SOE Establishment - SOE Headquarters Baker Street

The building itself was completed in the early 20th century and initially served as part of the Government estate, leased to the Prison Commission.

From September 1940 to 1946, this unassuming London townhouse served as the nerve centre of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the secret organisation created by Winston Churchill to “set Europe ablaze.” Behind its discreet façade, officers planned sabotage missions, coordinated resistance networks, and dispatched agents into Nazi‑occupied Europe.

Known simply as “Baker Street,” the address became synonymous with Britain’s shadow war. Hundreds of men and women passed through its doors, many never to return. After the SOE was dissolved in 1946, the building returned to civilian use, its wartime interiors stripped away.

Today, only the exterior remains, marked by a commemorative plaque unveiled in 2010.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Kyle Glover (1, 2), Spudgun67 (3)