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Community Read: A Woman of No Importance

Companion Research Guide for the 2024-2025 Community Read book: A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II

Image Credits: Banner

Picture Top-Left. Driver’s license [Photograph] courtesy of Catling , L. (n.d.). Virginia Hall Driver’s License. International Spy Museum. https://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/about-the-collection/collection-highlights/virginia-hall--driver-s-license/ 

Picture Center-Left -Front Virginia with Husband Paul (Left) and other Resistance Members at Chateau Roissiat  [Photograph] From “A woman of no importance: The untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II” (p. 1 of Photograph insert) 

Picture Bottom-Left-Back. Diane Irregulars on the balcony of Roissiat Chateau [Photograph] From “A woman of no importance: The untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II” (p. 1 of Photograph insert)

Picture Bottom-Front-Left. French Identification Certificate, O.S.S. Forgery Alias: Marcelle Montague [Photograph] From “Virginia Hall”  Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, September 12). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Hall 

Picture Left Bottom Center Front. Work Photo Tallinn Posting [Photograph].From “A woman of no importance: The untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II” (p. 1 of Photograph insert) 

Picture Left-Bottom-Center--Back Undated Self-portrait [Photograph]. From “A woman of no importance: The untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II” (p. 1 of Photograph insert)

Picture Bottom-Right-Front. Virginia siting in the Deck-chair [Photograph]. Classic City News, (2024, July 1). Spies in the 20th Century. https://www.classiccitynews.com/post/spies-in-the-20th-century#google_vignette 

Picture Bottom-Right-Back Virginia Hall International Driver’s License [Photograph] courtesy of Catling , L. (n.d.). Virginia Hall International Driver’s License. International Spy Museum. https://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/about-the-collection/collection-highlights/virginia-hall-international-driver-s-license/ 

Picture Bottom-Right-Front. Virginia sitting in the Deck-chair [Photograph]. Classic City News, (2024, July 1). Spies in the 20th Century. https://www.classiccitynews.com/post/spies-in-the-20th-century#google_vignette 

Picture Top-Right-Back The German's sketch of the Limping Lady [Photograph] courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency. From "Virginia Hall: The Courage and Daring of “The Limping Lady.” Intelligence and Operations. (2017, June 29).

Picture Top-Right-Front  Antique Prosthetic Woman’s leg. Curious Nature. (n.d.).[Photograph]  https://curiousnatureshop.com/products/antique-prosthetic-woman-s-leg 

Picture Center-Front Virginia Hall receiving the Distinguished Service Cross from the Head of O.S.S. William 'Mad Dog" Donovan 1945  [Photograph] From “Virginia Hall”  Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, September 12). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Hall 

Purnell, S. (2020). A woman of no importance: The untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II.  Dated Late 1930s [Photograph] (p.  of Inserted Photographs)  Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Quote Sources: A Woman of No Importance

"SHE IS THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL ALLIED SPIES, WE MUST FIND AND DESTROY HER"

Purnell, S. (2020). A woman of no importance: The untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II. Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Cited Quote is Taken from the Back Cover, the source of the original quote is form an urgent transmission from the Gestapo dated:1942.

 

"TOO MANY OF MY FRIENDS WERE KILLED FOR TALKING TOO MUCH."

Myre, G. (2019, April 18). “A woman of no importance” finally gets her due. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/711356336/a-woman-of-no-importance-finally-gets-her-due

The quote cited in this article is also quoted in and on display at the C.I.A. Museum exhibit for Virginia Hall.

 

"MISS HALL DISPLAYED RARE COURAGE, PERSEVERENCE AND INGENUITY; HER EFFORTS CONTRIBUTED MATERIALLY TO THE SUCCESSFUL OPERATION OF THE RESISTANCE FORCES IN SUPPORT OF THE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCES IN THE LIBERATION OF FRANCE."

The Central Intelligence Agency. (2017, June 29). Virginia Hall: The Courage and Daring of “The Limping Lady.” C.I.A.: Intelligence and Operations. https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/virginia-hall-the-courage-and-daring-of-the-limping-lady/

This quote is from the Citation for Distinguished Service Cross awarded to Virginia Hall, 1945.

Sources for the Special Operations Executive Information and Quotes

The majority of the information gathered on this page comes from their corresponding Wikipedia page, books such as A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, and lastly like the Churchill quote to "set Europe Ablaze" some information has been cited so often, by so many that the source used for this page is one of many.

  1. Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, November 19). Special Operations Executive. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_Executive
  2. Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, November 18). Winston Churchill. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill
  3. Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, June 8). Violette Szabo. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
  4. Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, November 19). Baker Street Irregulars. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Street_Irregulars 
  5. Purnell, S. (2020). A woman of no importance: The untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II. Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Women in War: SO.E. French Section Image Credits

All Photograph Images of S.O.E. Agents come from their respective Wikipedia pages 

First Column:

First of the Right: Vera Atkins

Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, November 20). Vera Atkins. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Atkins photograph of Vera in the Squadron Officer, Uniform of WAAF, in 1946

Second down on the Right: Noor Inayat Khan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noor_Inayat_Khan Photograph is of Khan in her WAAF Uniform circa 1943

Third down on the Right: Violette Szabo

Wikimedia Foundation. (2024a, June 8). Violette Szabo. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo

Photograph of Violette Szabo circa 1944

Second Column

First of the Left: Odette Sansom

Wikimedia Foundation. (2024b, November 2). Odette Hallowes. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odette_Hallowes

Photograph of Odette Sansom in her First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Uniform, circa 1944

Second on the left: Nancy Wake

Wikimedia Foundation. (2024b, November 2). Nancy Wake. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Wake

Photograph of Nancy in her First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Uniform circa 1945

Third on the Left: Virginia Hall

Wikimedia Foundation. (2024h, November 20). Virginia Hall. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Hall

Photograph depicts V.H. receiving the Distinguished Service Cross from OSS Head William Donovan in 1945.