By Anne Green
Japan’s surprise aerial assault on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, highlighted America’s spy gathering weakness. President Franklin Roosevelt, a longtime advocate of clandestine work, ordered the creation of this country’s first true intelligence service in June 1942, the OSS.
Japan’s surprise aerial assault on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, highlighted America’s spy gathering weakness. President Franklin Roosevelt, a longtime advocate of clandestine work, ordered the creation of this country’s first true intelligence service in June 1942, the OSS.
The Allies turned to
two spy organizations for intelligence activities. These were the British SOE,
or Special Operations Executive, and the American OSS, or Office of Strategic
Services. In addition to traditional spies, these organizations employed many
ordinary men and women to covertly spy on strategic locations and activities
while leading apparently normal lives.
Headed by Major General
William J. Donovan, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) staged thousands of covert
and guerrilla activities. The sprawling organization also researched and
drafted reports concerning a wide spectrum of political, social, cultural, and
economic issues affecting the conduct of the war.
Women played major roles in OSS
missions. Of the thirteen thousand employees who served, forty-five hundred
were women. One-third fulfilled overseas assignments.
The OSS placed spys in Germany and Japan and every enemy-occupied
country in Europe and in the Pacific, aiding resistance groups and monitoring enemy activity.
The woman considered America’s greatest
female spy, Virginia Hall of Baltimore,
Maryland, flew into occupied France as an undercover OSS operative. A spy.
This American heroine
came from a privileged family, Hall attended fine schools
and colleges and wanted a career as a diplomat. But in 1932 she lost part of
her leg in a hunting accident and had to use a wooden prosthesis. She resigned
from the State Department in 1939 and lived in Paris when the war started. She
worked on an ambulance corps until the Vichy government took control. Then she
travelled to England and volunteered for the newly founded British SOE.
After training she returned
to Vichy-controlled France, where she supported the Resistance until the total
Nazi takeover.
She escaped on foot through
the mountains to Spain, difficult with an artificial leg. She worked for the
SOE there until 1944 when she joined the American OSS and asked to return to France. In
France she helped the underground resistance and provided maps to Allied forces
for drop zones. She found safe houses and provided intelligence activities. She
assisted in training three battalions of French Resistance forces and
continuously reported on enemy movements.
The Germans
recognized her activities and made her their most wanted spy calling her the
"woman with a limp". Hall used many aliases including "Agent Heckler," "Marie Monin," "Germaine," "Diane," and "Camille." She taught herself to
walk without a limp and wore disguises to foil Nazi attempts to capture
her. Her success in evading capture was as remarkable as the prodigious work
she accomplished.
In 1943 the British awarded
her the Member of the Order of the British Empire. Still active as a spy in
1945, Gen. William Donovan awarded her the Distinguished Service Cross for her covert
work in France and Spain. No other civilian woman in WWII earned such an award.
Hall worked for the
OSS until she retired to a farm in Barnesville,
MD.
Eventually, the OSS became the current CIA or Central Intelligence Agency, America's official spy agency.
Many other women
served America during World War II. Woman like Barbara Lauwers, Amy Elizabeth
Thorpe, Nancy Wake, Josephine Baker, Mary Louise Prather, film star Hedy
Lamarr, and America’s beloved cook, Julia Child. Next month on the 14th
I will tell a few of these spies’ fascinating stories. So please return and
visit.
I’m basing
my next Women of Courage book,
working title SPIES LIKE HER, on these real-life American heroines.
Leave a
comment below and let me know if you are acquainted with any woman or man currently
employed by the CIA. I met one such young lady in college.
Also, I’d
love to know what part of spy work appeals to you, or on the other hand, what
part of spy work would you find most difficult to perform? I’ll share with you
my answers as well.
ANNE
GREENE delights in writing about alpha heroes who aren’t afraid to fall on
their knees in prayer, and about gutsy heroines. She writes both historical and
suspense novels. She and her hero husband, Army Special Forces Colonel Larry
Greene, have visited twenty-five countries.
A visit to Scotland resulted in her award-winning Scottish historicals, Masquerade Marriage and Marriage By Arrangement. Moody Press
published her first book, Trail of Tears,
an American historical. A Texas
Christmas Mystery also won awards. Elk Lake Publishing contracted two
series. Her Women of Courage Series spotlights
heroic women of World War II. The first book, Angel With Steel Wings, releases May 2015. The second series, Holly Garden, PI, has the first book, Holly Garden, PI, Red Is For Rookie, releasing
May 2015. Anne makes her home in
McKinney, Texas. She hopes that her stories transport readers
to an awesome new worlds and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual
relationship with the Lord Jesus. To learn more of Anne, visit her at http://www.AnneGreeneAuthor.com. She writes a novel teaching class on her blog
www.anneswritingupdates.blogspot.com
Oh my, you have peaked my interest. : ) I am very interested in learning about women spies. I enjoy reading the work the Pinkerton staff did in America too. I would be a terrible spy as I wear my emotions on my face. I guess I would want to know what gadgets did they use? How did they keep it together when they wondered who they could trust? Did they believe the Lord called them to it? They must have been brilliant people, with photogenic memories to do it with no notes or changing codes!! One of the 1st stops after our move from FL to VA is to the Spy Museum in DC! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteHi Chris, so nice to visit with you here. I think most women would have to be trained to hide their emotions, so you're not alone. Yes, the gadgets are quite interesting, James Bond types. Fun to read about. I also love spy museums. We have a lot in common!
DeleteFascinating post, Anne. I remember hearing rumors and stories about female spies when I was a child. I didn't understand exactly what they did, but remember how brave I thought they were. Don't remember names,so I'm glad you're going to tell some of their stories. Those years were a good time to live and know what it meant to have freedom and to love your country.
ReplyDeleteHi Martha, thanks for visiting. Interesting that you heard about the female spies. I don't think many people those days or even today knew anything about America's spies. At the beginning of WW2, America had no spies. We turned to Britain to teach us how to train our cadre of spies. We had to start from scratch. But once America started, there was no stopping us!
ReplyDeleteThese were rumors brought back by a relative who served in England. This was after VE Day and I guess the rumors came from stuff discovered after the Armistice. I was 8 or 9 years old then.
DeleteYou are so lucky you lived and remember that time. Great memory for a little girl. Love ya,
DeleteBetty MacDonald's book gave me ideas for one of my books to be published next spring.
ReplyDeleteThose ladies had far more courage than I have.
I think courage comes with need. When there is a need, people rise to the occasion. I do admire all those women. Thanks Terri for visiting.
ReplyDeleteI admire these women greatly. It would be interesting to hear one talk about how they reconciled the idea of lying with their faith. I would think that would be the biggest challenge for many Christians.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Stephanie! That's a big one! Thanks for visiting. I hope you come back.
ReplyDeleteEscaping from the enemy if under suspicion. Those women were very courageous. sm wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteYes, I admire their courage. Hi Sharon, glad to visit with you here. I hope you come again.
ReplyDelete