17 July

Madame Heckler
AKA OSE/OSS Agent Virginia Hall
A one-legged American woman
1940 to 1945
Occupied France

American Virginia hall had a knack for languages, a yearning for adventure and a personality that made you want to go along with \her on any adventure.  In the 1030’s she took a clerical position at the U.S. Embassy in Poland then a second assignment at the Embassy in Turkey.

It was in Turkey that she lost her leg in a serious hunting accident.  Not one to let the loss of a major body part hinder her she yearned to be part of the war effort. And applied to be accepted in the OSS. The humor of a petite on legged American beauty as a covert agent wasn’t lost on anyone.

However, Hall was accepted by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), where she learned the finer points of her clandestine tradecraft, communications, weapons, explosives, and discreet homicide.

By the end of her first year in the field, the Gestapo had wanted posters distributed throughout France, including Halls picture and a description of “The Limping Lady.”

Ease of her identification due to her limp forced her to flee France in 1942 just one step ahead of the SS.  The U.S. had entered the war by then so Hall was transferred to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA .

ID Photo Madame Heckler

After volunteering, she was sent back to France where she used he one good leg to Kick NAZI ass right up until War’s end.