And, of interest, she accomplished all this while moving around France on her prosthetic lower left wooden leg.

She was truly a remarkable woman and leader of men in their resistance to the German occupation of France. Virginia's exploits are the stuff of legend.

When the allies invaded Normandy, Hall led her resistance group in well planned and orchestrated attacks on German troops in the inland area of France. The attacks prevented several divisions of German troops from reinforcing those German troops at Normandy, thus allowing the Allies to gain a foothold and to begin to move inland from the coast of Normandy.įor her actions in wartime France, Hall was awarded the highest honor the French government can award a civilian. The German Gestapo named her the most dangerous spy in France and did everything they possibly could to locate and eliminate her. She created one of the largest and most effective resistance movements in France, of which she was the leader. She enlisted a wide variety of French people to aid in acquiring information about German troop movements: French police officials, prostitutes, nuns, merchants and criminals. Hall was tasked with sending information back to England detailing German troop strength and movements in France as well as establishing French Resistance groups. Virginia Hall worked for the British Secret Service (British Special Operations Executive Services) from 1939-1942 and for the American SecretSservice (Office of Strategic Service) from 1943 until after the end of the war. The result is a remarkable biography of a woman who broke barriers for women and helped win World War II. She spent more than three years searching through documents in England and the United States relating to the activities of Virginia Hall as well as interviewing people in France who had known her. Sonia Purnell is an award-winning British author. The book, A Woman of No Importance The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell is the true story of an American woman, Virginia Hall, who lived, survived and even excelled in the 'man's world' of espionage and war in France during World War II.

A woman of no importance author