Ted Coppin MBE CdG (20 May 1915 – 23 April 1943) was a British agent of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.

Biography

Edward Cyril Coppin was born in Essex on 20 May 1915. He joined the Special Operations Executive, Section F, with the rank of Lieutenant. On 11/12 June 1942 he landed by boat in France''Secret Flotillas: the Clandestine Sea Lines to France and French North Africa'', Brooks Richards, HMSO, 1996. to join the DONKEYMAN network of Henri Frager in Marseille. He trained a sabotage group comprising a small but efficient team of railway workers, ensuring a satisfactory increase in the rate of accidents in marshalling yards and making good use of abrasive grease to cause damage.''SOE in France an account of the work of the British Special Operations Executive in France, 1940–1944'', MRD Foot, HMSO, London, 1966. Ten months after his arrival, he was arrested on 23 April 1943, with his courier "Gisele", and executed in captivity on 27 September 1943, aged 28.Commonwealth War Graves Commission
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Recognition

Awards

* United Kingdom: MBE,

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. * France:

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

with a vermeil star.

Monuments

* He is honoured at The Valençay SOE Memorial,

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

, as one of the 104 agents of section F who lost their lives for France’s liberation. * Brookwood Memorial, Surrey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coppin, Ted 1915 births 1943 deaths British Special Operations Executive personnel Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Members of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel killed in World War II British Army General List officers Military personnel from Essex