Re: Says it all
The SOE employed men and women who were incredibly brave when operating outside the UK. Many agents were young people who had lived in the countries where they would be dropped and would be expected to pass as a local to Germans. They had a chance, however brief, to cause damage to the Nazi cause. The odds still were that they would be caught within weeks of arrival.
In the cold war, SOE was irrelevant. The need to plant French, Italian and Dutch speaking agents in Europe diminished; different types of agents, perhaps. And whilst SOE might have known a few Czechs, Poles and Germans, their motivations needed to be understood. A different security service was required.
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When Peter Wright's Spycatcher was published overseas in the 1980s, it was banned in the UK. Many of us waited for a mate to lend their copy. And we were disappointed. Peter Wright seemed as mad as a box of frogs and his revelations were not taken seriously -- even the content about cryptography.
Spooks of the past seem very strange to me. Their concepts of patriotism and loyalty are from another time. I've no idea where Stella Remington fits in.