Section D

The Section for Destruction (or Section D), originally established as Section IX, was a wartime irregular warfare, guerrilla warfare, destruction, and sabotage unit of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6). Its headquarters were originally garrisoned at The Frythe, expanded into Bletchley Park and 2 Caxton Street, moved to 54 Broadway, and finally relocated to the St. Ermin’s Hotel.

The director of Section D was Laurence Grand. In telegrams, his codename was simplified to the letter D, in a similar manner to his boss, who was known as C. In the summer of 1940, Section D was merged with Electra House and the Department of Military Intelligence Research (MI(R)) to become part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). It continued to exist at SOE for several months while being gradually absorbed into the new agency.

Section D suffered only two British fatalities during the war, Norman Hope and Geoffrey Frodsham, but relied heavily on local resistance networks, including Slovenian and Czech saboteurs who faced far higher risks. The contributions of these non-communist groups were largely erased during the Cold War when their countries under communist rule downplayed the efforts of anti-Nazi forces unaffiliated with their ideology. Some figures, such as Ante Anić and Milko Brezigar, were forced into exile for their wartime associations with British intelligence, while others, like Romanian leader Iuliu Maniu, were imprisoned.