Virginia Hall: The Most Dangerous Woman of World War II

Celebrating Women's History Month with a badass a day.

When you think of World War II spies, you probably picture suave British agents with slick hair, tiny pistols, and a tendency to be posh, or whatever in the middle of enemy territory. What you probably don’t picture is a woman with a wooden leg named Cuthbert who spent her days outwitting the Gestapo and making Hitler’s goons look like morons. But that’s exactly what Virginia Hall did.

Born to a well-off Baltimore family, Hall wasn’t exactly on track to become one of the most effective Allied spies of World War II, but a hunting accident that took her left leg seemed to kick-start her career in espionage. Most people would see a wooden leg as a bit of a drawback in spy work, but Hall saw it as a challenge. And if there was one thing she loved, it was a challenge.

After being rejected by the U.S. Foreign Service (because a prosthetic leg was apparently where they drew the line), Hall decided to go rogue. She joined the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and ended up in occupied F…