Description
RAF cover signed by Vera Atkins, assistant to Maurice Buckmaster at the SOE and responsible for agent recruitment and deployment, she dealt a lot with the female SOE agents as well
Vera May Atkins, CBE (16 June 1908 – 24 June 2000) was a British intelligence officer who worked in the French Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) from 1941 to 1945 during the Second World War.
Though not a British national, in February 1941 Atkins joined the French section of the SOE as a secretary. She soon was made assistant to section head Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, and became a de facto intelligence officer. She served as a civilian until August 1944, when she was commissioned a Flight Officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). In February 1944 Atkins was naturalised as a British subject. She was later appointed F Section's intelligence officer (F-Int).
Atkins' primary role at SOE was the recruitment and deployment of British agents in occupied France. She also had responsibility for the 37 women SOE agents who worked as couriers and wireless operators for the various circuits established by SOE. Atkins would take care of the "housekeeping" related to the agent, such as checking their clothing and papers to insure they were appropriate for the mission, sending out pre-written anodyne letters at regular intervals, acting as SOE's liaison with their families and ensuring they received their pay. Atkins would often accompany agents to the airfields from which they would depart for France, and would carry out final security checks before waving them off.
Atkins always attended the daily section heads meeting chaired by Buckmaster, and would often stay late into the night at the signals room to await the decoded transmissions sent by agents in the field. She would usually arrive at F Section's Baker Street office around 10.00 am. Although not popular with many of her colleagues, she was trusted by Buckmaster for her integrity, exceptional memory and good organisational skills.
