Minnesota Spy Club

"i used to live in england" by supermodel*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMYf4MlYEyk&list=RDeMYf4MlYEyk&start_radio=1

Individuals are recruited as spies via a variety of techniques exploiting the person’s specific character. The acronym MICE is used for the four most common motivations: Money, Ideology, Coercion, Ego. (1/6)

#Espionage #MICE

https://theconversation.com/how-ordinary-people-are-convinced-to-become-spies-166688

Not just the US, news highlighting the transnational risks of the far right attacking elections infrastructure:

#elections

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/11/alberta-voter-data-breach-separatists-referendum

“Let’s Crush Fascism” - Catalan anti-fascist poster, 1936.

#antifa #SpanishCivilWar

Short Skirt/ Long Jacket by Cake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idtYckLIZnI

May 11, 1988: Kim Philby, British elite, MI6 intelligence officer, & double agent for the Soviet Union as part of the Cambridge Five spy ring, dies in Moscow at age 76.

#MI6 #Intelligence #Spy

Renegade Soundwave’s song Traitor. https://www.karaoke-lyrics.net/lyrics/renegade-soundwave/traitor-906404

May 11, 1905: On this date future Special Operations Executive agent Lise de Baissac was born in Mauritius. One of the first SOE female agents to be parachuted into occupied France in 1942, she served as courier & liaison officer for SOE's SCIENTIST circuit using the code names Odile & Marguerite. She armed & organized French resistance forces. She survived the war & her exploits were later recalled in the 2008 French film 'Les Femmes de l’ombre.'
#WW2 #SOE #FSection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lise_de_Baissac 

May 9, 1921: Sophie Scholl was born on this date in 1921. She was a central member of the anti-Nazi White Rose group in wartime Germany. She was captured, charged with high treason for distributing anti-war literature, & beheaded along with her brother, Hans. Since the 1970’s her antifascist resistance has been recognized and honored.

#Antifa #Resistance #WhiteRose #Germany

In an effort to further distract from the fact that the Epstein files have not been released, the Trump administration continues to obfuscate by releasing so called UFO files....

Book review: Secret Operations of World War II by Alexander Stillwell (Amber Books, 2018). Studies in Intelligence 63 (1), Mar, 2019.

#WW2 #OSS #Espionage

https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/Review-Secret-Ops-WWII.pdf

This color image of Superman talking to school kids about diversity originated in the 1950s, but the same image and text was first created in 1949 for a 12 x 18” brown paper school book cover that was distributed to schools by the Institute for American Democracy, an offshoot of the Anti-Defamation League.  The illustration is thought to have been created by Superman artist Wayne Boring.

#Diversity #DEI #Superman #antifa #DCComics

https://www.dc.com/blog/2017/08/25/superman-a-classic-message-restored

“The name of [an ICE] officer accused of strangling a man in Fitchburg during an immigration arrest has been revealed in court, despite the federal government’s attempts to keep his identity a secret. The officer’s name is David Jackson, an acting supervisory detention and deportation officer.”

https://www.masslive.com/centralmass/2026/04/judge-denies-request-to-hide-identity-of-ice-officer-in-fitchburg-arrest.html?outputType=amp

April 29, 1945: The American 101st Airborne Division discovered a labor camp that was part of the Dachau complex near Landsberg at the foothills of the Alps.

Richard Winters of Easy Co, 2nd Bn, 506th Parachute Infantry Reg later commented, "The memory of the starved, dazed men who dropped their eyes and heads when we looked at them through the chain-link fence, in the same manner that a beaten, mistreated dog would cringe, leave feelings that cannot be described and will never be forgotten."

April 26: On this date in 1914, future Special Operations Executive agent Lilian Rolfe was born in Paris. She & her twin sister were the daughters of a British accountant working in Paris & a Russian Jewish mother. She spent a summer in Britain learning English. At age 19 she & her family moved to Brazil. (1/3)

#SOE #France #FSection #Brazil

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilian_Rolfe

April is Spy Ordnance Month: Introducing the Stinger: a single shot, disposable 22 caliber clandestine weapon developed by the Office of Strategic Services. The Stinger was olive drab in color and was shaped like a pen with a handle that when pressed against the barrel fired the 22 round. (1/3)

#Spy #Ordnance #WW2 #OSS

April 19, 1920: On this date Marguerite “Peggy” Knight was born in Paris, France to a British father and Polish mother. She grew up in France & was a nearly perfect speaker of French language. In Spring of 1944 she was recruited to the SOE after she was overhead speaking French in a British cafe and was immediately recruited to the covert organization. (1/3)

#WW2 #SOE #FSection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Knight

April 15, 1968: On this date, the album Underground by Thelonius Monk was released. Album cover art depicted Monk as a member of the French Resistance in WW2. Won a Grammy for best album cover. Still best album cover ever.

#Jazz #Resistance #WW2 #Grammy

The Welbike was an air-droppable, single-seat folding motorcycle produced during WW2 by the Excelsior Motor Company of Birmingham, England. The bike was developed at Station IX operating out of a mansion, "The Frythe" located near the town of Welwyn. Products of the Station were named in a portmanteau of the town and the invented device, sometimes in code. Thus the motorcycle was referred to as the Welbike. (1/2)

#WW2 #SOE #Airborne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welbike

April 6, 1906: Virginia Hall was born on this date. Hall was considered the most dangerous of all Allied spies by the Gestapo. She worked for both the British Special Operations Executive & later with the American Office of Strategic Services. She had only one foot & used a prosthesis, giving her a limp, leading to her nickname as "the Limping Lady." Despite this, she organized the French Underground in occupied France. (1/2)

#WW2 #SOE #OSS #FSection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Hall

April 4, 1944: On this date, British Jedburgh wireless operator John Austin was executed. Part of team DUDLEY who had worked to organize Dutch resistance elements in support of MARKET GARDEN, he was captured, sent to Zwolle Prison, and executed at age 21.

#WW2 #OSS #SOE #Jedburgh

https://alanmalcher.com/2021/12/17/sergeant-john-austin-wireless-operator-with-jedburgh-team-dudley-netherlands-1944/

Mar 20, 1895: On this date Robert Benoist was born. French Grand Prix motor racing driver & WW2 war hero. He & fellow race car drivers Jean-Pierre Wimille & William Grover-Williams, fled to Britain after France was invaded. All 3 joined the Special Operations Executive. (1/4)

#WW2 #SOE #France #FSection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Benoist

RIP CBS Radio News.

https://www.networknewsmusic.com/cbs-radio-news-1967-2001-sounder/

Please: If you are not a US citizen, do not continue to reside in the US & do not vacation in the US.

The MN Spy Club is incredibly pro-immigrant. We have been deeply involved in anti-ICE/CBP work in the Twin Cities.

But this regime is fascist. For your safety, please do not come to the US. And for God's sake, please boycott American products. MAGA will collapse when they feel the economic pain that the international community can exert on the US. #FuckMAGA

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/20/seven-year-old-canadian-girl-with-autism-and-mother-detained-by-ice-in-texas

Mar 17, 1910: On this date, future Special Operations Executive agent Francis Suttill was born. He was organizer of the PROSPER circuit, the largest & most important network in France. Infiltrated by Nazis, the circuit collapsed in 1943. He was arrested 6/24/43 and hanged at Sachsenhausen on ~3/21/1945.

#SOE #FSection #WW2 #France

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Suttill

SOE agent Anne-Marie Walters survived the war and was awarded the MBE, the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille de la Reconnaissance française. In 1946, she published an account of her experiences with the SOE titled Moondrop to Gascony which won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1947. Walters died in France October 2, 1998, at the age of 75. (2/2)

#WW2 #SOE #FSection #France #WomensHistoryMonth #Shero

https://wartimespyladies.blogspot.com/2013/11/anne-marie-walters-1923-1998.html

Mar 16, 1923: On this date Anne-Marie Walters was born in Geneva, Switzerland. She served in the Special Operations Executive as a courier in F Section, WHEELWRIGHT circuit. Her SOE Code name was Colette. She arrived in France on Jan 3, 1944. At age 20, she was the 2nd youngest SOE agent to serve in the field. (1/2)

#WW2 #SOE #FSection #France #WomensHistoryMonth #Shero

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne-Marie_Walters

Mar 16, 1921: On this date, future Special Operations Executive agent Didi Nearne was born. She, her sister, and her brother all worked for the SOE. Didi was a radio operator using the code name “Rose.” She transmitted messages for the SPIRITUALIST, MUSICIAN, and FARMER circuits. (1/2)

#WW2 #SOE #FSection #France #WomensHistoryMonth #Shero

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2318572/SOE-agents-Didi-Nearne-Revealed-time-awe-inspiring-courage-British-sisters-waged-family-war-Nazis--left-emotional-scars-healed.html

Two items in the news caught our attention:

#1: https://www.defensenews.com/news/your-military/2026/03/13/pentagon-reportedly-sending-more-warships-and-marines-to-middle-east/

Mar 13, 1995: On this date, Special Operations Executive agent Odette Sansom (Churchill / Hallowes) passed away at the age of 82. She was a courier for the SPINDLE circuit. Entrapped by Hugo Bleicher of the Abwehr, she endured brutal interrogation and was imprisoned at Ravensbrück. She was one of the few SOE agents to survive Nazi capture.

#WW2 #SOE #FSection #WomensHistoryMonth

https://time.com/5502645/decorated-wwii-spy-odette/

Mar 13, 1909: On this date, Benjamin Cowburn was born. MRD Foot, the official historian of the Special Operations Executive, named Cowburn as one of SOE's half-dozen "best men." He was the longest serving F-Section SOE agent & was never captured. (1/2)

#SOE #WW2 #FSection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Cowburn

First Aid Nursing Yeomanry is a British charity that provided nursing care in the world wars. In WW2, FANY provided cover for > 3000 Special Operations Executive employees, incl 39 sent into the war zone.

#WomensHistoryMonth #WW2 #FANY #SOE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Aid_Nursing_Yeomanry