Chronicles of Female Espionage During the World Wars

By: P. Raffaini Costa

Espionage in the world wars shaped battlefields as much as bullets and bombs did, crafting the tide of history through deception and intelligence. The battlefield fought in the shadows with daring covert operations has always been an area mostly dominated by men. Nevertheless, notable female figures are essential in stories of thrilling confidential undertakings as well as challenges of societal norms during the wars. Women, often deemed to be a misfit for espionage, in fact played a key role in multiple operations by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and U.S office of Strategic Services (OSS). Society's overlook on women's skills in an area dominated by men was, in some way, a benefit for certain female spies. In other cases, women who found themselves in male-dominated environments (especially considering the context of war) were accused or suspected of espionage because of their impacting presence. Even so, the stories of these three women show great resilience and capability to thrive in areas of work initially thought to be dominated by men.
 
Many knew her by her various names such as "Marie Monin", "Germaine", or "Diane", but Virginia Hall was known to the Gestapo as "the most dangerous allied spy" or "the limping lady". Born in Baltimore, Maryland; Virginia was the only civilian woman to ever receive the Distinguished Service Cross honour, carrying out operations for the OSS and the SOE. Virginia organized resistance groups, assisted escaping war prisoners and trained guerrilla fighters - whilst staying one step ahead of the secret police of Nazi Germany, the Gestapo. Before WWII, during an assignment in Turkey, she suffered a hunting accident and lost all of her left leg under her knee. This didn't hold back Virginia Hall, which fit a wooden prosthetic and returned to work in Venice shortly. During the war, Virginia found herself in France, then in Spain, and then in England where she served for the British SOE and later the OSS. Her legacy endures as a testament to courage and perseverance in the face of adversity. 
 
“Miss Hall displayed rare courage, perseverance and ingenuity; her efforts contributed materially to the successful operations of the Resistance Forces in support of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in the liberation of France.”  - Harry Truman, former president of the United States.
 
Nancy Wake, a New Zealand-born Australian, served as a courier for the French resistance during the German occupation of France. Nancy coordinated sabotage missions against the Nazis and became a key member of an escape network, helping allied soldiers and airmen to escape to safety. Similar to Virginia, she was a spy always ahead of the Gestapo, justifying her nickname "la souris blanche" (or "the white mouse") because of her ability to evade and capture her targets quickly. Nancy, known for her resourcefulness and bravery, parachuted into France before D-Day to assist the allied forces. During her time in the French resistance, she: organized allied parachute drops, had to once cycle long distances to find new radio equipment, and most notably recalled having taken the life of a German sentry with her bare hands. She was awarded numerous medals for her bravery, including the British ‘George Medal’ once and the French ‘Croix De Guerre’ thrice.
 
Another symbol of bravery was Edith Cavell, a British nurse and spy who helped allied soldiers escape from Germany-occupied Belgium during WWI. Despite being a British nurse, she is celebrated for treating wounded soldiers from both sides of the war without discrimination. However, much of the privileged information Edith discovered and passed on to the UK (about German war plans) came from the bodies of the men she saved. Her nursing of wounded soldiers at the Belgian Red Cross hospital also served as a smuggling technique for the repatriation of allied soldiers. Edith was arrested in 1915 for this line of work and was executed on the dawn of the 12th of October of that same year by a German firing squad. Her work during WWI made her become a stark symbol of wartime bravery and sacrifice. 
 
These three women shattered gender norms stepping into dangerous roles, which at the time were overwhelmingly dominated by men. Their legacy stands as a symbol of resistance and female empowerment. Stories of these women alike serve as a reminder to society that female power has always been able to play critical roles in war and intelligence. Virginia, Nancy, and Edith were pioneers of espionage and resilient women who laid the building blocks of the monumental empowerment of women in areas dominated by men as well as contributing to crucial operations in the world wars.