Special Operations Executive (SOE)

9) to assist with the recovery of downed air- men through two escape routes, by sea or through Spain. Two of the prerequisites of possible agents were the ability to speak the

language, and to be able to send and receive wireless messages, usually in encoded Morse Code. It was not long before the British saw potential agents among RCCS members who could speak French. Inevitably, French-Cana- dians were approached and asked to volun- teer for what was a dangerous occupation.

Although agents did go into many coun- tries, the majority parachuted into France. Al- together 441 men and 39 women agents went to France; of the 480, 79 were executed and 93 died in prison. The Canadian contribution was quite small, 28 men, of which 12 were members of the RCCS, which supplied the largest contingent. All, but one, were NCOs or signalmen, who, on being accepted, were commissioned in the SOE on the understand- ing that when their period of service was over, they would return to the ranks. Twelve served in Europe with four of them also serving in Asia. Two of the twelve were executed after capture and one died as a result of a brutal captivity.*

The one exception was Capt R.K. Cheng, who was the first Chinese-Canadian to be com- missioned into the RCCS at Vimy Barracks. After a period of service in Ottawa, he was sent to British Columbia to train a small group of Chi- nese-Canadians with the idea of sending them into Nationalist China. As a result of diplomatic problems with the Chinese government, Capt Cheng and his group were sent instead to the Island of Sarawak in the Dutch East Indies, where they served until the end of the war.
Signals Welfare
On 15 April 1940, a RCCS Women’s Auxiliary was founded in Kingston to assist soldiers’ fam- ilies in finding housing or to help in cases of sickness or other needs. Soon, other auxiliaries were founded in Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, and later on in other large centres, es- pecially where NPAM Signal units had con- tributed men for overseas service. Most auxiliaries wanted to supply the men overseas with comforts as well as assist families at home.
*For details see Appendix 37.

The portrait of Colonel Elroy Forde, DSO, OBE,VD was placed in the Vimy Officer’s Mess in 1943.

$50,000 was spent on welfare.

In order to account for the money being raised and to protect the funds for the future, the Signals Welfare Incorporated was consti- tuted by a Dominion Charter on 10 May 1945. It was led by its hard-working president, LCol

D.C. Greeys. As noted in Chapter Six and Ap-

pendix 33, quite independently, Brig Genet had formed overseas the “Royal Canadian Corps of Signals Welfare Society” for much the same purpose. After the War, it was de- cided rightfully to amalgamate the two funds and Brig Genet’s fund, which totaled

$47,267.86, was added to the funds of Signals Welfare Incorporated. The Fund, which had as its aim, “rendering the most efficient help possible to signalmen and their families, who find themselves in difficulties,” continued until 6 December 2004.

It is of some interest to compare the rate of casualties in the First World War to those of the Second. During 1914-1919, a very small Canadian Corps Signal Service of about 3,000 all ranks suffered 141 fatalities, a rate of 4.7 per cent, compared to the 13,000 RCCS over- seas from 1939 to 1946, which had 433 fatal- ities, a rate of 3.32 per cent. This difference is not surprising when it is realized that in the First World War, all communications above the corps level were carried out by the British Army, whereas in the Second, the RCCS han- dled communications up to the army level in-