Five Badass Female Spies Who Deserve Their Own World War II Movie However, she was not too tall to join the OSS. Toggle American Cold War era spies subsection. She soon applied for the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service), but at 63 was rejected for being too tall. Eventually, the Germans got wind of her, and Virginia became a prominent member on their most wanted list. Her 27-year career, for which she earned the CIAs Intelligence Commendation Medal, included operational disguise responsibilities in the most hostile theaters of the Cold War, from Havana to Beijing to Moscow and ultimately into the Oval Office. In February 1917, French authorities arrested her for espionage after intercepting an enemy telegram implicating her as a German spy. ", "Women are the hidden figures of D-Day," says Rose, who started researching the history of women in combat and was surprised to learn that their roles dated back to World War II. Mata Hari embodied all the intrigue of espionage and remains the most famous female spy in history. You have to know the land well to do that. An era of glitz, glamour . Although Child technically wasnt spying on other people, the OSS classified her as a senior civilian intelligence officer.While in Ceylon, Julia met Paul Child, a fellow OSS officer, who she married in 1946. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in 1906 in St. Louis, Josephine Baker grew up poor and wed for the first time in her early teens. "Some disrupted enemy communications, others planted mines and bombs. Courtesy of The Smithsonian/Lorna Catling. The only American on this list, Hall was a plucky overachiever whose dreams of joining the United States Foreign Service led her to an embassy post in Turkey, where she accidentally shot her foot off in a hunting accident, leaving her with a wooden leg and a limp. Soon, Noor was sent to Paris, thanks to her French language skills. They sent her back to France, this time disguised as an old peasant woman with gray hair. If so, in what capacity? That didnt deter volunteers from flocking to her, especially as it seemed more and more possible that the resistance efforts might get rid of the Germans once and for all. Despite Friedmans feelings that she was qualified for bigger challenges, she still made important contributions to the Allied war effort. While she started out as a secretary, soon enough she was given more responsibility within the Agency. She was trained not only to jump behind enemy lines, but also to spy on, sabotage, and kill Axis troops occupying her home country. Born in Eastern Europe in 1914, Barbara Lauwers became a junior lawyer and journalist, and moved to America with her husband in 1941. Worked in Japan and Germany; Passed Information about Japan were crucial for the Soviet victory in. These six women represent a mere sliver of the women who spied in World War II, and only those who spied for the U.K. Far more worked on both sides of the war, for the main powers of both the Allies and the Axis. Vera sent her to France as a courier, according to Spymistress, relaying memorized information that was too sensitive to broadcast over radio. In 1949, Noor became the first woman of south Asian descent to be awarded the George Cross for her service in the SOE, the highest civilian decoration in the United Kingdom. In August of 1943, when her network in Poitiers was blown, the SOE airlifted her back to England by Lysander aircraft. 1 most-wanted fugitive, with a price of 5 million francs on her head. The dancer turned WWI spy is said to have seduced diplomats and military officers into giving up their secrets. So began several months working as a courier in SOE agent Capt. The two eventually married, and Julia later gained international fame as a chef. And that is part of what leads to reeling the spy rings in and to crushing them.. 10 Famously Hard-Core Female Spies - Listverse Yes! She helped develop a shark repellent, so sharks would no longer accidentally trigger bombs. Another World War II spy whose codes Friedman examined was Velvalee Dickinson, a white American woman who owned a doll shop in New York City and sent coded messages for the Japanese government. When a concussion during parachute training left her unable to jump into France, she docked in Gibraltar on a gunrunner disguised as a sardine fishing boat, only to arrive in France's "free" zone the same week in November 1942 that Hitler's forces began occupying the region. You can help make espionage history accessible to everyone. Brother Claude also survived the war, dying in 1974. She was tough, determined, and persistent. Upon meeting, they bonded over a highly unusual connectionboth women had been spies overseas in WWII in the OSS, and later had long careers with the CIA. Here are 10 of the most notorious female spies in history. From baseball player Moe Berg to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory author Roald Dahl, learn about six famous people who once were wartime secret agents. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. as well as other partner offers and accept our, Honors: Croix de Guerre, Medal of the Resistance, the. She once saved the life of one of her lovers, Francis Cammaerts, by skulking around the prison where he was being held and singing one of their favorite tunes, until she heard him sing it back. Morris Berg was an American catcher and coach in Major League Baseball, who later served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Thompson served as an operative in the OSS. The Nazis offered a million francs to anyone willing to betray her. And he'd deserve it. Tortured and interrogated, they survived by telling their captors that Peter was Winstons nephew and Odette his wife. The Foreign Service used this as an excuse to turn her down, although she suspected the rejection was really because she was a woman, Judith Pearson writes in The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of Americas Greatest Female Spy. In 1943, he became an officer with the OSS, where his work included gathering intelligence in Europe on Nazi efforts to construct an atomic bomb. Raised in Paris by English parents, Cornioleys alcoholic father meant she was forced to help support her family. Odette was sent to the womens camp at Ravensbruck where thousands died including some of SOEs female agents. World War II's 'Most Dangerous' Allied Spy Was a - HISTORY After the fall of France, her family escaped to London. ", Her commanding officer described her as "the best of us all. Born in Minneapolis in 1910, Amy was reputed to be one of the most successful spies of her time. Then she parachuted straight back in to France. She was a pacifist, a writer of children's books, and a descendent of an 18th century Muslim ruler. fiddled with bits of metal bicycle tubing for guns and faked horse manure to conceal explosives, according to Spymistress. Important Women in World War 2: Female Spies She became ensconced with the Maquis, the guerrilla resistance army pocketed through some of Southern Frances more rugged terrain. This requires further investigation. Its the stuff of Hollywood movies. Gabrielle was a French nazi spy who reported information to French colony. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. She also used her chateau in southern France to hide Jewish refugees as well as weapons for the cause.Following the war, Baker, who received multiple awards from the French for her contributions to the war effort, became active in the American civil rights movement but continued to make her home in France, where she resided with 12 children she adopted from around the globe and whom she referred to as her Rainbow Tribe. Borrel parachuted into France in September of 1942, becoming the first female combat agent to do so. bitch. When the situation grew too dangerous, Hall fled France via the Pyrenees, on foot, in the dead of winter. She retired to London, where she lived until she died, aged 98. Outside his. Women like: Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1906, Virginia Hall attended schools in Germany, France and Austria, becoming multi-lingual. She was sent to Italy following the arrival of the Allied armies, and quickly became involved in Operation Sauerkraut. After the war, she received the Medal of Freedom, Americas highest civilian honor. Iconic singer and dancerJosephine Bakeris best-known for her entertainment career that spanned five decades. He eventually became part of the OSS and organized an information-gathering network behind enemy lines across Europe.The OSS was ordered disbanded by President Harry Truman in 1945, shortly after the end of the war. Women Spies of World War II | C-SPAN.org 2.1 Union spies. Friedman was one of the first American cryptanalysts, and she played . Even from prison, she is said to have continued fighting by inserting coded messages about her captors in several letters to her sister. Derring-do, cloak-and-dagger, betrayal, violence and death have always made good entertainment. She selected and prepared agents to infiltrate France, taking particular interest in what she often called 'my girls'. From Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. International Spy Museum 2023. Patricia McBride is a freelance journalist living in Cambridge, England. She is currently an author, lecturer, teacher and consultant on intelligence matters. The daughter of a wealthy family in British-ruled Mauritius, de Baissac was in France when Hitler's troops moved into Paris in 1940. View an ornate bodice that belonged to Mata Hari now on display! The Female Spies Who Helped Win World War II - Atlas Obscura There were more than 50 female agents who servedin the field for the Special Operation Executive during World War II. Its time that changed. The following year, she moved to a new department, the Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section, which developed ways for downed pilots to survive in remote locations; while there, she helped create a chemical shark repellent. World War II's 'Most Dangerous' Allied Spy Was a Woman With a Wooden Leg Virginia Hall, a.k.a. She fled to the south and then to London. Hall was a spy for the SOE, American OSS and the, Herbert worked as a translator at Air Ministry in. She soon became a highly wanted woman, with posters seeking la dame qui boitethe lady with a limp. Born in France as "Odette Brailly" in 1912, she had lost her father in the final months of the World War I. "People tend to think women were 'just' secretarial couriers and messengers. Although Ian Fleming was active in intelligence, theres no evidence (once again) he ever actually met her. It could well have been more than an urban legend, though: dozens of remarkable women played a key role in the Resistance, much as Marion Cotillards character does in the film. Muldowney pled guilty and was hanged that September. Some 25% of the approximately 400 agents dropped into France had perished. Remarkably, considering her many high-risk tactics, Lise de Baissac survived the war. Within hours of becoming an American citizen in 1943, she joined the U.S. army and was quickly assigned to the OSS. Described as 'The most beautiful spy', by her German controller Nikolaus Ritter, she could almost rival First World War spy Mata Hari and the various 'Bond girls' who followed her. See her, As the story goes, Nazi guards were so star-struck by Baker, known in various circles as the "Black Pearl," that they let her slip across the border without trouble not knowing she carried secret messages written in invisible ink on her sheet music. She joined the CIA in July 1967, shortly after graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in Russian. Andre Borrel was the first female SOE agent to parachute into France during World War II, but her jumping partner, 37-year-old Lise de Baissac, was right behind her. She trained new female SOE recruits in Scotland. Mata Hari was executed (by firing squad) on October 15, 1917. The English-born Greene was already an established novelist (Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory) with a taste for adventure when he became a spy for MI6, the British secret intelligence service, in 1941. Her story was rarely told until now. Her superiors praised her drive and cheerfulness, saying she inspired other workers. Indeed, she was perhaps the . Undaunted by her artificial leg, she created a spy network and helped organize and arm French commandos behind enemy lines. Even her joining SOE is unusual in that she did it by accident. I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks. She helped smuggle out information and prisoners, and smuggle in agents and supplies. 6 Incredible Female Spies of World War II These women risked their lives to assist the Allies' cause in World War II. Vera Atkins was a young Romanian working in Bucharest when she met the dashing Canadian William Stephenson, according to William Stevenson's Spymistress: The True Story of the Greatest Female. It was because espionage is one of the most effective ways to compile information about an enemy. She is currently an author, lecturer, teacher and consultant on intelligence matters. Peter Churchill's network, Spindle. In 1943, recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), she became the first female wireless operator sent to occupied France. Virginia Hall was the only female civilian in WWII to receive the coveted Distinguished Service Cross. After a stint treating people wounded by the German Army, she joined a group of French Resistance operatives organizing and operating one of the country's largest underground escape networks, the Pat O'Leary line. Kowerski was a Lieutenant for Poland during the war. Top Image: Dummy Sherman Tank 1944, photo courtesy of the US Army. Some of those women would go on to become. By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies. She would do the work of multiple pianists for nearly four months. She and the late Jeanne Vertefeuille co-authored Circle of Treason, which details their personal involvement in the search for and identification of fellow officer Aldrich Ames, one of the most destructive traitors in American history. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Secret Agents, Secret Armies: The D-Day Misfit Spies 1 language Article Talk Read Edit View history The following is an incomplete list of notable spies during World War II . Elizebeth well knew the value of what she was doing, says Melissa Davis, director of library and archives at The George C. Marshall Foundation, which houses the Elizebeth Smith Friedman Collection. Others say she was brutally beaten and shot multiple times. 1. During the war, Goldberg, a future Supreme Court justice, worked for the OSS and developed an intelligence network involving anti-Nazi European groups. Within a week, she was the only pianist left in Paris. Stephanie Czech Rader was X-2. Fleming was a Lieutenant Commander RNVR in the British, A Spanish double agent loyal to Great Britain, Garca played a key role deceiving Nazi Germany during. From 1944 to 1945, Child took assignments in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and China, where as head of the OSS registry she was responsible for handling high volumes of top-secret documents. When the SOE started recruiting multilingual women as agents, she joined the fight. He photographed the books, and returned them to the safe. Born in New Zealand in 1912 and raised in Australia, Nancy Wakes life couldnt have been sweeter. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Some reports say she was shot once. The Gestapo was soon buzzing about the White Mouse, a woman who was helping hundreds of downed Allied servicemen and would-be political prisoners escape to England via Spain and the Pyrenees (which Wake claimed to have walked 17 times). On one occasion, a Nazi stopped her and her clandestine radio operator, patting them down. Kowaleski helped Poland achieve victory in the. by Sarah Durn April 5, 2022 Many women joined the French resistance, making up 15 to 20% of the army that secretly battled the Nazis from within. Biography of Madeleine Albright: First Female US Secretary of State Biography of Clementine Churchill, Britain's First Lady Geraldine Ferraro: First Female Democratic VP Candidate Biography of Mary Jackson, NASA's First Female Black Engineer Catharine Beecher: Activist for Women in Education Biography of Isabella I, Queen of Spain She also insisted on fighting alongside them. It also made for tales that read like spy thrillers, the kind that should look like gold to any screenwriter. World War II for Kids: Spies and Secret Agents - Ducksters When asked why, according to The Spy Who Loved, she said that Krystyna was my fathers favorite spy.. So began several months working as a courier in SOE agent Capt. Pearl traveled around under the pretense of being a cosmetics saleswoman, although she didnt wear makeup. Featured photo of Vera Atkins: Alchetron; Additional photos: Nowa Historia; Alchetron. They led men.". Leski was a pilot during the war. Posters showing a very accurate drawing of her face were displayed throughout German occupied Europe, but she was never recognised. Apparently, Pearl was the best shotmale or femalewho had ever come through training. His true loyalties and the sources of his highly accurate information continue to mystify historians, Carmelo Borg Pisani was a Maltese-born artist and Italian Fascist who, on being discovered during an espionage mission in, Siviero was an Italian secret agent, art historian and intellectual, most notable for his important work in recovering artworks stolen from. She was a Norwegian employed by the Germans. Krystyna craved danger, even as her very existence was perilous: her mother was a fabulously wealthy Jewish banking heir. 3 American World War One era spies. Elizebeth Friedmans codebreaking helped save the Queen Mary and capture a Nazi spy ringleader in Latin America. She is interested in social history and particularly in womens history. Maxwell Knight, an officer in MI5, Britain's domestic-counterintelligence agency, sat pondering these questions. (later to become the C.I.A.). Mata Hari embodied all the intrigue of espionage and remains the most famous female spy in history. Hall was the first female S.O.E. Her activities stopped when she was denounced as a Republican spy, reputedly by a jealous woman. 10 Belle Boyd Photo credit: Brady-Handy Photograph Collection "Southern Belle" Boyd would not have considered herself a spy. In December 1944, Berg was sent to Switzerland to potentially assassinate prominent German physicist Werner Heisenberg, who American officials suspected might be supervising production of a bomb for Adolf Hitler. Explore her story in Spying in WWII exhibit. 5 American Cold War era spies. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Taylor was a French spy who shot and killed a German Gestapo colonel when she was 21. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Damerment worked for SOE and was later shot. Though her Jewish blood meant that she would never fully be accepted by the Polish aristocracy, Krystynas love for Poland never wavered. In London, according to Clare Mulleys The Spy Who Loved, she presented the British secret service with a plan: she would ski into Nazi-occupied Poland and deliver British propaganda. Szymaska had a French identity card, which identified her as a Marie Clenat. Known as Moses, she led more than 300 enslaved people to freedom and never lost a single passenger. A Union spy and military commander, Tubman collected intel behind enemy lines. A dancer, she went on to tour the United States with vaudeville troupes and perform on Broadway before moving to Paris in 1925, where she skyrocketed to fame in the citys music halls. However, when war came, Wake didnt shy away. She was in the SOE's first training class for female agents, where she learned skills from hand-to-hand combat to Morse code. Following the war, Berg, an enigmatic loner, took on assignments for the CIA in the early 1950s but failed to hold down regular employment after that time and spent the rest of his life living with friends and family. Friedman kept the secret of her work until her death in 1980, even as J. Edgar Hoover took credit for her teams achievements by attributing its work to the FBI. Lyudmila Pavlichenko is one of the most deadly snipers in history, with 309 confirmed kills of German soldiers following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. She died in 2004, aged 98. She and Churchill fell in love and continued working together mobilizing Resistance members in southeast France until April 1943, when the Gestapo arrested them. Sandy Grimes is a former CIA Officer who co-investigated and uncovered the actions of notorious spy Aldrich Ames. Friedman didnt choose to work on Nazi spy rings in Latin American, says Amy Butler Greenfield, a historian and author of the forthcoming book The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life. Later, he would be known as agent Intrepid, the supposed inspiration for James Bondbut for now, he supplying pre-war intelligence to Britain. Wakes husband, who was also captured in their arrest, had been tortured to death by the Gestapo searching for her. Andre Borrel was the first female SOE agent to parachute into France during World War II, but her jumping partner, 37-year-old Lise de Baissac, was right behind her. She was tough, determined, and persistent. . This is a category for female wartime spies and women accused of being wartime spies. Mata Hari. 5.1 Spied for America. The job of a spy includes bringing back informationabout the enemy army and sabotaging the enemy in various ways. Mrs. Brousse knew Amy well and treated her as a close family friend. He was stationed for more than a year in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where his responsibilities included searching ships sailing from Africa to Germany for smuggled diamonds and documents, and monitoring Vichy forces in neighboring French Guinea. No matter: Hall went to work in France as an ambulance driver, but was forced to flee once France surrendered to Germany. Its been suggested that she was the inspiration for Miss Moneypenny, James Bonds secretary. Lise de Baissac was one of SOEs first female agents, applying as soon as female agents were permitted. That is the legend and legacy of Mata Hari. To assist in readying British troops for the Normandy invasion, de Baissac gathered information on beaches, posing as an amateur archaeologist. Churchill had secretly been in contact with Franklin D. Roosevelt, but it was well known the Americans were deeply against entering another world warespecially with Britains gloomy prospects. The daughter of a wealthy family in British-ruled Mauritius, de Baissac was in France when Hitler's troops moved into Paris in 1940. All Rights Reserved. Warsaw-born Krystyna Skarbek is often overlooked. The book was also the basis for the ABC mini-series "The Assets", which aired in 2014. Upon checking into the U.S. embassy in the U.K., she was surprised to be asked to provide intelligence from her time on the ground. Dedicated to keeping the French people fighting, Prime Minister Winston Churchill pledged the United Kingdom's support to the resistance movement. She won over local clan leaders with her know-how and became the administrative head of around 7,000 fighters, coordinating secret nighttime airdrops of weapons, explosives, and supplies. She was their No. She mapped drop zones for supplies, found safe houses for escaping airmen, helped train three resistance until the Allies took over her group in September 1944. When she herself got ratted out, she escaped to Lisbon, Portugal. Nevertheless, she followed him on his diplomatic postings, where she made useful contacts, gaining information and making links with the British Special Operations Executive and the OSS. 6 Incredible Female Spies of World War II - Explore the Archive He was captured and went to prison, and then he escaped. Active with MI6 before the war started, Atkins became the deputy of Maurice Buckmaster, head of SOEs French section. During World War II, the OSS created the U.S.'s first spy network, and Hawkins managed the agency's message center in Washington, specializing in secret codes or " ciphers ." She helped train. As war drums reverberated across Europe in 1939, the head of France's military intelligence service recruited an unlikely spy: France's most famous woman . Unsung Heroines: The Forgotten Female Spies of World War I University students worked furiously to translate codes. Although still unconfirmed, it is believed that Rene Garry, sister of Noors head agent, sold her out for only 100,000. She later married a Polish Aristocrat, and died aged 95 in 2009. Kauder was the leader of the Max and Moritz Networks. There she was a radio operator, monitoring German intelligence and organizing drops of supplies to nearly 1,500 Maquis fighters for sabotage attacks against the rail lines, tunnels, and bridges used by the Germans, according to Pearsons The Wolves at the Door.
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