She was American born
But served as an agent
for the SOE
And
later with the American OSS
In
1940, she became an ambulance driver
For
the French army, until their defeat
When
she made her way to Spain
Where,
quite by chance, she met
A
British spy named George Bellows
Who
pointed her in the direction of the SOE
Code
named ”Marie” and ”Diane”
She
was a pioneering agent for the SOE,
Arriving
in Vichy France in August 1941
The
first resident female agent in France.
She
was a remarkable woman in many ways
Having
lost her lower leg in a hunting accident
She
had a prosthesis she named “Cuthbert.”
But
she didn’t let it hold her back
The
Germans nickname her “Artemis”
But
they also called her “The Limping Lady”
The
French nicknamed her "la dame qui boite”
But
many SOE agents called her “Marie of Lyon”
The
Gestapo reportedly considered her to be
“The
most dangerous of all Allied spies”
She
took part in all the significant operations
From
1941 until the end of the war
After
the War Virginia was awarded
The
Distinguished Service Cross
And
was made an honorary MBE,
Member
Of the Order of the British Empire
A French Croix de Guerre with Palme
Then
worked for the Special Activities Division
Of
the Central Intelligence Agency
Until
she retired in 1966
No comments:
Post a Comment