Benjamin Cowburn

Benjamin Hodkinson Cowburn MC*, Croix de Guerre, Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (1909–1994) was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization during World War II. He was the creator and leader of the Tinker network (or circuit) which operated in the area of Troyes, France. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.

Benjamin Cowburn

MC*
Birth nameBenjamin Hodkinson Cowburn
Born(1909-03-13)13 March 1909
Lancashire, England
Died17 December 1994(1994-12-17) (aged 85)
Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Special Operations Executive
Years of service1941–1944
RankMajor
Service number183828
Battles/warsWorld War II
Awards
  • Military Cross and Bar
  • Croix de Guerre
  • Chevalier of the Legion of Honour

Cowburn was sent into occupied France on four separate occasions during World War II. He was never captured by the Germans.[1] Of the more than 400 SOE agents who worked in France during World War II, M.R.D. Foot, the official historian of the SOE, named Cowburn as one of the half-dozen best male agents.[2]

Biography

Cowburn was born on March 3, 1909.[3] He had arrived in Paris, aged eight with his parents, and studied at a British school in Boulogne-sur-Seine and then at a Lycée. He later studied electrical engineering and worked for the American firm, Foster Wheeler, building distillation plants for oil refineries all over France. He was a fluent French speaker. He was married to a Frenchwoman. Due to his knowledge of the oil industry in France, he was seen as an excellent acquisition for the Special Operations Executive.

Wartime activities

Recruited in 1941 into SOE's 'F' (French) Section, Cowburn was trained at Wanborough Manor in the Spring of 1941.

First mission

Cowburn first parachuted into Vichy France from a Whitley bomber on 6 September 1941 with Pierre de Vomécourt (aka 'Lucas'). His mission was to obtain information on the best targets for the sabotage of oil and fuel stocks. While in France he got tangled up in the delicate dance between Vomécourt and double (and triple) agent Mathilde Carré ("The Cat") and attempted to return with them to Britain by boat. Failing in that, he returned to Britain in March 1942 via Spain after crossing the Pyrenees on foot.

Second mission

On the night of 1/2 June 1942, Cowburn parachuted from a Halifax bomber and provide direction for the French Resistance TINKER circuit in the Indre area. With the help of Augustus Chanteraine, Cowburn organized the reception of two airdrops of weapons and explosives (which had been prepared by Denis Rake before his arrest) that equipped the first resistance group in that area. He also conducted several sabotage missions, including the power lines from the power plant to Éguzon and disrupted production at the Bloch aircraft factory at Chateauroux by tampering with the machine tools.

He returned to Britain in a Lysander on 26 October 1942.

Third mission

Cowburn's third mission was to be his most important. Parachuting again from a Halifax bomber on 11 April 1943, Cowburn now took control of, and managed the TINKER circuit from Troyes, the capital of the Aube departement.

Cowburn reviews the intelligence gathering in the area and builds up detailed information for a commando-style attack on marshalling yard in Troyes (the largest in eastern France). On the night of 3/4 July 1943, along with other resistance members seriously damage a number of locomotive engines, several of which are put out of commission for several months.

He returned to Britain once again in a Lysander on 17 September 1943.

Fourth mission

Cowburn's final mission was to set up a new Resistance cell near Amiens. Arriving by parachute on 30 July 1944 he was also looking to see if he could intercept two fellow SOE agents arrested by the Germans (Pierre Mulsant and John Barrett). He was unable to locate the agents and shortly after allied forces liberated France in August 1944 he returned to the United Kingdom.

Decorations
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References
  1. "Benjamin Cowburn: No Cloak, No Dagger". Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  2. Foot, M.R.D. (1966), SOE in France, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, p. 311
  3. "Benjamin Hodkinson COWBURN (The National Archives - Discovery Service)". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  4. London Gazette November 1945

Books
  • No Cloak, No Dagger: Allied Spycraft in Occupied France (1958)
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