SOE Establishment - Milton Hall

Peterborough

England Cambridgeshire Peterborough

Milton Hall dates from 1594 and is a private residence.
The park was used as a yeomanry, militia and territorial army assembly point during the Coalition Wars and into the 19th century.
During WW1 it was converted into a Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital with the main hall being used to re-habilitate officers. The owners, Lord and Lady FitzWilliam had moved out of the house.
During the Second World War the owners once again offered the use of the house and estate to the Government and again moved out to a smaller property on the estate. In the early part of the war the house and stable were used by the Czech forces that had escaped from German occupied Europe.
In 1943 the facility was taken over by Special Operations Executive (SOE), Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the Free French Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations to train some 300 British, American, French, Dutch and Belgium into 3 man teams to parachute into Occupied Europe to assist the local resistance movements under Operation Jedburgh. 83 Americans, 90 British, 103 French, 5 Belgian and 5 Dutch personnel made up the 93 Jedburgh teams that entered France and the 8 teams into Holland on the night of 5/6thh June 1944 (D-Day).
Many of the flights took place from RAF Harrington under Operation Carpetbagger
Many were killed carrying out this operation and there is a memorial plaque in Peterborough Cathedral Operation Jedburgh.

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