SOE, the Special Operations Executive, was a small, tough British secret service, a dirty tricks department established in July 1940 and encouraged by Churchill to ââ?¬Ë?set Europe ablazeââ?¬â?¢. Their job ââ?¬â?? as saboteurs, informers, partisans, couriers or secret agents ââ?¬â?? was to support and stimulate resistance behind enemy lines;