Meet Virginia Hall, the one-legged spy who outsmarted the Nazis and was a force of danger in occupied France. She was a brave leader of the French Resistance during World War II, making her a true American hero. The fact that she was a woman made her accomplishments all the more impressive.
Virginia Hall was born in 1906 to a wealthy family in Baltimore. She was a top student and took her studies seriously, becoming fluent in multiple languages, including German, French, Russian, Italian, and Spanish. Her dream was to work abroad for the American diplomatic service.
In 1931, she got a job as a clerk at the American Embassy, where she decoded telegraphs and processed visas. At the age of 27, she was transferred to the U.S. Consulate in Smyrna, Turkey.
In 1933, she was on a hunting trip with friends in Turkey when she accidentally shot herself in the foot. Her left leg had to be amputated below the knee after gangrene set in. She nicknamed her artificial wooden leg “Cuthbert.”
Virginia was in France when the Nazis invaded in May 1940, kickstarting World War II. She refused to remain on the sidelines and helped the war effort by volunteering to drive ambulances for the French Army on the front lines. She transferred the wounded to large military hospitals in Paris while German fighter planes fired from above.
After France was defeated and surrendered to Germany, Virginia fled to England. She ended up meeting a British agent who was impressed by her grit and passion and was recruited as an agent for the Special Operations Executive (SOE).
She was sent back to occupied France to build a network of spies to work for the Resistance. Her cover was as a reporter from the New York Post. As a supposed journalist, it was not unusual for her to go around conducting interviews and gathering information.
Virginia was the second female SOE agent dropped into France and the first to be put on spy duty. She established contacts, organized meetings, and oversaw the delivery of weapons and other supplies.
The Germans referred to her as “the limping lady” and placed her at the top of their most wanted list. But German intelligence never figured out who she really was or where she came from. Virginia did not leave France again until September 1942.
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The Nazis raided an SOE meeting and arrested dozens of agents. She escaped from France by train and then hiked on foot to Spain.
Once she reached Spain, she was immediately arrested for crossing the border illegally, but the U.S. Embassy was able to get her released from custody. She worked for the SOE in Madrid and was eventually asked to return to France.
Throughout her career as a spy, Virginia trained soldiers in guerrilla war tactics, taught them how to blow up bridges, and was the mastermind behind a successful plot to rescue 12 Resistance fighters who were captured by the Germans. The guerrilla techniques she developed are still used today by the CIA and other spy agencies.
In 1945, after the war ended, she was presented with a Distinguished Service Cross from the U.S. Army. It was the only one awarded to a civilian woman. She was also made an honorary member of the Order of the British Empire.
She went on to join the CIA in 1951 and worked as an intelligence analyst. In 1966, she retired to a farm in Maryland and died at the age of 76 in 1982.
Overall, Virginia Hall contributed so much to the war effort, saving lives and changing the course of history.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
