How to be a Spy: The World War II SOE Training Manual

by Denis Rigden (Introduction)

In the early years of World War II, Special Operations Executive (SOE) set up top secret training schools to instruct prospective agents in the art of being a spy. By the end of 1941, an international network of schools was in operation in secluded locations ranging from the Scottish Highlands to Singapore and Canada. How to Be a Spy reproduces the extensive training manuals used to prepare agents for their highly dangerous missions behind enemy lines. The courses cover a variety of clandestine skills including disguise, surveillance, burglary, interrogation, close combat, and assassination - everything needed to wreak havoc in occupied Europe.

Secret History Files is an exciting series from The National Archives that puts covert history in readers' hands. Dossiers previously classified as 'Top Secret' are now available, with an introduction and background analysis by expert historians.

432 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Schuyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever need to attack an armored enemy vehicle, overpower someone who's holding you at gunpoint, or drop by parachute into a country where no one should know how you got there, this book is for you.

Hey, wait. Don't leave yet.

I have read various sections aloud, much to the perturbation and amusement of my family members. As my mom said, "Sometimes she'll pull out something that will surprise you." Yup. Reading of choice this last week has been the SOE spy training manual for Allied spies, and lots of times it beat out my current fiction as more enjoyable, less traumatic, and tons of fun.

If you write books with any kind of espionage, whether in the Middle Ages, or a fantasy world, or WW2, then this manual would be an excellent research book to read. While some weapons are strictly WW2, most of the book contains universal spy lore that can apply in any situation you would like it to. It's an easy read, and will give you a wealth of plot inspiration and finely honed techniques for your characters to use.

Even if you're not a writer, and just a history buff, this book gives a cool sneak-peek into the lives of homefront and foreign spies. Training was detailed, and I don't know how they remembered everything they needed to know. The mindset that spies had to have both to deceive and in many sobering instances, to kill, always leaves me wrestling.

This book will teach you all kinds of clandestine knowledge. How to break into a house. How to successfully enter a house full of enemies who want to kill you. How to apply first aid to burns, gunshots, and knife wounds (and yeah, I'm pretty pleased with the way I handled sucking chest wounds in one story). Probably the most sobering sections were on how to kill guards with knives, guns, or hands.

Some of the knowledge you could use even if you weren't a spy. If you like target practice, there's a section on common stance errors that will cause your aim to be off center. There are cool sections detailing various ciphers, and they were so confusing I figured that if anyone wanted to get a message past me, they probably could. ;) Here and there the instructor writing the syllabus inserts wry dashes of British wit that cracked me up. But overarching it all was a sense of seriousness and urgency. They cared about equipping their agents to do their work well, and to survive while they did it. Here and there, side notes to instructors reminded them to be patient with slow learners, to avoid unnecessary information, and to remind them not to take foolish risks.

This book rekindled my excitement for my espionage work-in-progress, and gave me an even better knowledge foundation for my characters' secret lives. An entertaining and informative read.

[Lojicholia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fairly simple overview of training docs, but interesting for those who are curious about TTPs really

[Matt Kelland · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book: it's the actual training manual for SOE operatives. Anyone writing novels or movies set in WW2 should read it. It's filled with details that will give verisimilitude to a story - those little touches of fieldcraft that show you've done your research. The section on propaganda fascinated me too - it's just like modern advertising. Some things never change.

[Paul Letters · Rating 4 out of 5]

It does what it says on the cover. This was written as a spy’s handbook during World War II. It addresses all aspects of training, delineated into sections and sub-sections (a format which a casual reader could find dull). Denis Rigden has pulled it out of the UK National Archives and written an introduction, but essentially it’s very World War II and useful to anyone wanting to know the modus operandi of British spies at that time (I was performing research for a novel). Many aspects of the book are more nuanced than this instruction given as to how to deal with a prisoner who must be searched: “kill him first”.

[Larry Loftis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't be misled by the cheesy main title; the subtitle should have been the title as this book is the actual SOE training manual. The Close Combat section starting on page 361 is especially interesting.

My favorite line: "Your object here is to learn how to kill but it is quite unnecessary to kill or damage your sparring partner, you will get no credit if you do." This section was clearly written by the legendary close combat instructor brought in (from Shanghi) to teach the SOE operatives, William Fairbairn. His students called him "The Shanghi Buster." For more on Fairbairn, see my book, Into the Lion's Mouth.