Anthony Brooks

Anthony Morris Brooks (4 April 1922 – 19 April 2007), code name Alphonse, was a British espionage agent with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization in France during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by Nazi Germany and other Axis powers. SOE agents allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. Brooks received the Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross, Croix de guerre, and Légion d'honneur for his work as a leader of SOE's Pimento network sabotaging German reinforcements prior to and during the Normandy invasion. He later worked for the Foreign Office, and MI5 and MI6.

Of 470 SOE agents who worked in France during World War II, M.R.D. Foot, the official historian of the SOE, named Brooks as one of the half-dozen best male agents. Brooks is often characterized as the youngest SOE agent in France, but Sonya Butt was younger by several months when she arrived in France. In terms of length of time in France, however, Brooks was one of the longest serving SOE agents. He avoided capture by the Germans through strict adherence to security measures and survived the war. Provided by Wikipedia