The Lady Is a Spy

by Don Mitchell

  American soldiers storming Normandy Beach on D-Day.

  The foothold that Allied forces gained in France that day opened up a flood of forces and supplies, and quickly became a massive offensive against the retreating German army. The invasion brought about the collapse of the Vichy regime, and most of France would be liberated by October 1944.

  The Resistance, in tandem with Allied military forces, had long prepared for D-Day. Virginia’s 1944 deployment to France was part of that preparation. The goal of the Resistance was to do everything possible to support the military invasion and bring about the liberation of France. Their main enemy targets were German troop transport, electricity, telecommunications, and railways. The night before the invasion, the BBC broadcast two hundred coded messages in French in the space of fifteen minutes, signaling the groups to activate their offensive operations.

  Within twenty-four hours, one thousand acts of sabotage paralyzed France’s rail system. Bridges were blown up, trains derailed, and locomotives destroyed, shutting down half the nation’s rail system and seriously undermining the German military’s ability to send reinforcements to Normandy. The Jedburgh teams were also deployed to coordinate the activities of the Resistance groups with the rapidly advancing Allied forces.

  Successful Resistance effort to blow up and derail a train engine.

  As Virginia and her Resistance colleagues were busy supporting the invasion, the head of the OSS was experiencing his own adventure on D-Day.

  General Donovan spent much of World War II at a desk, fighting bureaucratic battles. But he loved to come out to the field and be where the action was. He wasn’t going to miss the greatest invasion of the war, particularly when his intelligence officers were doing so much to support the operation.

  After landing on the beaches of Normandy, Donovan and his aide, David Bruce, found themselves pinned down by enemy machine-gun fire close to a hedgerow. The two men only had revolvers. Huddled on the ground while bullets whizzed by them, Donovan turned to his aide and said, “You understand of course, David, that neither of us must be captured. We know too much.”

  “Yes, sir,” replied Bruce.

  “Have you your pills with you?” Donovan inquired, referring to the poison tablets OSS agents had been issued so that they could commit suicide if they were at risk of being captured and giving up their secrets. Thinking he wouldn’t need the tablets, Bruce didn’t bring them along. He apologized to his commanding officer.

  “Never mind, I have two of them,” Donovan whispered, and proceeded to rummage through his pockets. Finally, he realized he had left his pills behind in his London hotel.

  Donovan removed his revolver from its holster and peered through a hole in the hedgerow. “I must shoot first,” he told his aide.

  “Yes, sir,” said Bruce. “But can we do much against machine guns with our pistols?”

  “Oh, you don’t understand,” said Donovan. “I mean if we are about to be captured I’ll shoot you first. After all, I am your commanding officer.” Donovan said he would then shoot himself.

  From David Bruce’s perspective, the conversation had taken an unfortunate turn. Fortunately, British and American warplanes began bombing the enemy location, and the two men crouched down and ran to safety.

  OSS officer William E. Colby (fourth from left), speaking with other OSS paratroopers, led a Jedburgh team into occupied France.

  The Normandy invasion finally threw the Germans on the defensive in France. But there was still much to be done before liberation.

  In the weeks surrounding D-Day, Virginia heard little, if anything, from Aramis. To Virginia, it seemed that Aramis wasn’t making any progress with his mission. She ultimately concluded, “what the hell,” and simply went forward with making the most of things in the area of France where she was working. As a result of her efforts, Virginia had the use of several safe houses for her operators, and she had established a small, discreet group to undertake reception work for Allied servicemen and others seeking to evade the German authorities.

  After Aramis acquired his second safe house in Thoury-Ferrotes, he received a letter from Virginia asking for additional information about the hideout. In early July, Virginia sent a letter of thanks and farewell dated June 28, addressed to Madame Rabut, the courier whom Aramis had used to communicate with Virginia. That was the last Aramis was to hear from Virginia.

  At the request of London headquarters, Virginia had been asked to go to the Haute-Loire region in the middle of June 1944. Virginia had told headquarters that there were already 150 men there, but that they had no arms and no direction. They deserved to have a team supporting them. Virginia was directed to fill that leadership void. At the time, she was providing radio support to Antoine, one of her agent colleagues. One of his radio operators had died and the other wasn’t capable. Virginia found an agent named Felix as a replacement for Antoine in the first week of July.

  Virginia’s deputy in the Nièvre, Colonel Vessereau of the gendarmerie, was successful in gaining the confidence of other gendarmes in the Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire district, and recruited approximately one hundred men willing to support the Resistance in the Nièvre. They formed a Maquis split into four groups of twenty-five members each.

  A group of French Maquis.

  Around July 9, an agent named Leon, along with Colonel Vessereau, took over the group in the Nièvre. Leon was able to obtain safe houses, couriers, and radio equipment to support the mission, along with one hundred men to organize and train.

  During this period, Virginia received no further news from Aramis. When London asked Virginia whether Aramis could be of use to her in the Haute-Loire, Virginia replied in the negative. So Virginia set off on an independent course.

  Virginia arrived in the Haute-Loire on July 14, 1944—Bastille Day. She had visited the area the previous month and recalled that “the set up was sound, the men were very good.”

  At that time, she had provided the men with money for their Maquis group, but they ended up quarreling over the use of it. Five of the men took control of the group, and they were despised by the other Maquis group members. However, Virginia got along well with these disaffected members, who couldn’t return to civilian life and wanted to do something about the German occupiers. Virginia recalled that she “did [her] best for them.”

  Because no living arrangements had been made for her when she arrived in the Haute-Loire, Virginia stayed with a man named Fayolle and his wife in their house for two days. But she explained to them that aircraft sometimes have detection equipment, and if they detected radio transmissions from their house, it could be bombed. Fayolle found a place for her to stay in a barn at Villonge, close to the Maquis forces. While there, she encountered Lieutenant Bob-Raoul Le Boulicaud, who was an SOE officer and had been living in the mountains for over a year.

  Virginia would refer to him as Lieutenant Bob. Virginia found that he “was so solid and so good and his men loved him so much that I took Bob and his particular Maquis of about 30 unto myself.” His men were happy to join up with Virginia’s forces.

  Virginia found herself frequently on the move. She kept busy and was well regarded by her colleagues in the Resistance. The wife of one of Virginia’s field operatives spoke admiringly of her courage and devotion to duty, noting that “Miss Hall had never asked for anything but a place to send her radio messages from; that she demanded no personal comforts and slept for days in straw stacks without complaining.” Another Resistance official who dealt extensively with Virginia in the summer of 1944 stated: “I noted in Nicolas [Virginia] a great activity, a firm resolution, energy and order and a very great organizing ability. I have only praise for the service she rendered …”

  After living and working in the Villonge baker’s barn for several days, Virginia went to live with Madame Leah Lebrat near Le Chambon-sur-Lignon.

  Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (Haute-Loire).

  Many of the people in this area were committed to resisting the Germans and the Vichy a
uthorities. The small Protestant community in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, located in the mountainous Cévennes region, would become famous for helping thousands of Jewish refugees to hide and escape the Nazi genocide.

  Madame Lebrat’s husband was being held prisoner in Germany, and she had her hands full running her farm and tending to their two children, who were five and nine years old. Nevertheless, her house was always open to help the members of the Maquis, giving them food and refuge. An Alsatian boy, Dede Zurback, lived in the house and helped out with farm chores. He also became a courier as well as an efficient and devoted assistant to Virginia.

  Despite the risk to herself and her family, Madame Lebrat took in Virginia without hesitation. Virginia lived with her for two weeks and then moved into an abandoned house belonging to the charitable organization the Salvation Army. The house had three bedrooms—ideal for putting up individuals evading the German and Vichy forces—with a huge barn that served Virginia well as a workroom. Madame Lebrat supplied Virginia with food, and even sent her a hot meal daily when she was unable to visit the farm. Virginia also acquired bicycles for Dede, another courier, and several of Lieutenant Bob’s Maquis “so they could keep in constant touch with me.”

  Never allowing Cuthbert to keep her from doing her job, Virginia rode her own bicycle as well.

  Jeffrey Bass’s oil painting Les Marguerites Fleuriront ce Soir (The Daisies Will Bloom) showing Virginia radioing London from an old barn in France.

  Virginia recalled that “life in the Haute-Loire was different in that I spent my time looking for fields for receptions, spent my day bicycling up and down mountains, scouting fields, visiting various people, doing my W/T work and then spending the nights out waiting, for the most part in vain, for deliveries.”

  OSS personnel wrapping Bren receivers for packing into parachute containers to be dropped in the field.

  The mountainous, broken terrain of the Haute-Loire made it challenging for Allied pilots to drop supplies with precision, as well as for Resistance reception groups to locate the large containers that sometimes went off course. The metal containers dropped from the sky included weapons, ammunition, batteries, food, clothing, and money. On occasion, the drops included “stump socks”—medical socks that Virginia needed to protect her leg from her artificial limb. These were a gift from Vera Atkins of SOE headquarters.

  Supplies being parachuted to French Resistance members.

  Members of the French Resistance searching the sky for Allied airplanes to drop off supplies.

  In taking the assignment in the Haute-Loire, Virginia made it clear that she would finance and provide weapons to the Maquis, and that they would take orders from her. But she found it difficult to deal with the five men who had previously been in charge of the Maquis and were extremely reluctant to relinquish the power and privileges of leadership. Virginia noted that they “wanted to take everything and give nothing.” Virginia felt that it was Dede and Bob’s company “who made it possible for me to live and work in [the] Haute Loire.”

  Any weapons Virginia received went to the Maquis, which she also financed. Her goal was to arm the Maquis members in the mountains and to subdue the thousands of German soldiers then in Le Puy. Despite the fact the Maquis leaders were not particularly cooperative with Virginia, she was happy to support them as long as they were willing to conduct sabotage and guerrilla warfare.

  As a woman in an environment dominated by men, she didn’t hesitate to assert herself. Maquis members at Villonge provided for Virginia’s security, but she still was not receiving the men and material she was promised. At the end of July 1944, however, three planeloads of supplies arrived and this made a big difference for Resistance forces. The materials were put to good use, enabling the Maquis to sabotage tunnels and bridges. It also helped to force the Germans out of Le Puy, with five to six hundred of them surrendering.

  Resistance members study weapon mechanisms dropped by parachute in the Haute-Loire.

  Virginia didn’t take part in sabotage operations. But because of her leadership, the Resistance was able to undertake a number of successful sabotage activities between July 27 and August 12, 1944, which she dutifully cataloged in her activity report when she later returned to London:

  Bridge blown at Montagnac, cutting road Langogne-Le Puy.

  Four cuts made on railroad Langogne-Brassac.

  Freight train derailed in tunnel at Monistrol-d’Allier and fifteen meters of track blown up behind wrecking train and crew after it had gone into tunnel to clear up the wreckage.

  Tunnel at Selignac rendered impassable by blowing up rails.

  Lavoute-sur-Loire [sic]—railway bridge blown.

  Railway bridge wrecked at Chamalieres and locomotives driven into gulf below.

  Telephone lines Brioude-Le Puy rendered useless—lines cut and wires rolled up and telephone posts cut down.

  Between Le Puy and Langeac one auto mitrailleuse [armored car] and one lorry [truck] of German soldiers destroyed by bazooka.

  Nineteen miliciens—members of the political paramilitary organization created by the Vichy regime to fight against the Resistance—arrested and valuable documents seized.

  German convoy of twelve lorries attacked near St. Paulieu last part of July—FFI [Resistance forces known as the Forces Francaises de l’interieur, or French Forces of the Interior] lost twenty killed.

  Five German lorries destroyed around August 12, 1944 near Retournac.

  A convoy from Le Puy was trapped between Chamelix and Pigeyre by bridges blown after five days’ struggle to advance. The convoy, which had lost 10 per cent of its effective, surrendered to the FFI of the Loire and Haute Loire at Estiureilles in the Loire. Approximately 500 were taken prisoner—150 killed—FFI losses negligible.

  Le Puy was occupied on August 19, 1944 with 30 Germans killed, 6 wounded—FFI, 5 killed, 4 wounded.

  A Jedburgh team from Africa arrived in the middle of August, but they came after the Germans had already been vanquished in the Haute-Loire and Le Puy had been liberated. Nevertheless, the Jeds “did an excellent job” taking on the tasks that Virginia asked of them.

  Still, Virginia was plagued with infighting among various Resistance factions. The French member of the Jed team was opposed to the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP), an armed Resistance group created by leaders of the French Communist Party. Virginia wanted the FTP to be fully integrated as part of the FFI and other Resistance members in order to have a stronger, unified force against the Germans. Virginia met with the FTP Maquis, financed them, and requested that the Jeds take on the task of incorporating them into the larger Resistance effort. Still, the French member of the Jedburgh team said this arrangement was unacceptable.

  Members of the French Resistance crouch behind a truck during the liberation of Paris.

  The Jedburghs had effectively organized the local men at Le Puy and formed three battalions of 1,500 men. However, the forces still needed extensive training. Virginia financed them and provided whatever weapons she could. When these battalions were formed, Virginia was furious to discover that they were to be deployed to the Belfort Gap in eastern France. She labeled it “a stupid act” to send all those poorly trained men there.

  French Red Cross workers search for identification of Maquis prisoners who were massacred by the Germans as Paris was about to fall to the Allies.

  When she raised a complaint, the French military official indignantly asked who she was to be giving orders. Virginia felt that she was not being given the level of support she needed. Exasperated, she noted, “People were sent out ostensibly to work for me and with me but I was not given the necessary authority.”

  Gendarmes, soldiers, and Resistance fighters escorting German prisoners through crowds of jubilant civilians in front of the opera house during the Liberation of Paris.

  Victory parade from the Arc de Triomphe down the Champs-Élysées on August 25, 1944.

  In another letter to Virginia’s mother dated August 23, 1944, the OSS t
ried to calm her fears about the lack of news regarding Virginia: “I am so sorry to hear that you have been ill, and I fully realize how upsetting Virginia’s silence must have been. You must not worry, Mrs. Hall. Virginia is doing a spectacular, man-sized job, and her progress is rapid and sure. You have every reason to be proud of her.”

  While Virginia was dealing with her organizational headaches, the Allies were surging through France. A major victory for Virginia and her Resistance colleagues came on August 25, 1944, when German forces in Paris surrendered to the Allies.

  As directed in his original OSS instructions, Aramis was present for the liberation of Paris. For his work establishing safe hideouts for use as meeting places for intelligence agents and leaders of the Resistance, as well as his subsequent efforts at organizing Resistance groups and providing the location of German strongpoints that assisted French forces in the liberation of Paris, Aramis would later be awarded the Silver Star.

  However, Aramis remained puzzled and bitter that Virginia had left him earlier that summer. When he departed Paris for London and summarized his time in France, Aramis wrote that “all in all, I do not think I did as much as I could have done if my radio operator hadn’t left me. I do not know if she received formal orders to drop me as she did, but I still doubt that London was willing to leave me without liaison at all. I feel I have done all I could under the circumstances and I wish I could have done more.”