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Ms. Pedace’s well-researched book honors the lives of 52 heroines who fought the Nazis in a secret war in German-occupied France during WWII with the Special Operations Executive (SOE), an improvised volunteer fighting force formed at the direction of UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Most of the information in the book is derived from archival materials on the UK side and from German records, eye witness accounts, and known interviews with the women who survived, some of whom were awarded parachute wings and other military service medals belatedly due to discriminatory policies at the time. This book is especially timely in preserving the contributions of these women before time erases records and memories.

The women warriors hailed from birth countries around the world, including Yvonne Cormeau who was born in China and worked as a wireless operator during her time with the SOE. They were chosen due to strong French language capabilities, familiarity with life in France that enabled them to pass for locals and sometimes provide cover for male colleagues, ability to think on their feet, a high level of risk tolerance, and calmness under pressure. In fact, in the German records, there was not one instance of the captured SOE women betraying secrets, despite being tortured and sentenced with execution.

Before joining SOE, these women were students, socialites, housewives, mothers, widows, etc. After training, after only a few jumps, many of them parachuted into France and worked as couriers, wireless operators, spy ring masters. They helped downed pilots and escapees find safe houses and escape routes, identified air drop sites, sabotaged the Nazi war machine by bombing railways and other tactical sites, supplied local guerrillas with funds and weapons, and some even fought alongside the partisans against the Nazis with guns and grenades.

Some of the survivors, like Virginia Hall Goillot, continued to be a trailblazer after WWII by working in the clandestine services. Ms. Hall worked for the Office of Strategic Services during WWII, the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and she is currently featured in an exhibit at the International Spy Museum. A portrait of her operating a wireless radio during WWII hangs at CIA Headquarters, where many workers have passed daily without realizing her significance. Nicknamed “The Limping Lady” on account of a wooden leg, she was considered the most dangerous Allied spy by the Third Reich. Despite her physical impediment, she escaped capture by the Gestapo in November 1942 by trekking solo through the snow-covered Pyrenees. Ms. Hall’s impressive accomplishments helped open doors for future generations of female intelligence operations officers.

Some who survived the war were able to go back to private lives, while others found themselves widowed without means to support themselves or their children, and took on whatever work they could find in post-war UK or France. Despite the initial obstacles, these women later found careers in journalism, wrote books, and even consulted for movies about their experience during the war. Many of the surviving women lived long lives after the war, but very few had children.

Thirteen of the 52 women featured in this book, plus 1 woman the Gestapo thought was SOE, were executed or died in German concentration camps. Some of them were caught because they were betrayed by moles, while others made operational mistakes. Some were able to operate for a time, while others were caught quickly after parachuting into France as their drop site was compromised.

There was overlap in the stories of these women because they had trained together or crossed paths in their work or shared the same fate. It was interesting to read the comments of the trainers, which reflected the newness of having women warriors in the midst of military operations. The fact that some of the women were given passing marks due to the press of business also reflected the desperation at that stage of the war. In any case, these women warriors deserve to be honored and remembered for their commitment to the cause of freedom, for their integrity, and for their unbreakable spirit.

This book is available in hardcopy, eBook, and audio book formats at various online book sellers.

Esther Atwell is a former CIA manager who enjoyed a dual-track career as an ops-certified Collection Management Officer, with a focus on East Asia, and a Language Officer (Mandarin and Cantonese). Her foreign and domestic tours included locations of importance in the WWII Pacific Theater and, for more than a decade, she has been a resident of Hawaii, where she has visited sites of significance to the WWII intelligence struggle, such as the Consulate General of Japan of that era, which is still in use today. Her grandparents and father were displaced from mainland China due to the outbreak of WWII; they made their way to Hong Kong and, later, the US. 

Ms. Atwell and her spouse are regular public speakers in the U.S. and abroad, addressing historical societies, civic organizations, military retirees, school groups, and other audiences on historical spycraft and on life as former intelligence officers. She continues to use her language skills and higher-level Agency-provided language training to work as a translator on a wide variety of products, including technical papers, and as a court-registered interpreter. She is also a real estate agent, licensed in the state of Hawaii. She can be reached at esther.atwell@islandproperties.com.