Spencer, Geoffrey Alan David

Nationality:: British

Biography

Captain Spencer’s wartime journey began in 1940 when he was called up as a Gunner in the 39th Signal Training Regiment, Royal Artillery, after leaving Germany in 1938 with his family, who foresaw the coming conflict. His fluency in German led to a transfer to the Intelligence Corps and training with the 84th Field Security Section in Winchester. An interview soon brought him into the orbit of the SOE, where he served as field security personnel and later as a sergeant overseeing agent training at St Michael House, Baker Street.

In 1942, Spencer was posted to the Small Scale Raiding Force in Dorset, participating in raids on the French coast. He returned to Winchester to supervise SOE agents and, in 1944, earned a commission through a REME Officer Cadet Training Unit, as SOE lacked its own. After marrying, he narrowly avoided a mistaken posting to Italy and instead took command of the Hertford security area as a Field Security Officer.

Later that year, Spencer joined SOE’s German Section (X Section), where he contributed to deception efforts including propaganda and counterfeiting—though he believed their impact was limited compared to other SOE divisions. After the war, he helped found the Special Forces Club and expressed disillusionment over SOE’s dissolution by MI6.

His personal papers, including a 1998 memoir titled Six Lost Years: My Unheroic War, 1940–1946, are held by the IWM.

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