An RAF Westland Lysander IIIA (SD) of 161 Squadron crosses the French coast at low level on a night mission during WWII. These short take-off and landing aircraft were ideal for covert operations such as dropping agents and equipment behind enemy lines under the remit of the SOE (Special Operations Executive), an organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local resistance. Torches were used by resistance fighters to mark out a temporary landing zone for the pilot and the Lysander would land, drop off its payload, possibly collect more and be gone again in as short a time as possible
