Nancy Polette - The Spy with the Wooden Leg: The Story of Virginia Hall

The Spy with the Wooden Leg

The Story of Virginia Hall

Nancy Polette

St Paul, Minnesota

The Spy with the Wooden Leg: The Story of Virginia Hall 2012 and 2013 Nancy Polette

Cover painting Les Marguerites Fleuriront ce Soir courtesy of Jeffrey W. Bass, artist. CIA Fine Art Collection. Cloistered in an old barn in south central France, OSS spy Virginia Hall communicates with London. Edmond Lebret (cousin of Leah Lebret), a Maquis leader, operates an improvised, manual generator to supply power to Virginias B2 spy radio. The code phrase les marguerites fleuriront ce soir (the daisies will bloom tonight) alerts Virginia to expect something from London.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Polette, Nancy.

The spy with the wooden leg : the story of Virginia Hall / by Nancy Polette.

p.cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-934617-15-1 (hardcover)--ISBN 978-1-934617-16-8 (pbk.)

1. Goillot, Virginia, 1906-1982 --Juvenile literature. 2. Women spies--United States--Biography--Juvenile literature. 3. Spies--United States--Biography--Juvenile literature. 4. Intelligence officers--United States--Biography--Juvenile literature. 5. World War, 1939-1945--Secret service--United States--Juvenile literature. 6. World War, 1939-1945--Underground movements--France--Juvenile literature. I. Title.

UB271.U52G64 2012

940.548673092--dc23

2012007281

ISBN 978-1-934617-20-5 ePub

ISBN 978-1-934617-21-2 Kindle

Alma Little is an imprint of Elva Resa Publishing LLC

8362 Tamarack Vlg Ste 119-106 St Paul, MN 55125

http://www.almalittle.com

A portion of book sales is donated to charity.

Contents

Preface

Something very special happened in the year 1906 in the United States. It was the same year the Fuller Brush Company had its beginnings. The same year Sears, Roebuck and Co. opened the largest business building in the world for its mail order catalog plant. The first radio broadcast of voice and music aired from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower the nations first national monument. It was during this exciting time in history, on April 6, 1906, Virginia Hall was born.

Twelve days after Virginias birth, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and the coast of Northern California. The fires that burned out of control afterward destroyed ninety percent of the city. Who could have predicted that, thirty-four years later, Virginia Hall would prove to be more damaging and destructive to the German Gestapo than any earthquake? Virginia, nicknamed Dindy by her older brother, John, would become known by many names in her life. The French Resistance leaders of World War II called her la dame qui boite or the Limping Lady. To the German Gestapo, she was known as Artemis, and labeled one of the most dangerous Allied spies in France.

How did a young woman from a wealthy Baltimore family, born at a time when daughters led sheltered lives and a womans place was in the home, become one of the bravest and most valued intelligence agents in World War II? This is Virginia Halls story.

Note from the Author

The following is a true account of the life of Virginia Hall and her work as an international spy. This biography is slightly fictionalized where I have created dialogue for Virginia, her family, and those with whom she worked. With the exception of written reports, we can never know the exact words spoken by Virginia, leaders of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), other American and British agents, and leaders of the French Resistance; however, I have made every effort to be faithful to the character of each speaker based on letters, journals, reports, and anecdotal accounts in order to bring alive the unique character of this extraordinary woman. Virginia Hall was a fearless, responsible, extremely well-organized, capricious, unpredictable, highly intelligent leader who did not suffer fools gladly. The portions of this biography that deal with her espionage work for the SOE and Office of Strategic Services (OSS) are well documented through her actual written reports.

Chapter 1

The Dream

LOOK OUT, CONSULATE, HERE I COME!

Startled passengers stepped out of the way as the slender, freckle-faced, twenty-seven-year-old woman flew down the aisle, grabbing the arm of the nearest tattered seat as the smoke-blackened train jerked to a stop. Smyrna, Turkey!

Virginia Hall was eager for her next assignment. She knew it would bring her one step closer to making her dream come true, a dream that began when she was fourteen years old.

The wealthy Hall family had been on holiday in London, taking in the sights in Grosvenor Square, when Virginia looked west to see the sprawling American embassy, sunlight sparkling off its dozens and dozens of windows. The three-story building stretched out for nearly a city block. It was the office of the American ambassador to the Court of St. James, the personal representative of the president of the United States. Virginia grinned and gave a quick salute to the embassy. One day, she planned to reside thereor in one like it in another country. She wanted to travel to foreign lands, representing the president. She would meet with foreign dignitaries and help resolve conflicts among nations. She would become the first woman ambassador! When her father pointed out there were no women ambassadors, Virginia assured him it was time there were, and she would lead the way.

After years of learning foreign languages, bombarding the US State Department with letters, filling out dozens of forms, and undergoing FBI investigations, Virginia was assigned her first overseas job at the American embassy in Warsaw, Poland, in 1931. And now, two years later, she was ready to prove how invaluable she could be to the consular service in Smyrna.

An ancient Maxwell pulled into the station. The driver spotted his passenger, the tall, slender Virginia, waiting on the rickety platform. A light wind tossed her shoulder-length brown hair into tangles.

Miss Hall? the drivers booming voice echoed as he brought the Maxwell to a stop. Virginia watched a big, lumbering fellow climb out of the car. His hair was faded blond with streaks of gray, bits of it sticking out from under his hat.

Welcome to Smyrna, the man said, grinning and vigorously shaking her hand up and down like a pump handle. Im Crosby, Consul Georges aide.

Before Virginia could say hello, the friendly giant lifted her trunk and tossed it in the boot of the embassy car. After you, he said, whipping open the door to reveal tattered seats with ragged edges and rips that had been clumsily sewn together.

A turn of the key brought a sharp backfire. Black smoke poured from the tailpipe. Crosby shook his head in exasperation as he nursed the tired engine to life. New cars in Turkey are as scarce as hens teeth, so we make do with Old Faithful here. He gave the dashboard an affectionate pat.

Crosby steered the old car through the heart of the city, past the clock tower in Konak Square. The elaborate clock was a long-ago gift from the Germans. Leaving the tower in the distance, neither Virginia nor Crosby could guess that Germanys gift-giving days were over.