THE remarkable stories of four secret agents will be told at a series of events over the next week.

The three men and one woman were members of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and worked behind enemy lines with the French Resistance.

The headline event on Saturday will see the four blue plaques, which will be put up next year, on display for the first time.

Tomorrow will also see the launch of a new book about the four agents by author Paul McCue.

The week of events has been put together by Secret World War Two Learning Network along with the Brighton and Hove Commemorative Plaque Panel and Brighton and Hove Heritage Commission.

Roger Amerena, chairman of the plaque panel, said: “It is an extremely important event because that part of history is not widely known. It is also a fascinating part of history and all four have fascinating stories. They really have captured the imagination and we are expecting hundreds at the weekend.”

Mr McCue said: “One of the humbling aspects of researching and writing this book has been the discovery of how ‘normal’ these agents often were.

“With these four blue plaques, and my supporting book, they now receive well-deserved recognition in their home town.”

For more details about all the events visit secret-ww2.net.

WHAT’S ON

Friday, November 11 The Keep, Woollards Way, Brighton. Who Do We Think They Were?

Two talks will look into the research behind the secret agents. From 1.30pm to 3pm there will be a workshop-style presentation followed by a talk by Mr McCue. He will then hold a question and answer session and launch his new book Brighton’s Secret Agents.

Saturday, November 12 The Corn Exchange, Brighton. Carve Their Names With Pride.

The four blue plaques will be unveiled before a series of talks on the SOE and the secret war. There will also be refreshments and a special booksale. To register to attend visit secret-ww2.net.

Tuesday, November 15 The Old Courtroom, Church Street, Brighton. Secret WW2: Myths, Facts and Fiction

Two talks by author Peter Hore (2.30pm) and Mark Seaman (3.30pm) will be followed by a panel discussion (4.45pm) about the the myths, facts and fiction of the secret war.

Andrew Lownie, author of Stalin’s Englishman about Guy Burgess (who was one of the Cambridge Spies), will talk about his book from 7pm. Tickets are £10 and include a glass of wine.

Thursday, November 17 Carlton Hill Primary School, Sussex Street, Brighton. In Memory of Capt Ronald Taylor

A presentation will be given to pupils, staff, parents and residents about the SOE’s Captain Ronald Taylor at 2pm. This will be followed by a talk about a new children’s book inspired by wartime experiences.

Thursday, November 17 The Royal Pavilion, Music Room. An Evening with Paddy Ashdown

The politician and author will discuss his new book Game of Spies which tells the story of a deadly spy triangle in wartime Bordeaux. Doors open at 6.30pm with the talk from 7pm to 8.30pm. It will be followed by a book signing. Prices are £15.50 and include a drink. To book visit maximweb.net/bhcc_ui/events.For more details on all the events and to book visit secret-ww2.net.

BRIGHTON'S FOUR HEROES OF THE SOE

Jacqueline Nearne MBE

Jacqueline Nearne was born in West Hill Street, Brighton, in May 1916.

Her family moved to Nice when she was young before moving again to Grenoble, where they were when France fell to the Germans in 1940.

Eager to return home, she escaped through Spain with her sister Eileen and joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) back in London.

But her knowledge of France and fluency of the language made her extremely attractive to the newly set up Special Operations Executive (SOE).

The organisation helped fund and organise resistance movements in Nazi-occupied countries to wreak havoc through sabotage and guerilla warfare.

After being trained in everything from silent killing to coding, she was dropped back into central France in January 1943 to link up with other agents.

Her sister followed in March the next year.

Working undercover, Jacqueline could expect none of the protections of the Geneva Convention.

The Gestapo were on the lookout for agents and if caught she would be tortured for information and likely killed.

But the 27-year-old kept her nerve and was a vital cog in the resistance, linking up with neighbouring groups to help finance, equip and plan attacks.

Despite the risks, she travelled by train, which saw her mix with the Gestapo on a daily basis.

For 15 months she carried out the perilous work before being returned to England in April 1944, just weeks before D-Day.

Her sister was not as fortunate. In July 1944 she was captured and tortured for information at the Gestapo headquarters in Paris.

She was later sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp where her head was shaved and reportedly tortured. She survived but suffered greatly for the rest of her life as a result of her treatment.

After the war Jacqueline worked for the UN in New York until retirement and her return to England in 1978. Four years later she died of cancer, aged 66.

A blue plaque will be placed at her family home and birthplace in West Hill Street, Brighton.

Ronald Gordon Taylor

Ronald Gordon Taylor was born in October 1916 in Carlton Street, Brighton.

He went to St John’s Elementary School in Carlton Hill, before Varndean and later Brighton Municipal Technical College were he studied for an engineering degree.

Following the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Engineers and later volunteered for the SOE in October 1941.

After training he was posted to Monopoli in Italy to support Italian partisans fighting the Germans.

He was dropped on the night of August 12, 1944 and his team wasted no time in training the fighters and carrying out operations against the enemy.

They continued for four months wreaking havoc in Italy before joining up with Yugoslav partisan forces in December .

He was awarded a Mention in Despatches for his actions and after the war returned to Brighton to continue his engineering career.

He later moved to Dorchester and died there in 2002, aged 86.

A blue plaque will be placed at Carlton Hill Primary School, which is now on the site of his birthplace.

Edward Zeff

As both a Jew and an undercover agent, Edward Zeff endured horrific treatment at the hands of the Nazis.

Born into a British Jewish family in Hanover Street, Brighton, in April 1904, he went to school at the former York Place Elementary Schools in Trafalgar Court.

In the 1920s he moved to Paris with his brother to develop the family business but returned to Britain after the fall of France.

Despite no experience of clandestine warfare and knowing his religion would put him in great danger, he joined SOE and trained as a radio operator.

Working in and around Lyon he had great success organising drops of weapons and supplies from London for the French Resistance.

As such the Gestapo were soon on his case.

He managed to throw them off his scent for many months but was betrayed by a smuggler who was supposed to be helping him escape back to England over the Pyrenees.

He was tortured by the Gestapo but refused to give them any information.

He was transported to the Mauthausen concentration camp where he beaten and whipped to within an inch of his life.

Somehow he survived and returned to Brighton after the war where he lived at Embassy Court. In his later years he moved to Paris where he died in 1973.

Michael Trotobas

Michael Trotobas was gunned down in a heroic last stand outside his girlfriend's house.

But before that his success with the Resistance in the Lille area had seen him become one of the Gestapo's most wanted.

He was born in 1914 in North Place, Brighton, to a French father and Irish mother.

After being evacuated from Dunkirk the joined the SOE and was trained to work behind enemy lines.

In 1941 he was dropped into France to organise Resistance groups but was soon captured and imprisoned in Bergerac.

But he refused to spend the war behind bars and so helped orchestrate a daring escape.

After making it over the Pyrenees and back to London, he asked for a new mission and was dropped into the Lille area.

Within months, he had built up a small army of around 1,000 fighters, all of whom followed his every word.

He planned and helped carry out countless attacks on soldiers, train yards and key infrastructure.

Known to the French as Le Capitaine Michel, he was respected - even adored - by the Resistance. To the Nazis he was a nuisance and the Gestapo wanted him dead.

Among all his sabotage missions, perhaps his most successful was on a locomotives factory in Lille which the RAF had tried to destroy on many occasions.

He dressed up as a Gestapo officer and led a small team into the works and destroyed it.

The Germans issued a reward of 400,000 francs but Michael went to ground.

After he taunted them by handing out leaflets bragging of the success, they upped the reward to a million francs.

His luck ran out when one of his inner circle broke while being interrogated.

The Gestapo surrounded his girlfriend's home where he was staying.

The 29-year-old was killed in the ferocious firefight and Lille went into mourning.

His name is still celebrated there to this day.

His blue plaque will be placed at his birthplace at 1 North Place, Brighton.

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