272 • JEDBURGH
technical courses at Hatherop Castle in Gloucestershire (Special
Training School[STS] 45); Gumley Hall, Leicestershire (STS 41);
and West Court, Wokingham (STS 6). This stopgap continued until
February 1944, when Milton Hall (designated ME 65), became the
mainjedburghtraining center. Situated just seven miles from Peter-
borough, this beautiful 17th-century property and the surrounding es-
tate provided ideal facilities for preparing the agents for their tasks.
The radio operators went on to STS 54 for an intensive wireless in-
struction, and a parachute course was run at Altrincham, Manchester
(STS 51a). Thereafter the graduates were given a five-day field test
under simulated conditions at Horsham in Sussex.
Milton Hall was to become thejedburghs’ principal home and
was staffed almost entirely by SOE. The first commandant was Frank
Spooner, with Major O. H. Brown as chief instructor and Major H. L.
Trebilcock as adjutant and transport officer. Bill Sykes led a team of
15 instructors, supplemented by eight Americans. The organization
was divided into three companies, commanded by Majors H. A. Dor-
sey, M. C. M. Crosby, and B. W. Gilmour. Before the firstjedburgh
team could be formed, in mid-March 1944, SOE experienced further
difficulty in gathering sufficient personnel, but found a remedy in the
recruitment of 70 Free French officers from the Middle East.
Once the training phase had been completed and the ‘‘Jeds’’ were
ready to be deployed operationally, the overall management was
changed, with Colonel Smith and Major Coxe replacing Spooner in
command at Milton Hall. The composition of each team was chosen
by Milton Hall’s new commandant, Colonel Musgrove, in consulta-
tion with his chief instructor, Major McLallen. Each team was allo-
cated a cryptonym, usually an English first name, although the names
of drugs and car manufacturers were introduced after the Security
Section ran out of Christian names.
In April 1944 the first teams were sent abroad, all to North Africa
accompanied by a U.S. Marine, Major Horace Fuller, in expectation
of being dropped into southern France. However, the Algiers group
was beaten into the field byhugh, the firstjedburghinto France.
hughwas dispatched from RAF Harrington on 5–6 June to the Chaˆ-
teauroux area, where it linked up with the local maquis leader, code-
namedphilippeofshipwright. The team acted as liaison between
his men, which numbered some 2,000 spread across the Indrede ́parte-