The Valençay SOE Memorial is a monument in France to the members of the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

F Section who lost their lives working to liberate the country during World War II. The memorial was unveiled in the town of

Valençay Valençay () is a commune in the Indre department in the administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography Valençay is situated in the Loire Valley. It sits at the end of a plateau. on a hillside overlooking the River Nahon. Valen ...

, in the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

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 ...

, on May 6, 1991, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the despatch of F Section's first agent to France. Former SOE agents

Pearl Witherington Cecile Pearl Witherington Cornioley, (24 June 1914 – 24 February 2008), code names Marie and Pauline, was an agent in France for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. The purpose of ...

Cornioley and her husband Henri, who lived nearby, promoted the establishment of the memorial. Witherington had worked in the area as a SOE agent during World war II. The monument was designed by Elizabeth Lucas Harrison, herself a former Resistance member, who originally gave it the name "Spirit of Partnership". Dedicated by the Minister of Veterans Affairs for France and

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

, the memorial's ''Roll of Honour'' lists the names of the 91 men and 13 women members of the SOE who gave their lives for France's freedom.

Valençay Memorial Roll of Honour

(from website: SOE and Valençay MonumentGrehan, J. and Mace, M. (2012)) * Jack Charles Stanmore Agazarian * Roland Eugene Jean Alexandre * Elisee A. L. Allard * Phillip John Amphlett * James Frederick Amps * Joseph Antoine France Antelme * Denis John Barrett * Alcide Beauregard * Francisque Eugene Bec * Yolande Elsa Maria Beekman * Robert Marcel Charles Benoist * Louis Eugene Desire Bertheau * Gustave Daniel Alfred Biéler * Andre G. Bloch * Denise Madeleine Bloch * Marcus Reginald Bloom * Andrée Raymonde Borrel * Jean Bouguennec * Muriel Tamara Byck *

Robert Bennett Byerly Robert Bennett Byerly (March 20, 1916 – May 8, 1945) was an American-born Canadian soldier, who was an agent for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. Background Byerly was a graduate of the University of Chicago, ...

* Eric Joseph Denis Cauchi *

Marcel Clech Marcel Clech (1905 – 1944) was a French agent in the French section of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. He was sent to France on three missions and worked as a wireless operator in three different networks before h ...

* George Clement * Ted Cyril Coppin * Madeleine Zoe Damerment * Marcel Enzebe Defence * Ange Defendini * George William Hedworth Demand * Francois Adolphe Deniset * Julien Theodore Joseph M. Detal * Roland Dowlen * André J. R. Dubois * Émile Georges Jean Duboudin * Phillip Francis Duclos * David Haughton Finlayson * Marcel Georges Florent Fox * Henri Jacques Paul Frager * Henri Hubert Gaillot * Émile August Henri Garry * Pierre Albert Hubert Geelen * Harry Huntington Graham * William Charles Frederick Grover-Williams * John Trevor Hamilton * Victor Charles Hayes *

Noor Inayat Khan Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, GC (1 January 1914 – 13 September 1944), also known as Nora Inayat-Khan and Nora Baker, was a British resistance agent in France in World War II who served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The purpose of S ...

Sidney Charles Jones Sidney Jones CdeG MBE (1902–1944) was a British Special Operations Executive agent during the Second World War. Early life Sidney Charles Jones was born in France on 25 November 1902, the son of Charles and Emily Louise Jones. Before the war ...

* Clement Marc Jumeau * A. R. Landsdell * Maurice Louis M. A. Larcher * Marcel Mathieu René Leccia * Jacques Paul Henri Ledoux * Lionel Lee * Cecily Margot Lefort * Vera Eugenie Leigh * M. A. Lepage * E. Lesout * Eugene Francis (Levene) Felangue *

John Kenneth Macalister John Kenneth Macalister (July 19, 1914 – September 14, 1944) was a Rhodes Scholar and a Canadian hero of World War II. Biography Born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Ken Macalister graduated from the Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GC ...

* Stanislaw Makowski * Claude Raymond Malraux * R. M. A. Mathieu * Andre Adrian Jules Maugenet * James Andrew Mayer * G. B. McBain * James Francis George Mennesson * Francois Gerard Michel * Comte Jacques-Arthus Marc de Montalembert * Pierre Louis Mulsant * Isidore Newman * Gilbert Maurice Norman * Paul Baptiste Pardi *

Maurice Pertschuk Maurice Pertschuk MBE, LdH, CdeG (31 July 1921 – 29 March 1945) was a French Special Operations Executive agent during the Second World War. Early life The son of Jacob Joseph Pertschuk and Ethel Muriel (née Sborowfsky), Russian-born Jews ...

* Frank Herbert Dedrick Pickersgill * Éliane Sophie Plewman *

Adolphe Rabinovitch Adolphe Rabinovitch (27 May 1918 – 1944), also known as Alec Rabinovitch, was a Special Operations Executive officer in France during the Second World War. He rose to the rank of captain. Life Born to a family of Jewish extraction in Russia ...

* Brian Dominic Rafferty * Charles Rechenmann * Jean Renaud * Jean Renaud-Dandicolle * Lilian Verna Rolfe * Diana Hope Rowden * Yvonne Claire Rudellat *

Roméo Sabourin Lieutenant Roméo Sabourin (January 1, 1923 – September 14, 1944) was a Canadian soldier and spy during World War II. Biography Born in Montreal, Quebec, Sabourin joined the Canadian Army, serving in the Canadian Intelligence Corps. Because ...

* Gonzague de Saint-Geniès * Paul F. M. Sarrette * Alexandre Schwatschko * Henry P. Sevenet * David Whytehead Sibrée * Jean Alexandre Robert Simon * Octave Anne Guillaume Simon * Jack Andrew Eugene Marcel Sinclair * Charles Milne Skepper * V. A. Soskice * Arthur Steele * Francis Alfred Suttill * Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Szabo * P. R. Tessier * Michael Alfred Raymond Trotobas * Paul Ullman * François M. C. Vallée * E. M. Wilkinson * George Alfred "Teddy" Wilkinson *

Jean Worms Jean Worms (1884–1943) was a French film actor who appeared in a mixture of leading and supporting roles. Worms played Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in the 1938 film ''Rasputin''.Kennedy-Karpat p.204 Partial filmography * ''L'auberge rouge'' (191 ...

* John Cuthbert Young

References

Citations

Bibliography

# Foot, M.R.D. (2004) ''SOE in France'', Whitehall history publishing, ISSN 1474-8398 # Grehan, J. and Mace, M. (2012) ''Unearthing Churchill’s Secret Army: The Official List of SOE Casualties and Their Stories'', Pen and Sword, {{DEFAULTSORT:Valencay Soe Memorial World War II memorials in France British military memorials and cemeteries Special Operations Executive Buildings and structures in Indre Tourist attractions in Indre