page_title: Francis Suttill
hierarchical_section_title: Francis Suttill
caption_attribution_description: English: Map showing major SOE networks in France, June 1943
context_page_description: Francis Alfred Suttill DSO, code name Prosper, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive organization in World War II. Suttill was the creator and organiser of the Physician or Prosper network in and around Paris, France from October 1942 until June 1943. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe and Asia against the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.
  Under Suttill's leadership the Prosper network was SOE's most important network in France, notable for its rapid growth, wide circle of contacts and collaborators, and the geographical reach of its operations "from the Ardennes to the Atlantic." The fall began in June 1943 and was even faster than its rise. The network was too large, diverse, and security too lax. The Germans penetrated and used Prosper for their own purposes. Maurice Buckmaster, the leader of the French section at SOE's London headquarters, failed to recognize clear signs that the Germans had infiltrated Prosper.
context_section_description: Francis Alfred Suttill DSO (born, France, 17 March 1910 – executed, c. 21 March 1945), code name Prosper, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization in World War II.  Suttill was the creator and organiser (leader) of the Physician or Prosper network (or circuit) in and around Paris, France from October 1942 until June 1943. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe and Asia against the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. 
  Under Suttill's leadership the Prosper network was SOE's most important network in France, notable for its rapid growth, wide circle of contacts and collaborators, and the geographical reach of its operations "from the Ardennes to the Atlantic." The fall began in June 1943 and was even faster than its rise. The network was too large, diverse, and security too lax.  The Germans penetrated and used Prosper for their own purposes.  Maurice Buckmaster, the leader of the French section at SOE's London headquarters, failed to recognize clear signs that the Germans had infiltrated Prosper.  
  In what has been called SOE's "catastrophe of 1943," Suttill was captured by the Germans on 24 June 1943 and later executed. By the end of August 1943, the Germans had captured many of the nearly 30 SOE agents associated with him and hundreds of local French people working with or cooperating with SOE. Many were killed, executed, or died in concentration camps.
caption: SOE networks (or circuits) in France, June 1943.
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