Virginia Hall: “Limping Lady,” the “Enemy’s Most Dangerous Spy”

Virginia Hall (1906-1982) came from a wealthy and socially prominent family in Baltimore. After attending Radcliffe and Barnard College, she continued her studies in France, Germany, and Austria. Hall became fluent in French, German, and Italian, which aided her work for the U.S. Foreign Service and as a spy.

She became disabled in 1933 when she accidentally shot herself in the leg while hunting. The injury led to an amputation below the knee. “Cuthburt,” as she named her wooden prosthetic leg, became her walking companion. The Foreign Service rejected her, although she continued her diplomatic career.

When World War II broke out, Hall volunteered as an ambulance driver for the French army. After France fell to the Nazis, she moved to Britain and joined the British spy agency, Special Operations Executive (SOE).

Known as the “Limping Lady,” Hall became a pioneer in the intelligence industry. She posed as a milkmaid, charwoman, and farmworker to move through rural areas unnoticed. Hall sometimes pretended to be a deaf-mute. One of her most famous disguises involved dressing as a frail older woman, complete with a hunched posture, shabby clothes, and a cane. She darkened her hair and stained her teeth to complete the look. She always evaded the Gestapo.

Hall set the stage for the Allies to invade Normandy and Provence by training resistance cells in guerrilla sabotage, such as blowing up bridges and derailing trains. By the end of the war, her team had captured 500 Germans and killed 150. The Nazis called her “the enemy’s most dangerous spy.”