A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE

Virginia Hall was an upper class American until she was plucked from obscurity by the British Secret Service and sent to Vichy, France during WWII.Made all the more remarkable by her disability (she lost her leg in a hunting accident and used her wooden leg to transport and hide documents), Hall displayed all the necessary traits of a successful spy: daring but disciplined, courageous yet cunning, and with an astonishing commitment to the war effort during the course of two major missions from 1941 to 1945.

Working undercover as a journalist, Hall befriended an unlikely group of allies crucial for her operation. One was Germaine Guerin, a beautiful Madam who welcomed VIP’s (and indiscriminately allowed German Officers) into her salon. Virginia recruited Germaine and her girls, teaching them how to poison the officers’ drinks so that they slowly went blind.Both Hall and Guerin had quite an appetite for danger and a talent for dealing with it. Another unlikely accomplice was Dr. Jean Rousset, a gynecologist to the women of Guerin’s maison close who set up a fake mental health clinic as a cover to rescue downed pilots and British agents behind enemy lines.

Over time, the kitchen of Hall’s apartment on Place D’Oliver became a hub for escapees and agents alike. Hall’s mission was to kickstart the forces of the French Resistance, but she also ingeniously freed a group of captured allied agents from a concentration camp near Bergerac—using a priest’s wheelchair and a file smuggled in a jam jar.By this time, Hall had become a prized asset and #1 on the Gestapo’s most wanted list.

By 1944, Hall’s cover was blown and she could not return to work for the British. Instead, she began working for the American OSS (the precursor to the CIA), training new recruits in the mountains of northern France. It was here that she evolved into a full-blown military strategist, directing attacks on the ground behind enemy lines. It was also here that she fell in love with one of the recruits, Paul Golliot, who became her soulmate and adoring companion for the rest of her life.

Sonia Purnell is a biographer and journalist who has worked at The Economist,The Telegraph, and Sunday Times. Her first book Just Boris was longlisted for the Orwell prize. Her next book Clementine, published as First Lady: The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill in the UK, was chosen as a Book of the Year by The Telegraph and Independent and was shortlisted for the Plutarch Award.