The Lady Is a Spy

by Don Mitchell

  On the evening of September 4, 1944, Virginia found herself in a French countryside field. She was contacting a plane with her Eureka radio navigation system and signaling her location so the Jedburgh team members could land on target. The two men who dropped into Virginia’s world that night were among the most impressive colleagues she would encounter during the war, and one of the men would become an important part of her life.

  OSS officers Second Lieutenant Henry Riley and Second Lieutenant Paul Goillot were waiting to parachute out of their airplane over the Haute-Loire region. As members of the Jedburgh team, the pair were tasked with joining Virginia Hall and the Heckler circuit to use guerrilla warfare and sabotage to harass German forces at every opportunity. Paul and Henry were dressed in civilian clothes the night they parachuted into France. They both knew that, in addition to the dangers of possible combat, they would be treated as spies and would likely be tortured to death if captured.

  Henry Drinker Riley Jr., code name Rafael, was born in Philadelphia in 1916. He was fluent in French and had attended Princeton University. The twenty-seven-year-old had owned and managed a farm in Cuba, exporting fruit to the United States. Henry joined the US Army in August 1943, and on April 19, 1944, he joined his older brother and transferred into the OSS. His specialized skills were military intelligence and weapons demolition. His superiors noted that Henry “is an outstanding troop leader. Extremely reliable, conscientious and with great sense of responsibility. Has the ability to get the utmost efficiency and cooperation from his men. Is a very rugged type.”

  Henry Riley code-named Rafael.

  The other OSS officer waiting to jump into France that night was Paul Gaston Goillot, code name Hemon, who was born in Paris on July 10, 1914. He came to the United States in August 1926. Paul completed the equivalent of grammar school in New York City and was later employed as a knitting machine operator and by several restaurants in various capacities. Fluent in French, he was fun-loving and a fine athlete. Paul organized dances and sporting events of all kinds, played soccer, and was an avid bicyclist.

  Paul enlisted in the US Army in February 1941 and later joined the mountain ski troops stationed at Camp Hale, Colorado. His occupational specialty was as a linguist. In February 1944, Paul was assigned to the OSS as a staff sergeant and developed expertise as a parachutist. He was promoted to second lieutenant in August 1944 and later became a US citizen on December 1, 1944, while serving in London.

  The men’s parachute jump did not go well. They were more than thirty miles off the planned landing target where Virginia was waiting for them, apparently the result of a communications failure. As soon as they landed, Henry and Paul spent the rest of the night picking up supply packages that had been dropped along with them. By morning, they were only able to locate three of the five packages. For two hours, the men cautiously approached farms that they feared were inhabited by Germans. They ultimately realized that they had landed in friendly terrain and traveled to their rendezvous point in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon.

  Henry and Paul reached a bicycle shop, and the proprietor sent for Dede, Virginia’s trusted young courier. Dede informed the men that Virginia was on an inspection tour but would be at her home that afternoon. While waiting for Virginia, Dede arranged transportation to the men’s drop point to see if they could find the packages they had lost. They were unsuccessful, but they were able to retrieve the three other packages they had hidden the previous night.

  The newcomers were introduced to both Lieutenant Bob and Lieutenant Payot, an FTP lieutenant who had joined forces with Lieutenant Bob, and then were taken to Virginia’s home. That evening, Henry and Paul passed along messages from London, as well as over two million francs to support resistance operations.

  Virginia provided a clear and concise summary of the situation in the Haute-Loire for her two guests; in short: “Everything was over.” The German forces had left and were retreating toward their homeland through the Belfort Gap. Virginia was responsible for arming three battalions of resistance forces, and the forces were under the supervision of the Jed team. Reception fields for air dropping of supplies had been selected and reception committees organized. While Henry and Paul realized they had come too late, they resolved to do everything possible to assist Virginia.

  The next morning, Henry and Paul met with the Jedburgh team. Henry was surprised to see the Jed team with both an English and a French captain. He had been briefed prior to the mission that the team would only be lower-ranking noncommissioned officers who would be serving under his orders. Now he realized that he and Paul would be outranked, putting them at a disadvantage. While the two men would ultimately get what they wanted out of their counterparts, it only happened after extensive, time-consuming discussions with officers who outranked them.

  Initially, Henry and Paul believed that since the Jed team had preceded them by three weeks and had organized the three battalions at Le Puy, there was no point for them to insert themselves into the situation. But the two men ultimately decided to go to Le Puy to assess the situation for themselves.

  The next day, Henry and Paul went to Lyon to get gasoline for the three battalions so they could move to Montluçon. The Maquis chief of Lyon informed Henry that there was no gas available for the Americans but noted that the previous day, six thousand liters of gas had been used for the local resistance groups to hold a parade through Lyon. Furious, Henry responded that “it was a dirty way to treat Americans who were working for his country and the war effort.” The Maquis chief agreed with Henry and conceded that things were getting out of hand.

  Angry and frustrated with their encounter in Lyon, Henry and Paul returned to Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Virginia had raised the prospect of moving to Alsace to conduct operations, and the two men enthusiastically prepared for that change of plans. The Villonge Maquis selected sixteen men to support this mission, and Henry and Paul immediately set about training them in guerrilla tactics and the use of small arms. The trainees started off with few skills in this area, but because they were highly motivated and “full of fight,” they picked up these skills rapidly and became a cohesive fighting unit.

  Paul was particularly effective in teaching the men in such short order because of his patience and ability in weapons instruction. He gave intensive training “to officers and men of the Maquis in the operation and stripping of Light Machine Guns, Bren Guns, bazookas, mortars, English and American rifles and automatic pistols, and also gave the men tactical training in guerrilla warfare and ambushes.”

  German prisoner being frisked by the maquisard.

  Since August 1, 1944, Virginia had been seeking permission from London to travel to Alsace, in northeastern France, to support operations there, but the request was ultimately refused.

  More disappointment came on the evening of September 8, as Virginia and her team waited in vain for an airdrop of supplies. Then again, on the night of September 11, they missed another airdrop and were puzzled why the pilot was unable to successfully connect with the reception committee eagerly awaiting the drop. Henry was able to contact the pilot of one of the planes, who complained that he could not see the signal lights on the field below, despite the fact that Virginia’s group had three large automobile headlights mounted on batteries, arranged in the specified position for signaling airdrops.

  Finally, Virginia and her team received additional supplies, and it was decided that the group would use a seven-ton truck and three automobiles to form a mobile unit. They mounted a Browning .30-caliber machine gun on top of the truck’s cab. They also put Brens, which are light machine guns, on the back of the truck, as well as through the windshield of their reconnaissance vehicle. The group carried additional weapons including .45-caliber revolvers, Springfield rifles, grenades, explosives, and a demolition kit.

  Virginia’s team then packed up and left to see Isotherme, her contact in Clermont-Ferrand. The remainder of the Maquis were sent into Le Puy, though they would have much preferred to go with Virginia
and her team.

  The group met with Isotherme at Clermont-Ferrand, and he recommended that instead of going to Montluçon, they should go to Bourg instead. Isotherme provided all the supplies necessary for the trip. On their way to Bourg, they planned to stay overnight in Roanne. The group was told that a band of miliciens were situated in the hills outside of Roanne. Learning this, the group formulated a plan in case of attack. But, as Henry remarked, “Much to our regret, we pulled into Roanne without having met any enemy—and in time for dinner.”

  The following morning, the team proceeded to Bourg and arrived there at lunchtime, and they were directed east to Seventh Army headquarters at Lons-le-Saunier. Virginia, Paul, and Henry were sent to various military officials who first raised the prospect of them conducting ambush operations and other intelligence work in the Vosges Mountains. While this possibility was under consideration, Virginia and her team were told to return in several days.

  While these deliberations were going on, Henry quartered the men in an abandoned chateau over fifteen miles from Bourg. After cleaning up the building, the men were put through a rigorous schedule of hikes, calisthenics, compass work, and warfare tactics. Virginia was delighted by their initiative. She remarked, “These two officers are extraordinarily efficient at getting things done—just the sort I might have wished for from the beginning.”

  To the disappointment of Virginia and her team, a colonel instructed Virginia and her group not to undertake a mission into the Vosges, contending that it was too risky. Henry and Virginia decided that it was a waste of time to stay on without commitment to a new mission. They offered the men a choice: return to the Haute-Loire or enter the First French Army’s Ninth Colonial Division.

  Seven members joined the First French Army’s Ninth Colonial Division in Lons-le-Saunier, and nine went back to their homes, ultimately joining the regular army. Before the group disbanded, Henry collected the small arms from the men returning to the Haute-Loire. They were, however, allowed to keep their fighting knives and were each provided with a pistol and six bullets for personal protection on their way home. Virginia and her colleagues gave each of them 3,000 francs in order to get themselves reestablished after having lived in the mountains for a year or more. The men who planned to join the Colonial Division were given rifles, pistols, ammunition, fighting knives, and all the other equipment necessary for military life.

  In September 1944, a firing squad in Grenoble, France, carries out the death sentence for six young men convicted collaborating with the Vichy government militia.

  On September 21, Henry and Lieutenant Bob took the Resistance members who wished to enter the First French Army’s Ninth Colonial Division to Lons-le-Saunier. They provided the Division with “all the arms, munitions and explosives we had with us.” Some returned to the Haute-Loire, while Henry, Virginia, and others returned to Paris the next day.

  On September 23, 1944, the OSS in London sent a letter to Virginia’s mother, noting that “we have had recent word of your daughter Virginia. She continues to be in good health and spirits, and her work is progressing very well. War news is hopeful and encouraging for us all, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that Virginia will soon be returning home.”

  Henry and Virginia returned to London on September 26, 1944. Back in London, Virginia made particular note of the excellent work of both Henry and Paul, and the difficulty they encountered dealing with their French military counterparts.

  Henry and Paul were second lieutenants and were outranked by the French officers. Their requests were not always honored by the more senior French officers. Nevertheless, the two men took over the corps francs, or irregular forces, for Virginia and rapidly “whipped them into shape and immediately developed a fine small body of very loyal men.”

  Virginia was outspoken about the importance of headquarters giving individuals sufficient authority to complete their missions: “It was distinctly unfair to send men into the field in responsible positions without giving them the rank necessary to enable them to work efficiently, for by not doing so they were given great responsibility without sufficient authority.”

  She was particularly laudatory to headquarters about the men who met her high standards: “Rafael and Hemon have done excellent work for me and if I go out again I want them and no one else to go with me, but if they are to be in uniform I request that their grades be upped, otherwise we shall be heavily handicapped again. This applies whether we go to China—where face is of great importance—or to Austria or Germany where rank is most highly respected.”

  Virginia summed up her second tour of duty in France as an OSS officer as follows: “In the Cher and the Nièvre, I was again the milkmaid, took the cows to pasture, milked them and the goats and distributed the milk and was able thus to talk with a lot of people in the very normal course of my activities.”

  In the activity report she filed with OSS for her time in France, Virginia was asked, “Were You Decorated in the Field?” She modestly responded, “No, nor any reason to be.” Others would disagree.

  After completing her assignment in France and returning to London, Virginia was anxious to take on a new assignment. As the fight against the Nazis was moving closer to the German homeland, new opportunities were becoming available.

  In October 1944, Allen Dulles, who was in charge of the OSS office in Bern, Switzerland, received a recommendation to use Virginia Hall for operations in Austria. He was told of her excellent operational track record in France, her extensive contacts, as well as her knowledge of, and experience in, Austria. Dulles was making a strong reputation for himself with his OSS work during World War II, and he would later go on to great fame as the director of Central Intelligence in the 1950s and early 1960s.

  Allen Dulles, who served as the OSS chief of station during the war.

  Dulles liked to tell fledgling intelligence officers a story from his early career. When the United States entered World War I against Germany in 1917, he was serving as a low-level diplomat in the US Embassy in Vienna. With the declaration of war, the American Embassy staff was relocated to Bern, Switzerland, arriving early on Easter Sunday morning. As the junior diplomat, young Dulles was asked to sort files and perform other menial tasks, but he had already made a date to play tennis with a young Swiss woman that afternoon.

  At midmorning, Dulles was handed the telephone. A Russian émigré politician requested an immediate meeting.

  “On Easter Sunday?” asked the incredulous American diplomat.

  “Yes.”

  Dulles did not see the urgency but offered to meet on Monday.

  “Too late, too late,” the Russian protested.

  “Sorry,” Dulles replied, “but that’s the best I can do.”

  And because Allen Dulles refused to postpone his tennis date, the future director of Central Intelligence missed a meeting with Vladimir Lenin, who went on to lead the Communist revolution in Russia. Dulles often told this story over the years to underscore his belief that intelligence officers should always be open to new people and opportunities.

  The recommendation to Dulles about Virginia Hall apparently had an impact, and by early December 1944, the OSS had planned a new mission for both Virginia Hall (code name Diane) and Paul Goillot (code name Hemon) in which they were to be deployed in Austria as part of Operation Crocus. The object of this mission was to contact and organize resistance groups in Austria, and to transmit to London military and political intelligence. The two were to be flown from London to France, entering the northeastern area of Austria.

  Virginia’s cover story was to pose as an ethnic German of Austrian-Swedish descent. Under this story, she was representing herself as being born in Smyrna, Turkey, moving to France in 1938, and staying with friends on a farm near Dijon until 1943. From there, Virginia was supposed to have come to Paris to “take on a job of secretarial and general office work in a restauranteur’s and black market dealer’s office.” Under the OSS cover story, Virginia was then to have worked her
way to Austria.

  Paul’s OSS cover story was that he was a Frenchman, born of French parents in Paris, with practically no knowledge of German. Under the story, Paul:

  … came to Paris in 1940, where he met an old friend of his father’s, a restaurateur, a Luxembourger who was starting night clubs for German officers in Paris, and who was also dealing in the black market. He is a chef by trade, having learned the business in Paris after his father’s death. The restaurateur readily employed him not only for cooking, but to aid in the black market transaction.

  In December 1944, OSS headquarters decided to cancel Operation Crocus but noted that both Virginia and Paul were suited for similar operations, particularly in Austria given Virginia’s familiarity with the country. The two would have to wait before returning to the field.

  In anticipation of a future operation in Austria, Virginia was transferred administratively from the Western European Section of the OSS to the Central European Section, effective December 16, 1944. Soon thereafter, Paul and Virginia were approved to transfer from London to Caserta, Italy, so they would be better placed to support Central European operations.

  Back in London, René Défourneaux, a Jedburgh member during the war, was trading war experiences with his friend Paul Goillot one day. Défourneaux mentioned how difficult it had been to fill Virginia’s shoes after she left France. He asked Paul, “Have you ever heard of this woman?” He knew of her through her code name Diane.

  Paul was incredulous. “Do you mean to tell me that you’ve never met Diane? Well, you’re in luck! She’s in London now. I’ll arrange for us to meet her for lunch tomorrow.”

  The next day, Défourneaux went to Grosvenor House, the London officers’ club, across from Hyde Park, to meet Paul and Virginia. He arrived early, taking a seat in the ornate lobby next to what appeared to be an elderly lady, “wearing an elegant black dress and a stylish black hat with an expansive brim.” He assumed she was “a typical upper crust Brit” and paid no further attention to her. Paul walked up to him and said, “Ah, I see you two have already met!”