May 1940
Her hip screamed with pain from continually pressing down on the clutch with her prosthetic foot, but she knew she couldn’t stop. Evacuees crowded the roads as the bombs flew all around. There were death and suffering everywhere. But American and disabled woman Virginia Hall was not about to give up.
Virginia Hall: Breaking outside the female gender roles
(1906-1982)
At a time when women were expected to look pretty, marry young, and devote their lives to serving men at their beck and call, Virginia Hall was not interested. At a time when many disabled people were ignored, brutalized, and institutionalized Virginia Hall would have none of it. She had no interest in following other people’s plans. Her dream was to be a diplomat, but of course, the State Department wasn’t interested in hiring a woman. The State Department’s sexist attitude is not surprising, but the rest of Virginia’s story shows how often society underestimates women and disabled people.
Other posts in this series:
Disabled women in history: Rosemary Kennedy and the lobotomy
Virginia Hall and becoming disabled
In 1933 Virginia did get a clerking job for the American embassy in Smyrna (Izmir) in Turkey. She loved snipe shooting and regularly organized group outings. On Friday, Dec. 8th she was climbing a wire fence with her shotgun when she stumbled, her gun got caught in her coat, and she shot her left foot point-blank. Doctors initially thought she’d recover quickly, however, gangrene set in, and her leg was amputated.
After the amputation, she became septic and almost died. That’s when Virginia had a vision of her father. He told her that she couldn’t give up and that it was her duty to survive. His words stayed with her for the rest of her life and helped encourage her even when it looked like all was lost.
Prosthetics in the 1930s were nothing like they are now, they were difficult to wear and caused chafing and bleeding. Virginia’s leg (named Cuthbert) weighed 8 lbs, so it was tiring to haul around. Though she wouldn’t talk about it Virginia would be in pain for the rest of her life.
Germany invades France
After quitting the State Department in March 1939 (because they refused to promote her or give her responsibility) she signed up with the French 9th Artillery Regiment to drive ambulances. A few weeks later the Germans swept into France. Virginia picked up injured soldiers and carried supplies in her ambulance. Once the Germans had control she had to escape from France.
During her escape from the Germans, Virginia met undercover British Agent George Bellows who slipped her the number of a friend in London. The number belonged to the newly formed Special Operations Executive (SOE) branch. The SOE saw her value because as an American who was not at war with the Germans, she didn’t have to sneak into France. She would be the first female SOE agent.
Virginia Hall was the first female member of the SOE (Special Operations Executive Branch) in WWII, and she was the only one with a disability. Click To TweetVirginia Hall’s time as a disabled British spy
In 1941, Virginia was the only woman in SOE, and the only one with a disability. Because she was disabled and a woman, no one in London gave her more than a 50-50 chance of survival beyond the first few days. It’s true that while she was in France, many noticed her uneven gate and called her la dame qui boite or “limping lady.” People asked about how she lost her leg, but she didn’t want to reveal too much information about herself so she spread the story that it was in a bus accident.
Virginia felt that her disability created a distance between her and other agents, but that saved her life several times. Some of the male agents didn’t know what they were doing but liked pretending that they did. Virginia often had to clean up their messes. They drank and kept girlfriends which endangered the whole network. Virginia was smarter, she knew she had to keep to herself. Unfortunately, no matter what she achieved London would take the men’s word over hers every time, at the cost of many lives.
Only 15 out 115 SOE agents who were arrested in France ever came home
13 (1 in 3 of 39) female SOE agents never came home vs 1 in 4 of 400 male SOE agents³
Virginia Hall and her vast resistance networks
Virginia originally arrived in Lyon France “on behalf” of the New York Post. However, when America joined the war the Post urged her to come home. She did not. Virginia’s network was key to smuggling out injured soldiers. British airmen shot down were advised they should go immediately to the American consulate in Lyon and say they’re a friend of Olivier. This was the password to get in touch with Virginia.
Virginia’s goal was to expand the network across all of France. She worked out the details of how different groups (adult, youth, catholic, Jew, Protestant, atheist) would work together with her as the liaison. The Nazis hated her as she became well known for her exploits (like breaking 12 of her fellow agents out of a prison). She was even on the Gestapo’s most-wanted list.
Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie nicknamed “The Butcher of Lyon” instigated a manhunt to find Virginia. Barbie apparently told his staff:
I would give anything to lay my hands on that Canadian bitch²
Escaping over the Pyrenees when you’re disabled
Virginia decided it was time to leave France as the net around her tightened. While Allied troops landed in Vichy North Africa and Germans took over the French free zone, Virginia made her escape. She had to climb the 8,000 ft tall Pyrenees semi-starved and with her prosthetic leg. She was in agony because each step she took jarred her hip., but she knew her guide would leave her if she fell behind. She sent a message to London partway:
Cuthbert is being tirestome, but I can cope³
While Virginia was agonizingly scaling the Pyrenees, the Gestapo were tearing apart her network. They knew her code name and her headquarters, just not where she was.
Joining the Office of Strategic Services
Virginia did make it safely back to London, but she wasn’t interested in sitting around. On May 17, 1943, she landed in Madrid as a journalist at the Chicago Times. She was to work on establishing herself as a journalist, and then organize Spanish safe houses and escape routes for refugees from France. Virginia only lasted a few months because she itched to go back to France. Since the SOE wouldn’t send her, she went with the American OSS (Office of Strategic Services).
The OSS sent her back into France with the mission of assisting the resistance and planning acts of sabotage. She was instrumental in providing information to the Allies landing in France. Once the Allies landed, she helped pave the way for liberating Paris. Virginia was declared a hero for supporting the French Resistance in some of the darkest times of the war and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross Medal on September 23, 1945.
Virginia died on July 12, 1982, in Rockville, Maryland at the age of 76. There is so much more to her story that I had to leave out, so I highly recommend reading more about this fearless woman!
Recommended Reading
A Woman of No Importance: the Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II (affiliate link) by Sonia Purnell
Sources
- Katz, Brigit. “How a Spy Known as the ‘Limping Lady’ Helped the Allies Win WWII.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-spy-known-limping-lady-helped-allies-win-wwii-180971889/.
- “Not Bad for a Girl from Baltimore.” https://photos.state.gov/libraries/estonia/99874/History%20stories/Not-Bad-for-a-Girl-from-Baltimore.pdf
- Purnell, Sonia. A Woman of No Importance: the Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2020.