Thackthwaite joined the Royal Army Service Corps on 30 March 1940 and promoted to Second Lieutenant in May 1940. The
Special Operations Executive's RF Section came into being in the spring of 1941. RF Section was located at 1 Dorset Square. From January 1942 onwards, Thackthwaite was making contributions to Special Operations Executive RF section's 'History' in 1 Dorset Square, The objective of this operation was to assess and co-ordinate the organisation of the local maquis forces in the Vercors covering the three départments of Isère, Drôme and Savoie. After landing, Thackthwaite and Ortiz changed from civilian jump clothes to military uniforms and according to Thackthwaite became "the first allied liaison officers to appear in uniform in France since 1940". The Vercors plateau extends over almost and is over above sea level. In addition to the resident population, Thackthwaite found about 3000 maquisards, 500 of which were lightly armed and "[who] could be organised into a HQ company supplied with
Vickers, mortars and
Piats". awarded in March 1945, his citation reads (in part) thus: "Major Thackthwaite was responsible with his colleagues for establishing contact with those elements of the resistance necessary to facilitate the re-organisation of the
Maquis groups in his region. By his tact, administrative ability and knowledge of the Resistance Movements in FRANCE, he was largely instrumental in securing the acceptance of the mission by the heads of those movements, and in organising the necessary parachute operations to equip a considerable proportion of the Maquis groups", the citation continues "...(he) was ordered to return to this country (...) to take up an important administrative position of the SOE (RF)". This coincided with the capture of
Yeo-Thomas on 21 March 1944 by the Gestapo while conducting operation Asymptote. The withdrawal of Thackthwaite is highly significant; having two senior RF Section members in the field, one captured, presented a huge security risk. Yeo-Thomas would spend the remainder of the war as a POW masquerading mostly as F/L Kenneth Dodkin (RAF). He arrived in Paris on VE day, 8 May 1945 and was able rejoin Thackthwaite and
José Dupuis at the British Officer's Club in the rue du Faubourg St Honoré for dinner.
EMFFI The État-major des Forces Française de l'Interieur (EMFFI) was set up just ahead of the D-day landings in June 1944, its role was to merge the various resistance forces operating in France. By July, the two sections of SOE - F and RF were brought under the overseeing control of EMFFI with the majority of F Section becoming the 2e (intelligence) and 3e (operations) bureaux. The RF section became 6e bureau charged with 'special missions'. from an office in the Hotel Cecil in Paris. The two operations were commanded by
Col. M. Buckmaster for 3e bureau and Thackthwaite for 6e bureau. The objective of the operation was to visit the numerous maquis groups. Beyond that, it became a hot political potato with issues of pensions, compensation payments for widows, awards and medals for fighters, the re-establishment of normal post war life in France etc. The reports of RF Section have not survived. as well as the
Croix de Guerre and
Legion d'Honneur by France in recognition of work done for the French Resistance. == After the War ==