Virginia Hall, WW2 Spy in Nazi-Occupied France - Most Decorated Female Civilian: Women's Hist. Month

[appalachiablue]

- Women's History Month, 'The Most Dangerous Spy.' Ed. The most decorated female spy during World War II was Virginia Hall (1906-1982). Born to a wealthy Baltimore, Md. family, she could have followed a traditional path. Instead, after college stints at Radcliffe and Barnard, and time spent in Paris, Hall set her sights on becoming an ambassador. The State Dept. rejected her application several times and would not name the first female ambassador until 1949.

In 1933, Hall suffered a hunting accident that resulted in gangrene and a wooden leg prosthesis. Later she joined British intelligence and was sent into Nazi-occupied France in 1941. Posing as a reporter for the NY Post, Hall slipped notice of the Gestapo, who likely could not believe that a limping woman could be dangerous. A gifted spy, Hall organized French resistance fighters and found them safe houses and supplies. Ultimately, the infamous Nazi, Klaus Barbie, "Butcher of Lyon," was onto "the limping lady." Hall eventually left France for Spain, walking 50 miles with a wooden leg over the Pyrenees Mountains...
https://news.uark.edu/articles/63664/women-s-history-month-the-most-dangerous-spy
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Nikolaus Barbie (25 Oct. 1913 – 25 Sept.1991) was a German officer of the SS and SD who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners—primarily Jews and members of the French Resistance—as the head of the Gestapo in Lyon...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Barbie

- Retired female spies ask for Virginia Hall to get Medal of Honor. Scripps News, Feb. 2023.
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- 'A Woman of No Importance Finally Gets Her Due,' NPR, April 18, 2019. Ed. Now, more than 70 years after Virginia Hall's wartime exploits in France, and almost 40 years after her death - Hall is having a moment. Three books have just come out. Two movies are in the works... https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/711356336/a-woman-of-no-importance-finally-gets-her-due
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- Wiki, Virginia Hall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Hall
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SISTERHOOD OF Spies exhibit, International Spy Museum, Virginia Hall, Marlene Dietrich, Josephine Baker, Mata Hari, Harriet Tubman, Julia Child, more.
https://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/sisterhood-of-spies/