The Lady Is a Spy
Page 18
Montluc Prison, 180
Moran, Monsieur (Eugene), 48, 179–180
Müller, Anna, 173–174
Murphy, Robert, 107
National Committee for a Free Europe (NCFE), 204–205
Nazis, 28, 126–128
Near East and Africa (NEA) Division (CIA), 210–212
Newton, Alfred and Henry (Artus and Auguste) (“Siamese twins”), 51–52, 181, 182–183, 187
New York Post, 42, 54, 90
North Africa, invasion of, 90–91, 92, 94–95
Norway, German-occupied, 111
Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), 207
Office of Special Operations (OSO), 203–204
Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
agents, 129
air drops by, 145
Austria operations planned by, 167–168, 171, 173, 174
communication concerning V. Hall, 153, 163
communications officers trained by, 114
creation and divisions of, 109–110
D-Day invasion support provided by, 134–135, 137
dissolving of, 199
equipment, 109, 110
memorabilia, 199
officers working for, 115, 116, 154–158
Special Operations Executive (SOE), work with, 124
women in, 206
Olivier (code name), 71, 72–73, 74–75
Operation Crocus, 167, 168, 171
Operation Jubilee, 50
Operation Torch, 92, 94–95
OSS-Norwegian special operations team, 111
parachute drops
photos, 145, 146
sites, identifying for, 128
supplies lost and found after, 156–157
weapons from, 147
parachute landing sites, identifying for, 71
paratroopers (D-Day), 134–136, 137
Paris, France
German occupation of, 24, 24–25
German surrender in, 153
Jews in, 54–55
liberation of, 150, 152, 153
Pearl Harbor, Japanese attack on, 1941, 108
people with disabilities, terms for, 16
Pétain, Henri-Philippe, 21–23
Philomène (alias), 90–91
PM (newspaper), 41–42
poison tablets, 138
Poland, German invasion of, 18–19
Political and Psychological operations (CIA), 212
Political and Psychological (PP) staff (CIA), 209
political prisoners, 47, 179
Pompey (contact), 85, 86, 87
prisoners of war, 53, 112, 143
prostitutes, 49, 78–79, 96
Rabut, Madame, 130, 139
Radcliffe College, 7
Radio Free Europe, 204
radio listening, 51
radio operators, 39–40, 48, 112, 123, 145, 174, 181–182
radio set, 113
radio transmitter, 123
“Rafael.” See Riley, Henry Drinker, Jr. (“Rafael”)
railroads, sabotaging of, 38, 126, 126–128, 148
Rake, Denis (“Alain”), 76–79
ration cards and books, 70–71
rationing, wartime, 31
Ravensbrück concentration camp, 180, 181, 185
refugees
aid to, 40, 53, 204–205
center for, 191
Hall, V. friendships with, 63
Jewish, 143
in Lyon, France, 57
Renée (alias), 77
Research and Analysis Branch (OSS), 110
Research and Development Branch (OSS), 109–110
Resistance, the
aid to, 45, 111
Allied support to, 174
arms for, 38–39
call for, 26
communications, 39–40
contacts in, 91
contact with, 173
D-Day invasion support provided by, 135–136
funding for, 66–67
groups, 89
in Nièvre, 140–141
during Paris liberation, 150, 152
photos, 25, 27
radio messages heard by, 51
radio use by, 113
recruits, 25
risks faced by, 27–28
sabotage by, 27, 38, 126, 126, 136, 147, 148–149
supplies for, 145–147, 146, 147, 148
work with, 47–50
Resistance members, killing of, 133, 189, 190, 191
Resistance prisoners, efforts to free, 66, 73–75, 131
Resistance prisoners, fate of, 177–185
Riley, Henry Drinker, Jr. (“Rafael”)
background, 155, 155
in Haute-Loire, 154–155, 156–158
near Bourg, 161
Resistance, work with, 159–160
return to London, 163
work, assessment of, 163–164
Roland Park Country School, Baltimore, MD, xix, 4–6, 5, 6
Roosevelt, Franklin, 15, 15–18, 16, 108, 199
Rousset, Jean (“Pepin”), 46–47, 81–82, 84, 177–179, 186, 187
Royal Warrant, 219
Russia, Communist revolution in, 167
sabotage
French Resistance committing of, 27, 38, 126, 126, 136, 147, 148–149
Nazi reprisals for, 126–128
in Norway, 111
OSS officer participation in, 154
recording of, 148–149
Sachsenhausen concentration camp, 184
Sansom, Odette, 183, 184, 184, 185
Schaefer, Karl, 190–191
septicemia, 13
“Siamese twins,” 51–52, 181, 182–183, 187
small arms, use of, 158
Soviet Union, 205, 208
Spanish-American War, 107
Special Operations Branch (OSS), 110, 111, 125, 197
Special Operations Executive (SOE)
contacts, 53
creation and purpose of, 37–38
F (France) Section, 38–39, 49, 64–65, 79–80, 92, 98, 102
Office of Strategic Services (OSS), work with, 124
operational challenges, 79–80
Special Operations Branch (OSS), work with, 111
women in, 43, 183, 185
Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents
aid to, 66, 67–70, 71–72, 73–74, 76, 77–79, 80
funding for, 66
spies, dangers faced by, 9
Stonehouse, Brian (Célestin), 52
Strategic Services Unit (SSU), 203–204
“stump socks,” 145, 147
suicide, potential, 138
telephone lines, cutting, 148
Thompson submachine gun, xvi
train engines, sabotage of, 136
train service (France), 60
Truman, Harry, 193, 197–198, 199, 205
undercover agents, communication with family members, 131–132
underground newspapers, 27
underground shelters, 30
United Kingdom Official Secrets Acts, 42
United States
neutrality, 31
prior to World War II entry, 29
in World War II, 64, 108–109
US State Department, 11–18, 107, 199
V-E Day, 175
Vessereau, Colonel, 140–141
“V for Victory” sign, 70
Vichy, France, 63
Vichy France, German occupation of, 91
Vichy regime (France)
actions against, 28
collaborators, execution of, 162–163
conditions under, 24
establishment of, 22
opposition to, 26
photos, 23
scrap metal, appeal for, 55
Vienna, US Embassy in, 166
Vomécourt, Philippe de, 112, 113
War Department, 199
War Department, Military Intelligence Division, 109
War Office, 67, 69
War Office Liaison (W.O.L
.) Friends, 189, 190
War Office Liaison (W.O.L.) information, 81, 189
Warsaw, Poland, US Embassy in, 11
Webb, Frank Egerton, 14–15
Western Europe, potential Soviet invasion of, 208
Western Hemisphere Division (CIA), 212
Whittinghill, George, 63
Wilson, Woodrow, 15
wireless telegraph (or W/T ), 39–40, 48, 112, 123, 145, 174
women
in French Resistance, 48, 49–50, 52–53
in intelligence work, 43, 206–207
in special operations, 39
World War I, 165–166
World War II
end of, 175–176, 185
France, wartime conditions in, 24, 56, 64 (see also food shortage)
Great Britain in, 29–33, 37
start of, 18–19
United States in, 64, 108–109
worms for fish bait, 58–59
Zurback, Dede, 143, 145, 147, 156
For seventeen years, I worked on the professional staff of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. My oversight responsibilities frequently took me to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia. When time permitted, I visited the CIA Museum—sometimes referred to as “the Best Museum You’ve Never Seen,” since only Intelligence Community staff and official visitors to the CIA Headquarters can visit. Of the many fascinating displays, I was especially intrigued by a gallery dedicated to World War II’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS). It was at this exhibit that I first learned about Virginia Hall and became inspired to find out more about her, and ultimately write this book. Jeffrey Bass’s painting of Virginia Hall radioing London from a barn in France, Les Marguerites Fleuriront ce Soir—prominently displayed at the old CIA Headquarters building—was a further inspiration.
Despite living in a time when being a woman in a field dominated by men and having an artificial leg were viewed as limitations, Virginia Hall was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross—the second highest US Army decoration after the Medal of Honor—for her extraordinary heroism in France during World War II. She was the only woman to receive this distinction for her wartime service.
To a great extent, Virginia Hall has been given short shrift. Most accounts of Virginia’s life and service have generally been confined to passing references—or at most a solitary chapter—in books about women intelligence officers during World War II. I’m pleased to have the opportunity to write, and have published, a book exclusively about this exceptional individual who deserves greater public recognition for her courage and achievements.
Biography is the art of compression and interpretation. I hope I’ve done justice to Virginia Hall and her remarkable life. I appreciate the time and efforts of the individuals and organizations that helped make this book a reality.
I’d particularly like to thank Virginia Hall’s niece, Lorna Catling, of Baltimore, Maryland, who was always helpful, gracious, and generous in answering numerous questions about her aunt and sharing her family’s archive.
I’m indebted to the scholar Margaret LaFoy Rossiter (1914–1991) for her book, Women in the Resistance (1986), which includes a section on Virginia Hall. She donated her research material for her book to the University of Michigan’s Special Collections Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The collection includes her correspondence with Virginia Hall, which was of great help in obtaining Virginia’s perspective on her life and espionage career. I’m grateful to the University of Michigan archivists for their valuable assistance.
The two phases of Virginia’s World War II espionage activities were with the United Kingdom’s Special Operations Executive (SOE), and the United States’ OSS, the CIA’s predecessor organization. With the passage of time, these previously classified archives have been opened up to the public, shedding light on World War II’s secret war.
I wish to acknowledge the help I received obtaining Virginia’s SOE file from Great Britain’s National Archives, located in Kew, Richmond, Surrey. I would like to thank the archivists at the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland, for their assistance in acquiring files related to the OSS. In particular, I would like to thank Sim Smiley, an independent research specialist, who provided significant research assistance in accessing OSS documents at the National Archives.
I’m grateful to CIA Chief Historian Dr. David Robarge and his staff for their biographical profile of Virginia, which was declassified and obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This document gave me valuable insights into her post–World War II intelligence career at the Agency. I would also like to thank the CIA Museum staff, particularly Museum Director Toni Hiley and Museum Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs Robert Byer, for their assistance in obtaining photos from the Agency’s archive.
I’m also grateful to Amanda Abrell, director of communications at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC; Nancy Mugele, assistant head of school for external relations for the Roland Park Country School in Baltimore, Maryland; the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York; Nancy Trueheart; and Randy Bookout. Thanks also to Jeffrey Bass and the families of former Directors of Central Intelligence Richard Helms and William Colby.
Special thanks to my editors Jody Corbett and Paige Hazzan, as well as Jael Fogle, Keirsten Geise, Lisa Sandell, Amla Sanghvi, Emily Teresa, Aerin Cisgay, Jeff Paul, Cian O’Day, and Jim McMahon of Scholastic Focus. Thanks also to Susan Cohen, my literary agent at Writers House.
I’m most indebted to my wife, Grace, and our children, Logan and Ella, who have been unfailingly supportive, patient, and understanding in this and every other endeavor I’ve undertaken. My family has given me great joy, a sense of purpose, and added meaning to my life.
Don Mitchell is a critically acclaimed author of nonfiction for young people, including The Freedom Summer Murders, which received multiple starred reviews and was a Kirkus Prize finalist for Young Readers’ Literature, an NAACP Image Award nominee for Outstanding Literary Work for Teens, and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year; Liftoff: A Photobiography of John Glenn; and Driven: A Photobiography of Henry Ford. He has served on the staff of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as on the staff of the National Security Council.
The Freedom Summer Murders
Liftoff: A Photobiography of John Glenn
Driven: A Photobiography of Henry Ford
Copyright © 2019 by Don Mitchell
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mitchell, Don, 1957– author.
Title: The lady is a spy : Virginia Hall, World War II hero of the French resistance / by Don Mitchell.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Scholastic Focus, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2019. | Audience: Ages 12 and up. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018037755 | ISBN 9780545936125
Subjects: LCSH: Goillot, Virginia, 1906–1982—Juvenile literature. | Women spies—United States--Biography—Juvenile literature. | Spies—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. | World War, 1939–1945—Secret service—United States—Juvenile literature. | World War, 1939–1945— Underground movements—France—Juvenile literature. | World War, 1939–1945—Secret service—Great Britain—Juvenile literature. | Espionage, American—Europe—History—20th century—Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC D810.S8 G59 2019 | DDC 940.54/8673092 [B]—dc23
First edition, March 2019
Cover photos: passport portrait and background: courtesy of Lorna H. Catling; plane: © karlovserg/Shutte
rstock; back cover: courtesy of the CIA Museum.
Cover design by Mary Claire Cruz and Keirsten Geise
e-ISBN 978-0-545-93656-9
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