Virginia Hall had a gift for languages, a sense of adventure, & wanted to join the Foreign Service.
http://1.usa.gov/1L2wUHw
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/bQqYPMWpEp
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
PM Winston Churchill had just established Special Operations Executive (SOE) to support underground resistance & conduct sabotage ops
#OSS75
1941: Virginia-1st female SOE operative in France-used forged documents & false names as she worked undercover in Lyon for 14 months.
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/rgceLnH4IX
Virginia’s mission, Geologist-5, provided SOE w info on Vichy France: political & econ conditions, & amount of popular will to resist
#OSS75
Beyond her charter, Virginia proved adept at recruiting spies.
She created a network of 90 agents, code-named Heckler.
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/bzUd4rRhNg
Virginia became an expert in:
organizing resistance
providing weapons & supplies
helping downed airmen
& her specialty… jailbreaks
#OSS75
Lyon’s Gestapo chief, Klaus Barbie, who never knew Virginia’s true name, caught wind of her activities & put a bounty on her.
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/pduf7kDsbt
NOV 1942: German troops flooded France after defeat in N Africa
Virginia & 3 others escaped by hiking across Pyrenees Mtns into Spain
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/1ZcJGdQtk0
#FridayReads:
A Climb to Freedom: A Personal Journey in the Footsteps of Virginia Hall
http://bit.ly/2s3tEHs
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/bb8UDcENAL
Over complex terrain, Virginia hiked as much as 50 miles through snow-covered mountains over 7,500’ in altitude w her prosthetic leg.
#OSS75
Virginia was determined to return to France.
SOE refused, as she was too well-known to the Gestapo.
She was sent back to London.
#OSS75
1944: Virginia joined #OSS.
Unable to parachute into France because of her artificial leg, she arrived by British torpedo boat.
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/RzrRJ1LDxf
To avoid detection, Virginia dyed her hair grey & disguised herself as a milkmaid with a shuffling gait to hide her limp.
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/NjCGTMuznH
By staying on the move, camping in barns & attics, Virginia was able to avoid Germans who were desperately tracking her radio signals
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/q7nPE85dQ4
Virginia organized 1000s of French Maquis, blew up bridges, & conducted other sabotage operations to support Allies’ D-Day invasion.
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/V4fqYHCoAG
For her courage & ingenuity, Virginia was the only civilian woman during #WWII to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/xcS0CLIitQ
At CIA, Virginia used her covert action expertise in range of activities & in support of resistance groups in Iron Curtain countries.
#OSS75
Virginia was one of a few relatively senior women in ops until her mandatory retirement in 1966 at age 60.
http://1.usa.gov/1L2wUHw
#OSS75pic.twitter.com/MAE2TRTIhL
.Sewgili @CIA buda sizin işinizhttps://twitter.com/cengizozakinci/status/880858842757828609 …
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.