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In 1940, the Special Operations Executive was created by Churchill to co-ordinate undercover operations in occupied countries. In its six-year life, SOE trained over 9,000 agents, who operated in 19 European countries, in the Far East and Africa. For decades, the activities of SOE remained a mystery, but recent years have seen the disclosure of new information. SOE had some spectacular successes and some failures, but earned tremendous loyalty from its agents, many of whom lost their lives while on operations, or subsequently at the hands of the enemy. In this show, Dr. Mark Baldwin explores the origins and aims of the SOE and explains some of the specialised equipment developed to assist these agents. He also highlights some striking achievements by famous women agents such as Odette Sansom and Violette Szabo.