conflict arthur frederick crane nicholls
The Special Operations Executive ( SOE ) was a British ___MASK89___ organisation . Following Cabinet approval , it was officially formed by Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940 , to conduct espionage , sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe ( and later , also in occupied Southeast Asia ) against the Axis powers , and to aid local resistance movements . The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second ___MASK68___ . The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare . ___MASK89___ ( often abbreviated to WWII or WW2 ), also known as the Second ___MASK68___ , was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945 , although related conflicts began earlier . It involved the vast majority of the world ' s nations  including all of the great powers  eventually forming two opposing military alliances : the Allies and the Axis . It was the most widespread war in history , and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries . In a state of " total war ", the major participants threw their entire economic , industrial , and scientific capabilities behind the war effort , erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources . Marked by mass deaths of civilians , including the Holocaust ( in which approximately 11 million people were killed ) and the strategic bombing of industrial and population centres ( in which approximately one million were killed , and which included the ___MASK20___ ), it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities . These made ___MASK89___ the deadliest conflict in human history . Brigadier Arthur Frederick Crane Nicholls GC , ERD ( 6 February 1911 -- 1944 ) was awarded the George Cross for gallantry and leadership on active service with the Special Operations Executive in Albania in 1944 . He is the only member of the Coldstream Guards to have been awarded with the medal . The Axis powers (" Sjikukoku "), also known as the Rome  Berlin  Tokyo Axis , were the nations that fought in ___MASK89___ against the Allied Powers . The Axis agreed on their opposition to the Allies , but did not completely coordinate their activity .