Editing Timeline of SOE French Section (section)

==1942==
===January 1942===
:'''9/10 January'''
::[[Peter Churchill]] landed by submarine at [[Théoule-sur-Mer|Miramar]] on the [[French Riviera]], to evaluate the Carte network. Carte's leader, André Girard, claimed that his organization could, with SOE help, undertake sabotage and guerilla warfare and eventually field an army of 300,000 men to resist German control of France. Assistance to Carte became F Section's top priority in 1942.{{sfn|Foot|1976|pages=204-205}}

===February 1942===
:'''11 February'''
::Wireless operator Andre Bloch was executed by the Germans at [[Mont-Valérien]], the first SOE agent in France to be executed. Pierre de Vomécourt said that it was obvious that Bloch was Jewish and sending him as an agent to France showed the ignorance of SOE about wartime life in France.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Commemoration of the Role of SOE in the French Resistance|journal=Libre Resistance |date=2019 |volume=41 |issue= |page=12 |url=https://www.libreresistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Bulletin-N°41-V8b-BD.pdf |access-date=20 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Grehan |first1=John |last2=Mace |first2=Martin |title=Unearthing Churchill's Secret Army: The Official List of SOE Casualties and Their Stories |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AYUnMVf59YC&pg=PA16 |date=19 December 2012 |publisher=[[Pen and Sword Books]] |isbn=978-1-78337-664-3 |page=16}}</ref>

:'''26/27 February'''
::Pierre de Vomécourt and Mathilde Carré departed France by [[Royal Navy]] [[motor torpedo boat]] to return to England. De Vomécourt had realized she was a German agent and persuaded her to go to England with him.  She gained the approval of her German handlers for the trip, because she would learn much about SOE and report to them upon her return to France. Instead, Carré was imprisoned in England for the remainder of the war.{{sfn|Foot|1976|pages=190-194}}

===April 1942===
:'''25 April'''
::Pierre de Vomécourt was arrested by Hugo Bleicher in Paris. He had been parachuted back into France on 1 April. Vomécourt persuaded the Germans to treat him and his followers as [[prisoners of war]], rather than spies, and he spent the rest of the war imprisoned in [[Colditz Castle]]. His arrest, and the destruction of his Autogiro network, left SOE without any working networks in France, although Virginia Hall remained active in Lyon.{{sfn|Foot|1976|pages=192-194}}

===July 1942===
:'''1/2 July'''
::English painter [[Brian Stonehouse]], a wireless operator, parachuted into occupied France near the city of [[Tours]], [[Indre-et-Loire]], in the [[Loire Valley]].<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|last=The Guardian|author-link=The Guardian|title=Images of war and peace|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jan/04/guardianobituaries|access-date=25 July 2009|location=London, UK|date=4 January 1999}}</ref> Stonehouse was captured in October 1942 along with courier [[Blanche Charlet]], and spent the rest of the war in German prisons, including [[Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp]].{{sfn|Foot|1976|pages=213-215}} Charlet later escaped and was evacuated to England.{{sfn|Foot|1976|page=215}}

:'''15 July'''
::Eleven SOE agents, including Michael Trotobas and Georges Bégué, escaped from a French prison in the [[Dordogne]] region. They made their way to Lyon where Virginia Hall helped them cross the border into Spain and return to England.<ref name="Kent and Nicolas">{{cite book |last1=Kent |first1=Stewart |last2=Nicholas |first2=Nick |title=Agent Michael Trotobas and SOE in Northern France |date=2015 |publisher=Pen and Sword |location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire |isbn=9781473851634 |pages=Kindle location 1061–1294}}</ref>

:'''29/30 July'''
::SOE F Section's second on command, [[Nicolas Bodington]], landed on the French Riviera via clandestine boat. Landed with him was Carte's second-in-command, [[Henri Frager]] and courier [[Yvonne Rudellat]]. Bodington's task was to assess the viability of Carte as a resistance organization and the assistance needed from SOE.{{sfn|Foot|1976|page=204}} Ruddelat would become involved with the Prosper network as a courier and saboteur.{{sfn|Helm|2005|pages=11-12}}

::[[Claude de Baissac]] parachuted with [[Harry Peulevé]] near Nimes. Dropped from too low an altitude, Peulevé broke his leg. Despite a sprained ankle, de Baissac continued with his mission to set up the [[SOE F Section networks#Scientist|Scientist Network]] and to conduct espionage at [[Bordeaux]]. After a partial recovery, Puelevé, still limping, walked across the Pyrenees to Spain and returned to England in November.<ref name="Perrin">{{cite web |last1=Perrin |first1=Nigel |title=Who was Harry Peuleve? |url=https://nigelperrin.com/harrypeuleve4.htm#hpp4 |access-date=5 October 2020}}</ref>{{sfn|Foot|1976|page=199}}

===August 1942===
:'''27/28 August'''
::[[John Renshaw Starr|John Starr]] arrived by parachute in a field near [[Valence, Drôme|Valence]], [[Drôme]], in Vichy France on his first mission. Peter Churchill arrived by parachute near [[Montpellier]] on his third mission. His job was to liaison with Carte and his network was called [[SOE F Section networks#Spindle|Spindle]]. Both were highly regarded agents.{{sfn|Foot|1976|pages=207-208}}<ref name="Glass">{{cite book |last1=Glass |first1=Charles |title=They Fought Alone |date=2018 |publisher=Penguin Press |location=New York |isbn=9781594206177 |page=32}}</ref>

===September 1942===
:'''12 September'''
::Nicolas Bodington returned to England from the French Riviera and presented a favorable report on the Carte network and its potential as a resistance organization. SOE began to plan to provide substantial assistance in money, arms, and supplies to Carte.{{sfn|Foot|1976|page=206}}

:'''17/18 September'''
::Michael Trotobas parachuted back into France, landing near [[Montargis]]. Trotobas went to [[Lille]] where he organized the Farmer network and led many sabotage missions.{{sfn|Foot|1976|pages=223, 265}}{{sfn|Cookridge|1967|page=171}}

:'''25 September'''
::[[Andrée Borrel]] and [[Lise de Baissac]] arrived in German-occupied France by parachute early in the morning of 25 September at a field near [[Mer, Loir-et-Cher|Mer]], [[Loir-et-Cher]] (a parachute jump the previous night was aborted due to the signals in the drop zone being incorrect), after having left England late on the night of 24 September in a RAF [[Armstrong Whitworth Whitley|Whitley]].<ref>''Tentative of History of In/Exfiltrations into/from France during WWII from 1940 to 1945 (Border Crossings, Parachutes, Planes PU & Sea Landings), rev108-31122023'' (http://www.plan-sussex-1944.net/anglais/pdf/infiltrations_into_france.pdf), Le Plan Sussex 1944, p. 62</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Vigurs |first=Kate |title=Mission France: The True History of the Women of SOE |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven and London |page=80 |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-20857-3 }}</ref> They were the first SOE female agents to be parachuted into France. Borrel went to Paris to become a key figure in the Prosper network. De Baissac went to [[Poitiers]] where, working mostly by herself, she supported several agents and networks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Escott |first=Beryl |title=A Quiet Courage: The story of SOE's women agents in France |publisher=Patrick Stevens Ltd (Haynes) |location=Sparkford, UK |year=1992 |isbn=978-1-8526-0289-5 |pages=50, 55}}</ref>

===October 1942===
:'''1/2 October'''
::[[Francis Suttill]] arrived by parachute near [[Vendôme]] and proceeded to Paris to establish the [[SOE F Section networks#Prosper|Prosper]] (also called Physician) network. Suttill was highly regarded by SOE. Prosper was to replace the now defunct Autogiro network as the most important SOE network in northern France. Andrée Borrel was Suttill's courier and his wireless operator was [[Gilbert Norman]].{{sfn|Foot|1976|page=198}}

===November 1942===
<!-- if exact dates known, please supply -->
:'''November'''
::Poor security doomed the Carte network. Traveling by train to Paris, [[André Marsac]]'s briefcase was stolen by a German agent. The briefcase contained the names and personal information about more than 200 Carte supporters. The Germans continued to observe Carte, but did not take immediate action to arrest those on the list.{{sfn|Foot|1976|page=205}}

:'''3/4 November'''
::[[George Reginald Starr|George Starr]] and [[Odette Sansom]] arrived clandestinely by boat at night near [[Cannes]], [[Alpes-Maritimes]], on the Mediterranean coast of France.<ref>''Tentative of History of In/Exfiltrations into/from France during WWII from 1940 to 1945 (Border Crossings, Parachutes, Planes PU & Sea Landings), rev108-31122023'' (http://www.plan-sussex-1944.net/anglais/pdf/infiltrations_into_france.pdf), Le Plan Sussex 1944, p. 65</ref> The return voyage carried John Starr out of France following his first mission, taking with him reports collected by Peter Churchill. George Starr would establish a network in southwestern France and Sansom would become Churchill's courier.{{sfn|Glass|2018|pages=7-25}}

:'''8 November'''
::[[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces invaded French colonies in North Africa and in consequence the Germans and Italians invaded and occupied previously un-occupied [[Vichy France]]. The German occupation made life for SOE agents in former Vichy France much more dangerous. However, most of Prosper's operations were in northern, occupied France.

:'''13 November'''
::Phillipe de Vomécourt was arrested by French police near [[Limoges]] and sentenced to 10 years in prison.<ref name="Philippe">{{cite web |title=Philippe Albert de Crevosier |url=http://www.museedelaresistanceenligne.org/expo.php?expo=90&theme=179 |website=Musee de la Resistance |access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref>

===December 1942===
:'''7/12 December'''
::Claude de Baissac organized the Scientist network in [[Bordeaux]] with the all-important priority of gathering intelligence and carrying out sabotage against the [[submarine]] base there. De Baissac's planned sabotage was thwarted when British commandos simultaneously (without coordination within the British government) carried out [[Operation Frankton]] against the submarine base. Frankton was only partially successful, German security increased afterwards and sabotage by de Baissac became infeasible.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hemmings |first1=Jay |title=Cockelshell Heroes Raid ruined another Units plans which would have caused more damage |url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/cockleshell-heroes-raid-ruined-another-units-plans-which-would-have-caused-more-damage.html |website=War History Online |date=8 February 2019 |access-date=8 Oct 2020}}</ref>

:'''29/30 December'''
::[[Jack Agazarian]] parachuted into France to join the Prosper Network as a second wireless operator. He was later joined by his wife [[Francine Agazarian|Francine]], a courier. They were one of only a few married couples working for SOE, but, although they both worked for Prosper, they had different jobs.{{sfn|Foot|1976|pages=198-199, 291}}