returned to civilian life while some who were attached to M.E. 42 and S.P.U. 22 continued with their work in intelligence services, hence the redactions or blocking of their personnel files in The National Archives in Britain or the Sûreté in Belgium, for example.  Their work was crucial in compiling list of war crimes compiled by SOE’s Security or War Crimes Section (TNA/ HS8-880) and CROWCASS investigators with many, not all, being brought to justice.  The four volume list of Germans and non-Germans involved in war crimes, numbering some 60,000 was overshadowed by the highly public Nuremburg Trials and the Soviet show trials in the late 1940s and 1950s.  For some obscure reason, successive British governments suppressed the lists being made public until 2005.  The screening of former members of the Belgian Waffen SS was an important role in M.E.42’s operations and the MAYFLOWER agents.  The SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien had escaped by sea from Pomerania to Schleswig-Holstein and surrendered to the British Army at Lübeck with approximately 700 troops incarcerated and awaiting processing.  The SS-Sturmbrigade Langemarck who also fought on the Eastern Front were pushed out of the Kurland Pocket and Pomerania by the Soviets.  They surrendered to the Soviets at Mucklenburg on 8th May 1945 with some 2,000 troops being sent to Russia as forced labour with few surviving.  Many surviving SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien were prosecuted for war crimes, serving 10 to 15 years in prison and placed in re-education programmes in an attempt to give recognition to their crimes and rid Europe of Nazis.

The final report on S.A.A.R.F (TNA/ WO219-2426) maintained that a multi-cultural and multi-armed services unit had provided a vital role where excellent communication networks and mobility using jeeps minimised delays between army groups down to units operating in the field.  The evacuation of personnel was handled well given the conditions of the POWs and the state of transport networks.

The Foreign Office’s stance on the repatriation of Polish agents and AK personnel was surrounded by controversies that were not necessarily based on legal status, but probably a misguided stance to avoid upsetting the Soviets.  The archived documents clearly show the degree SOE officers and British representatives in embassies and legations dotted around Europe went to save those who were at personal risk from the Sovietisation of their countries that enabled them to survive and rebuild their disrupted lives.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank Dr. Steve Kippax, Peter Dixon and Clare Mulley for their contributions to this research.  Pierre Tillet’s research into the German paratroopers and 5^th Columnists inflitrated into France in the closing stages of the war was particularly illuminating.  Pierre also provided personal files to verify some of the Polish agents sent to France and their whereabouts at the war’s end.

Selected References :

Anon (2015) “Polonais déserteurs de la Wehrmacht à Autun”, https://www.respol71.com/polonais-deserteurs-de-la-wehrmacht-a-autun (Accessed : January 2025).

Anon, (2024) “Victory in Europe: Germany’s Surrender and Aftermath: April – July 1945”, Naval History and Heritage Command, Published Wenesday 26th June.

Beevor, A. (2002) “Berlin: The Downfall 1945”, Viking, UK.

Boissoneault, L. (2018) “The Nazi Werewolves Who Terrorized Allied Soldiers at the End of WWII”, Smithsonian Magazine, October 30^th.  Accessed 24^th January 2025.

Boyce, F. (2005) “SOE’s Ultimate Deception: Operation Periwig”, Sutton Publishing, UK.

Broza, C. (2010) “The Polish Military Centre at Langwasser near Nuremberg (1945-1946) (Polski Osrodek Wojskowy Langwasser pod Norymberga (1945-1946)), Studia Historyczene, Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 201-220.

Chlebowski, C. (1988) “Pozdrówcie Góry Świętokrzyskie”, Epoka, Poland

Davies, N. (2006) “Europe at War 1939-1945: No Simple Victory”, Macmillan, UK.

Denis, J. (2013) “Hitler’s Accomplices or Stalin’s Victims? Displaced Baltic People in Germany from the end of the War to the Cold War”, Le Mouvement Social, No.244, pp.81-98.

Dilley, M. (2025) “SAARF – Special Allied Airborne Reconnaissance Force”, https://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/WWII/SAARF, (Accessed 08.02.2025)

Dyck, L.H. (2019) “Life and Death Struggle for the Courland Bridgehead”, https://ludwigheinrichdyck.wordpress.com/2019/12/08/life-and-death-struggle-for-the-courland-bridgehead/ (Accessed 01.06.2025)

Eggleston, M.A and O’Connor Rogers, F. (2018) “Operation Hannibal:  The World War II Evacuation of East Prussia & the Disaster at Sea”, CreateSpace, USA.

Ellison, K. (2013) “Frontline Intelligence in WW” – Allied T Forces”, www.academia.edu/12823337/Frontline_Intelligence_in_WW2_III_Allied_T_Forces, (Accessed 08.02.2025)

Ellison, K (2024) “Special Counterintelligence in WW2 Europe (Revised 2021) v.14.4” e-Book, Accessed December 2024.

Fry, H. (2020) “MI9: A History of the Secret Service for Escape and Evasion in World War Two”, Yale University Press, USA.

Hue, A. and Southby-Tailyour, E. (2005) “The Next Moon”, Penguin Books, UK.

Gerth, M. (2024) “Götterdämmerung Averted: Winston Churchill, Flensburg and the Unthinkable”, Diplomacy & Statecraft, Vol.35, No. 1, pp.36-63.

Grunewald, S.C.I. (2024) “From Incarceration to Repatriation: German Prisoners of War in the Soviet Union”, Battlegrounds: Cornell Studies in Military History,USA.

Hunt, V. (2017) “Blood in the Forest:  The End of the Second World War in the Courland Pocket”, Helion & Co, UK.

Kelly, M. (2019) “Crossing the Rhine: The Allies Operation Varsity used immense air power to make the final push into Nazi Germany”, Wartime, No. 87, Australia.

Kesting, R.W. (1993) “The cache, Commandant and Adjutant of Dachau: A Note”, Jewish Social Studies, Vol.50, No.3/4, pp.277-279.

Kochanski, H. (2012) “The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War”, Penguin Books, UK.

Kelly, M. (2019) “Crossing the Rhine: The Allies’ Operation Varsity used immense air power to make the final push into Nazi Germany”, Wartime, No.87, pp. 36-40.

Lak, M. (2009) “Crossing the Rhine: Breaking into Nazi Germany 1944 and 1945 – The Greatest Airborne Battles in History”, The Journal of Military History Society for Military History,  Vol. 73, No.3, pp.996-998.

Luckhurst, T. (2014) “An Unworkable Policy which Encourages the Enemy to Fight to the Last Gasp”, Journalism Studies, D.O.I. 10.1080/ 1461670X.2014.944367.

Longden, S. (2010) T-Force: The Forgotten Heroes of 1945”, Constable, UK.

Moos, M. (2020) “Enemies of the Nazi State from within the Working-Class Movement”,Community Languages, U.K.

Mortimer, G. (2020) “The SAS in occupied France: 1 SAS Operations June to October 1944”, Pen & Sword Books, UK.

Mulley, C. (2013) The Spy Who Loved: the secrets and lives of one of Britain’s bravest wartime heroines”, Pan, UK.

Nichol, J. and Rennell, T. (2002) “The Last Escape: The untold story of Allied Prisoners of war in Germany 1944-45”, Viking, UK.

Niven, B. (2011) “Introductionto ‘Die Wilhem Gustloff: Geschichte und Erinnerung eines Untergangs”, Mitteldeutscher Verlag, pp.305-327.

Nichol, J. and Rennell, T. (2008) “Home Run: Escape from Nazi Europe”, Penguin Books, UK.

O’Connor, B. (2022a) “SOE’s Bonzos: Anti-German prisoners of war trained for sabotage, subversion and assassination missions in Germany before the end of the Second World War”, Vol.1 1944”, Amazon Fulfilment, Poland.

O’Connor, B. (2022b) “SOE’s Bonzos: Anti-German prisoners of war trained for sabotage, subversion and assassination missions in Germany before the end of the Second World War”, Vol.2 February 1945”, Amazon Fulfilment, Poland.

O’Connor, B. (2022c) “SOE’s Bonzos: Anti-German prisoners of war trained for sabotage, subversion and assassination missions in Germany before the end of the Second World War”, Vol.3 March 1945”, Amazon Fulfilment, Poland.

Richards, M; Langthorne, M, and Arthur, M. (2019) “The Hidden Army: MI9’s Secret Force and the Untold Story of D-Day”, John Blake Publishing, UK.

Sayer, I. and Botting, D. (2003) Nazi Gold:  The Sensational Story of the World’s Greatest Robbery – and the Greatest Criminal Cover-up”, Mainstream Publishing, UK.

Somenzari, F. (2019)” The Unconditional Surrender of Germany in the American Perspective: The Case of German Prisoners of War (1945-1947).  Review of History and Political Science, https://doi.org/10.15640/RHPS.V7N1A5

Stover, E; Peskin, V. and Koenig, A. (2016) “Hiding in Plain Sight: The Pursuit of War Criminals from Nuremberg to the War on Terror”, University of California, USA.

Szymanowicz, A. (2020) “Cossacks in the service of the Third Reich”, Scientific Journal of the Military University of Land Forces, Vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 87-102.  https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0014.0263.

Van Maurik, E.H. (2018) “Agent Paterson SOE: From Operation Anthropoid to France: The Memoirs oof E.H. Van Maurik”, Frontline Books, UK.

Vickers, P. (2000) “Das Reich: 2nd SS Panzer Division – Drive to Normandy June 1944”, Pen & Sword Books, UK.

Zigo, P.E. (2019) “Unconditional Surrender: Witnessing History – May 1945: Nazi Germany’s Surrender to the Allies Ending World War II in Europe”, Archway Publishing, USA.

Additional Useful References:

Astor, G. (2000) “The Bloody Forest: Battle for the Hürtgen: September 1944 – January 1945”, Random House, UK.

Baxter, I. (2022) “The Soviet Baltic Offensive, 1944-1945”, Casemate, USA.

Baxter, I. (2025) “The Soviet Battle for Berlin, 1945”, Casemate Illustrated, USA.

Boghardt, T. (2022) “Covert Legions: U.S Army Intelligence in Germany, 1944-1949”, Centre of Military History United States Army, USA.

Fikus, S. (2011) “Opór w III Rzeszy. Wydarzenia, ludzie, interpretacje”, Politechnika Opolska, Poland.

Fine, R. (2023) “The Price of Truth”, Cornell University Press, USA.

Forty, S. (2020) “Across the Rhine: January-May 1945”, Casemate series Then and Now, USA.

Garfinkel, S. et al. (2007) “Nazi War Crimes & Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group”, Final Report, US Congress.

Gwinn, J. (2014) “Scratched: World War II Airborne Operations that Never Happened”, Defense Technical Centre, pp.1-54.

Hall, D.E. (1992) “From the Roer to the Elbe with the 1^st Medical Group: Medical Support of the Deliberate River Crossing”, Defense Technical Centre, pp.1-92.

Hunt, V. (2020) “Blood in the Forest: The End of the Second World War in the Courland Pocket”, Helion & Co, UK.

Jaskulski, W. (2019) “Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ankara in the period of September 1939 – July 1945”, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, Vol.8, No.1, pp.26-33.

Lewis, S.J. (1991) “Jedburgh Team Operations in Support of the 12th Army Group August 1944”, Combat Studies Institute, USA.

MacKenzie, S.P. (1994) “Treatment of Prisoners of War in World War II”, The Journal of Modern History, Vol.66, No.3, pp. 487-520.

McNally, M. (2025) “Hürtgen Forest 1944: The US First Army Route to the Rhine”, Bloosbury, USA.

Messenger, D.A. (2011) “Beyond War Crimes: Denazification, ‘Obnoxious’ Germans and US Policy in Franco’s Spain after the Second World War”, Contemporary European History, Vol.20, No. 4, pp. 455-478.

Merritt, H.C. (2024) “The Latvian Lost Cause: Vetrans of the Waffen-SS Latvian Legion and Post-war Mythogensis”, Journal of Modern European History, Vol.22, No.4, https://doi.org/10.1177/16118944241287727

Murray, G.E. (1999) “Victory in Western Europe: From D-Day to the Nazi Surrender (World War II Chronicles)”, Metro Books, UK.

Nara, L. (2004) “Files Declassified (CIA) and released to NARA”, George Washington University, Accessed 01.03.2025.

Rippon, A and Rippon, N. (2024) D-Day to VE Day: The Final Year of the War in Europe”, Pen& Sword Books, UK.

Walters, G. (2010) “Hunting Evil: The Nazi War Criminals Who Escaped and the Quest to Bring Them to Justice”, Bantam, U.K.

Websites:

https://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/WWII/SAARF

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v11n1_skokoski_page_1.html

https://wardeadregister.be/en

https://www.northlincsweb.net/103Sqn/html/exodus.html

https://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/ww2/battles/battle.php?pid=8925

https://airgunnerbobgilldfm.wordpress.com/raf-graveley/george-f-h-ingram-2nd-skipper/coubronne-raid/pow-repatriation/

https://raf-pathfinders.com/2020/04/30/the-end-of-the-war-approaches-operation-exodus/

https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_H01.html

https://www.mkheritage.org.uk/archive/jt/misc/secret.html

http://www.plan-sussex-1944.net/anglais/pdf/infiltrations_into_france.pdf

https://www.loc.gov/collections/world-war-ii-maps-military-situation-maps-from-1944-to-1945/articles-and-essays/the-battle-of-the-bulge/interactive-timeline

https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/research/national-archives-research/belgian-helper-files-by-box-number-2/

https://www.arch.be/index.php?l=en&m=online-resources&r=archives-online&sr=second-world-war

https://www.weggum.com/Index_C.html – somer Dutch and Belgian agents.

https://www.cegesoma.be/en/resistance-belgium-national-database-resistance-belgium

https://www.militaryhistories.co.uk/surrender/surrender1 – Details of the surrender.

https://eucmh.com/2020/03/17/soe-codes-eto

https://unwcc.org/unwcc-archives/

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/ruhr-pocket-offensive

https://ww2escapelines.co.uk/escapers-evaders/escapers-evaders-europe/freteval-forest/

https://www.trackingthe101st.com/names-of-prisoners-at-oflag

https://armiakrajowa.home.pl/szzak/tabliczki/e-book/memorials.pdf – Memorials and notes on AK units during the Uprising.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/sinking-wilhelm-gustloff

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/operation-varsity-last-allied-airborne-operation-of-wwii/ – Operation VARSITY

https://www.nazi-gold.com – Nazi Gold.

https://www.gedenkstaette-flossenbuerg.de/en/research/archive/datenbank-zu-sowjetischen-kriegsgefangenen – Database of Soviet Prisoners

https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/geschichte/auslaendisch/russlandfeldzug/index.html.en – Soviet POWs and Workers from the East

Selected Films/ Documentaries

“Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen” (Nacht fiel über Gotenhafen) (1960) Directed by Frank Wisbar with Sonja Ziemann and Gunnar Möller.

“Stalag 17” (1953) Directed by Billy Wilder with William Holden, Don Tyler and Otto Preminger.

“The Great Escape” (1963) Directed by John Sturges with Steve McQueen, James Gardner and Richard Attenborough.

“Albert RN” (1953) Directed by Lewis Gilbert with Anthony Steel, jack Warner and Robert Beatty.

“The Cross of Lorraine” (1943) Directed by Tay Garnett with Jean-Pierre Aumont, Gene Kelly and Cedric Hardwicke.

“Escape from Sobibor” (1987) Directed by Jack Gold with Alan Arkin, Joanna Pacula and Rutger Hauer.

“24 Hours: Fall of Nazi Germany” (2025) Documentary History Chennel/ CH4.

Selected YouTube Documentaries:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2kc22E4yPc – Last Airborne Operation by Mark Felton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dninvXjUzA – SS Commandos – Ardennes 1944 by Mark Felton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekwVnus6g10 – Monty’s Gamble: Allied Rhine Crossing 1945

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRk2FZbsMxw – Liberation Dachau

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QINXeZCo-v4 – Liberation of Auschwitz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWeLu7YuwUs – Liberation of camps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5-hLB_SWds – Liberation of Bergen-Belsen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71sT2h8A7JQ – Churchill and Operation PLUNDER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQIoSt1PBho – East Prussia 1945, German refugees and the failure of Dönitz.