Undercover operators: fakery, passing and the special operations executive

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article examines the phenomenon of fakery and the rise of impostors claiming to have been former secret agents of the special operations executive (SOE). Since the early 1950s, a growing interest in tales of SOE’s exploits, combined with an inconsistent Whitehall position regarding disclosure about the organisation’s activities, has enabled hoaxers to establish their bogus stories and inadvertently bolster popular romantic notions about SOE’s work. Just as genuine agents had to learn to pass as civilians in Nazi-occupied countries, fake agents have produced convincing and often sophisticated narratives that have fooled the public, infiltrating books, television and more recently social media. Several cases of imposture are highlighted, along with examples of memoirs and testimonies of verifiable SOE agents whose accounts nevertheless raise questions about their accuracy and the blurred lines between truth and fabrication. Despite the publication of SOE official histories and the release of thousands of SOE’s files to the National Archives, fakers continue to flourish. This article calls for a greater recognition both of fakery and of the SOE agents and staff whose bona fide careers continue to remain overshadowed by their counterfeit counterparts.