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Women Spies in World War II

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Women Spies in World War II Leigh Concessi Professor Jeffrey Burds Honors Thesis Women Spies in World War II During World War II, the Allied nations enlisted hundreds of women as espionage agents. Women were ideal agents to drop into enemy-occupied territory: the Nazis did not consider women capable of such work, and women could move around during the day much easier than male agents could. Many of these women were subjected to torture and intense interrogation, just as their male counterparts were; some even gave their lives for the Allied cause. After the war, the stories of these brave women became known to the general public; their sacrifices were celebrated, and they were adored by the media. They were even the subject of news articles, books, and films.1 This paper will discuss the actions of women who worked with the United States’ Office of Strategic Services and Britain’s Special Operations Executive. Although many women were able to provide vital support for their respective nations while staying within their expected gender roles (as secretaries or translators), few were able to break free of the stereotypes of the time to do dangerous espionage work abroad. This paper will focus specifically on three women espionage agents who worked for the SOE in France: Violette Szabo, Noor Inayat-Khan and Odette Sansom. These women exemplified loyalty and bravery under the most trying circumstances. Despite the heroic deeds of these women, the agency that employed them, the 1 There are two excellent studies of women spies in World War II: Rita Kramer, Flames in the Field: The Story of Four SOE Agents in Occupied France (New York: Penguin Books, 1995); and Elizabeth P. McIntosh, Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998). 1 SOE, came under heavy scrutiny in the years following the war. This paper will also discuss the actions of the leaders of the SOE, and their decision to send unprepared women into enemy territory. Elizabeth Mcintosh’s Sisterhood of Spies gives a portrayal of women working with the OSS during WWII. Many women were able to serve the agency as secretaries; many of them played a key role in putting into order and analyzing information. Lucy Mcguire, “was responsible for organizing headquarters offices and responding to the needs of OSS branches abroad.”2 Mcintosh refers to Mcguire as an “indispensible woman” who played a significant role in the forming of the OSS. Another secretary, Louise Bushnell, saved the life of the head of the OSS, General William Donovan, by hiding him in the women’s bathroom when a deranged gunman came to the office to kill him.3 Mcintosh mentions several other women who proved vital to the OSS’s operations, but were constrained by a woman’s expected role as a homemaker. A few women chose to leave behind their lives as wives and mothers to become spies for the OSS. Elizabeth Thorpe Pack, code named Cynthia, began a romantic relationship with a French attaché and, by taking advantage of his anti-Vichy sentiments, was able to gain access to French naval ciphers. With her lover’s help, Cynthia was able to break into the safe containing the books of ciphers, photograph them, and bring the books back before anyone noticed they were missing. Her actions that led to the Vichy codes “proved invaluable in their undercover work with agents in North Africa”.4 Women also played an important part in Morale Operations, which included spreading rumors and encouraging organized dissent among people living in enemy territory. Barbara Lauwers played a key role in Operation Sauerkraut by spreading propaganda about Hitler’s assassination. She interviewed and recruited prisoners to infiltrate the 2 Mcintosh, 13 3 Mcintosh, 16 4 Mcintosh, 31 2 German front lines and let the word out that a revolt against Hitler was being carried out at home.5 Under Lauwers’ supervision, the mission was successful. The OSS headquarters in London was the largest overseas station; many of the women working here were well educated, familiar with European territory, and spoke multiple languages.6 In London, they endured harsh conditions, slim food rations and frequent bombing along with the rest of the population. Behind enemy lines, they joined resistance groups and worked as radio operators, couriers, and spies. As part of X-2, the OSS’s counterintelligence unit, there were many outstanding, intelligent women who were just as talented as the men; of course, gender discrimination was inevitable. In X-2, they were secretaries, filing clerks, or translators, while the men took care of most of the counterintelligence missions.7 Perhaps the most famous woman of the OSS, Virginia Hall, had an extraordinary career as a spy. Despite having had her leg amputated, Hall was able to organize and train groups of hundreds of espionage agents and complete two successful espionage missions in France.8 She maintained constant radio contact with London, and worked with many local resistance groups in France. While undercover, she disguised herself as an older woman by dying her hair and wearing unflattering clothing. Although the Gestapo was well aware of her work, and made repeated efforts to locate the “Limping Lady”, she managed to elude them every step of the way.9 Rita Kramer’s Flames in the Field tells the incredible stories of four women working for the SOE in occupied France. Kramer’s book gives biographical accounts of Vera Leigh, Diana Rowden, Andree Borell, and Sonia Olschanesky, four SOE agents who were executed together 5 Mcintosh, 64 6 Mcintosh, 85 7 Mcintosh, 98 8 Mcintosh, 115 9 Mcintosh, 122 3 on 6 July 1944.10 Kramer also writes of Vera Atkins, the aide to Maurice Buckmaster, the head of the French Section. During the war, Atkins played a crucial role in the recruitment, training and deployment of many of the SOE’s women. After the war, Atkins travelled to Germany and France in order to find out what had happened with many of her agents that had disappeared in enemy territory. Her efforts led not only to the discoveries about these missing agents, but also encouraged others such as Elizabeth Nicholas and Jean Overton Fuller to continue gathering details about agents and their missions in order to paint a complete and accurate picture of the F- Section. Fuller’s Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan was the first biography of the courageous Indian- American spy who was also executed before the war’s end. Fuller’s other works, Double Webs and The Starr Affair, exposed SOE agents who were corrupted by the Germans and potentially put fellow agents at risk, sometimes intentionally. Nicholas’s Death Be Not Proud “tied together many previously loose ends in a plot that had become so complex, so far-reaching, and so surprising to a public used to tales of heroic accomplishments by romanticized figures that it caused a sensation.”11 The research done by Fuller and Nicholas inspired countless others to follow in their footsteps and uncover more SOE conspiracies. Violette Szabo12 Violette Bushell was born to an English father and a French mother in a British hospital in Paris, on 26 June 1921.13 Throughout her youth, Violette’s family, which soon grew to 10 Kramer, 115 11 Kramer, 167 12 On Szabo, see R. J. Minney, Carve Her Name With Pride: The Story of Violette Szabo (London: Newness, 1956); Susan Ottaway, Violette Szabo: The Life That I Have (Pen & Sword Books, 2003); and Kramer, Flames in the Field. 4 include five boys, moved between France and Britain, according to the economy. Violette was “a sturdy little child, strong, and always active”.14 Her family and friends remember her as adventurous, fearless, and willing to try anything. She played mostly with boys, preferring their roughhousing and sports to acceptable feminine activities. At the age of fourteen, Violette insisted on dropping out of school to become a hairdresser, a strange career choice for someone of her character.15 She worked in various shops, often growing bored of the monotonous chores required of her. Every summer, she would vacation in France with her French family; it was here she was on 1 September 1939, when France declared war on Germany.16 Violette rarely read books during her youth; she was mostly outdoors or horsing around. When she did read, however, it was only on one topic: spies.17 Violette showed little interest in joining the war effort at first; for a while, everyday life was unaffected, and it was hard for Violette and her peers to accept how real the war was. Violette and her cousin eventually decided to join the Land Army; they picked fruit and slept in tents with other girls their age. It was here Violette experienced her first air raid. She heard the bombs and the other girls’ screams, and, unaffected went back to sleep.18 On Bastille Day, 1940, Violette’s mother thought she should find a French soldier stationed in Britain and invite him over for dinner; she said, “there are a lot of French soldiers in London, heartbroken at what has been happening to our country. It will be a sad anniversary for them so far away from home. They will be feeling lost and lonely”.19 Violette and her cousin went out in search of a lonely French soldier, and they met Etienne Szabo. Etienne was a 13 Minney, 16 14 Minney, 17 15 Minney, 26 16 Minney, 33 17 Minney, 28 18 Minney, 36 19 Minney, 38 5 Frenchman, ten years older than Violette, who had been fighting with the French Foreign Legion since he was sixteen.
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