Virginia Hall Blog
A Call to Spy–Movie Review by Craig Gralley
A CIA psychiatrist told me in a recent interview that movies can help you build resilience to adversity. “Movie-goers see hardships and heroism, and think, ‘Maybe I can be brave, too.’” In other words, seeing “A Call to Spy,” could be good for you. “A Call to Spy,” is...
A Woman of No Importance—Reviewed by Craig Gralley
A Woman of No Importance—The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II Sonia Purnell (Viking, 2019), 368 pp. Reviewed by Craig Gralley Sonia Purnell’s biography of Office of Special Operations (OSS) and CIA clandestine officer Virginia Hall, A Woman...
Virginia Hall’s Story Lives On . . .
Virginia Hall’s life captures the imagination and has meaning for us today. She used the hard knocks of life as a platform for reaching higher.
Virginia Hall’s Escape Over the Pyrenees
Virginia Hall escaped the Gestapo by climbing over the Pyrenees mountains in the dead of winter. This post includes photographs of Hall’s Freedom Trail.
The US Enters WWII: Virginia Hall Goes Underground
Virginia Hall went underground after the US entered WWII. She changed hotels and became “Brigitte Lecontre” to foil the secret police chasing her.
Member of the British Empire: Virginia Hall’s “Gold Watch”?
The British awarded Virginia Hall the MBE for her espionage behind the lines in France but refused her return, calling it a suicide mission. But Virginia did return.
Virginia Hall– Life in Spanish Prison
Virginia Hall was thrown into Spanish prison for crossing the border illegally. But she had secret information for London and had a Spanish prostitute smuggle it out. After being released, Virginia demanded to return to France.
Virginia Hall’s Pyrenees Trek: Fear, Exhaustion, and Capture
After an exhausting three-day trek across the snow-capped Pyrenees, Virginia’s arrived exhausted but too early to the train station in Spain and was arrested for illegally crossing the border.
“The scariest thing I’d ever do”: Virginia Hall Scales the Pyrenees
Virginia Hall was betrayed by a Catholic priest who was an agent of German intelligence. Her only avenue of escape was over the snow-capped Pyrenees in winter. She dragged her prosthetic limb, she nicknamed Cuthbert, behind her for many miles.
“My Time is Up”: Virginia Hall–The Spy Revealed
Working Behind the Lines in Vichy Virginia entered France in the spring of 1941 as an undercover agent for British Intelligence with a mission to provide information on political developments, economic conditions, and the French will to resist the German occupation....