During World War II most spies were women (history.com). There were also groups and organizations who used spies, such as Britain and America. British SOE, or Special Operations Executive, and the American OSS, or Office of Strategic Services were the biggest groups (womenshistory.com).Tthese organizations employed many ordinary men and women that would provide information about strategic locations and activities while leading normal lives. The OSS actually later became the current CIA (womenshistory.com). Many of these groups used women because it was easier for women to talk to other men from countries and trick them.
Virginia Hall -An American heroine came from Baltimore, MD in the form of Virginia Hall. From a privileged family, Hall attended fine schools and colleges and wanted a career as a diplomat. This was thwarted in 1932 when she lost part of her leg in a hunting accident and had to use a wooden prosthesis. She resigned from the State Department in 1939 and was in Paris when the war started. She worked on an ambulance corps until the Vichy government took over, at which point she went to England and volunteered for the newly founded SOE. After training she was returned to Vichy-controlled France, where she supported the Resistance until the total Nazi takeover (womenshistory.com). She assisted in training at least three battalions of French Resistance forces and continuously reported on enemy movements. She soon became the most wanted spy in Germany.
Barbara Lauwere- Cpl. Barbara Lauwers, Women's Army Corps, received a Bronze Star for her OSS work. Her work included using German prisoners for counterintelligence work and "cobbling" fake passports and other papers for spies and others. She was instrumental in Operation Sauerkraut, which used German prisoners to spread "black propaganda" about Adolf Hitler behind enemy lines. She created the "League of Lonely War Women," or VEK in German. This mythical organization was designed to demoralize German troops by spreading the belief that any soldier on leave could display a VEK symbol and get a girlfriend. One of her operations was so successful that 600 Czechoslovak troops defected behind Italian lines (womenshistory.com)
www.psywar.org
Source:http://womenshistory.about.com/od/spies/a/women_spies_ww_2.htm
Published: May 12,2015