Colonel Maurice James Buckmaster OBE (11 January 1902 – 17 April 1992) was the leader of the French section of Special Operations Executive and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Apart from his war service, Buckmaster was a corporate manager with the French branch of the Ford Motor Company, in the postwar years serving in Dagenham.

[4] Buckmaster showed an academic bent and gained an exhibition (scholarship) to study Classics at the University of Oxford, but was unable to take this up as his father went bankrupt.

[6] Buckmaster was allowed to stay on at Eton for a final year through a scholarship and by tutoring younger boys, and from that point onwards was entirely dependent on his own resources.

After doing some teaching he made his way to France where he soon became almost fluent in the language and gained a reporter's position with the French newspaper Le Matin.

On his return from France, Buckmaster transferred from the General List to the Intelligence Corps with effect from 15 July 1940 and was promoted to temporary captain.

[15] In September 1941, succeeding the civilian Henry R. Marriott (a director of Courtaulds French Division), Major Buckmaster assumed command of F Section, supported by Nicholas Bodington, working from an apartment in Orchard Court near Oxford Street.

His task was to build an organization which could carry out sabotage and collect information about the enemy and provide money and equipment for the French resistance.

In the autumn of 1944, Buckmaster was promoted to colonel and toured newly freed France, giving lectures and delivering speeches on a mission based in the Hotel Cecil in Paris and known as "JUDEX" which also provided the opportunity to clear up F Section's circuits and networks.

[21] On 23 May 1947, the US Government awarded Buckmaster the Legion of Merit (Officer) which appeared in the London Gazette, and he was listed as a colonel with the Intelligence Corps.