Virginia Hall Blog

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.

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....

Covering Her Tracks Virginia, recruited by British Intelligence to be its "eyes and ears" in Vichy France, needed a cover story to keep the French Secret Police and Gestapo from prying into her clandestine life. Early in 1941 she contacted a family friend on the Board...

Virginia Hall was driving an ambulance when the Nazis invaded France. She fled to London where British spymasters quickly recruited Virginia to be America’s first and greatest spy of the Second World War.

Virginia Hall’s school yearbook shows her to have a streak of boldness, independence, and self-confidence. She also loved to act in school plays–and assuming the role of someone else was perfect training for a spy.

Virginia Hall was hunting a marsh bird, known as the Gallinago (or Snipe) on the coast of Turkey when her gun discharged and led to the amputation of a portion of her left leg below the knee.

One of Virginia Hall’s responsibilities was to organize the French to resist German occupation. This involved sabotage operations–many of which took place on a small scale.

Box Horn Farm was Virginia Hall’s childhood home. It had running water and electricity but lacked heating–which was supplied by a pot-bellied stove. Box Horn is where Virginia learned to walk again with her wooden prosthesis, she nicknamed, “Cuthbert.”

Virginia Hall received the Distinguished Service Cross from OSS Chief William ("Wild Bill") Donovan during a private ceremony in September 1945.  Originally, Donovan wanted President Truman to present the award but Virginia feared the ceremony would make the news and...

Virginia Hall carried a secret message for British Intelligence when she escaped over the snow-capped Pyrenees. A copy of the coded message is included in this post. Help me crack the code!