Most Dangerous’ Spy’

Posted on May 31, 2025 by PB Military Adviser for Film and TV Ltd. in Military film Advisor, ministry of ungentlemanly warfare, MISS VIRGINIA HALL, SOE, ww2

There are so many true stories from WW2 to be told on the big screen without the need for artistic licence.

One of World War II’s ‘Most Dangerous’ Spy’s was an American woman with a wooden leg who worked for Britain’s Special Operations Executive recruited by non other than Vera Atkins. Dubbed by the Gestapo as the “the most dangerous of all Allied spies.”… She would later work for OSS…

Virginia Hall, a.k.a. the ‘Limping Lady,’ organized sabotage and rescue operations across Vichy France, paving the way for the Allied invasion. She was America’s Greatest Female Spy.

During World War II, Nazi officials were constantly hunting down resistance fighters and the allied spies who aided them. But there was one foreign operative the Third Reich held special contempt for—a woman responsible for more jailbreaks, sabotage missions and leaks of Nazi troop movements than any spy in France. Her name was Virginia Hall, but the Nazis knew her only as “the limping lady.”

Virginia Hall did walk with a pronounced limp, the result of a freak hunting accident that required the amputation of her left leg below the knee. In its place was an ungainly seven-pound wooden prosthetic that she lovingly nicknamed Cuthbert.

Hall was raised in Baltimore, Maryland by a wealthy and worldly family that put no limits on their daughter’s potential. Athletic, sharp and funny, she was voted “the most original in our class” in her high school yearbook. She began her college studies at Barnard and Radcliffe, but finished them in Paris and Vienna, becoming fluent in French, German and Italian, with a little Russian on the side.After graduation, Hall applied to the U.S. Foreign Service, eager to see the world and serve her country, but was shocked to get a rejection letter reading, in effect, “No women, not going to happen”.

Hall went back to Paris as a civilian in 1940 on the eve of the German invasion. She drove ambulances for the French army and fled to England when France capitulated to the Nazis. At a cocktail party in London, Hall was “railing against Hitler,” says Pearson, when a stranger handed her a business card and said, “If you’re really interested in stopping Hitler, come and see me.”

The woman was none other than Vera Atkins, a British spymaster believed to be Ian Fleming’s inspiration for Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond series.

Atkins, who recruited agents for Winston Churchill’s newly created Special Operations Executive (SOE), was impressed with Hall’s firsthand knowledge of French countryside, her multi-language fluency and her unflappable moxie.

In 1941, Hall became the SOE’s first female resident agent in France, complete with a fake name and forged papers as an American reporter with the New York Post. She quickly proved exceptionally skilled at not only radioing back information on German troop movements and military posts, but also at recruiting a network of loyal resistance spies in central France.

What 1940s spy craft lacked in technological sophistication, it made up in creativity. The BBC would insert coded messages into its nightly news radio broadcasts. Hall would file “news” stories with her editor in New York embedded with coded missives for her SOE bosses in London.

“In Lyon, Hall would put a potted geranium in her window when there was a pickup to be made,” says Pearson, who spoke to some of Hall’s aging compatriots in France. “And the pickup would be a message behind a loose brick in a particular wall, or it might be go to a certain cafe, and if there’s a message, the bartender would give you a glass with something stuck to the bottom of it.”

Hall became so notorious to Nazi leaders that the Gestapo dubbed her “the most dangerous of all Allied spies.” When Barbie and the Gestapo distributed wanted posters for the “limping lady,” Hall fled the country the only way she could, a grueling 50-mile trek over the Pyrenees mountains southward into Spain. Her Spanish guides first refused to take a woman, let alone an amputee, but she would not be deterred. The November weather was bitter cold and her prosthetic was agonizing.

At a safe house in the mountains, Hall radioed her superiors in London to report that she was OK, but that Cuthbert was giving her trouble. The deadly serious reply from SOE headquarters, which mistook Cuthbert for an informant, read, “If Cuthbert is giving you difficulty, have him eliminated.”

But Hall wasn’t done fighting Nazis. Since the British SOE refused to send her back into France as a marked woman, Hall signed up with the U.S. Office of Strategic Service (OSS), a precursor to the CIA.

In 1944, months before the D-Day invasion at Normandy, Hall rode a British torpedo ship to France, and disguised as a 60-year-old peasant woman, criss-crossed the French countryside organizing sabotage missions against the German army. In one OSS report, Hall’s team was credited with derailing freight trains, blowing up four bridges, killing 150 Nazis and capturing 500 more.

After the war, Hall was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, one of the highest U.S. military honours for bravery in combat. She was the only woman to receive the award during World War II.

General William Donovan presents Miss Virginia Hall with the Distinguished Service Cross, September 1945.

Back home, she continued to work for the CIA until her mandatory retirement at age 60.

Virginia Hall continued to be honoured for her accomplishments. In 1988, she was inducted into the MI Corps Hall of Fame. The US Army Intelligence Center honored her further by naming a dining facility after her in 1994.

In 2006, the British ambassador presented her niece, Lorna Catling, with a Royal Warrant giving Virginia Hall membership in the Order of the British Empire. The award had been signed by King George VI in 1943, but Hall refused to accept it because it might have blown her cover.

In November 2013, a bill was introduced to Congress “to award the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the members of the OSS in recognition of their superior service and major contributions during World War II.” Hall was specifically mentioned in the bill.. Hall passed away in 1982.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare BTS.

Posted on August 4, 2024September 19, 2025 by PB Military Adviser for Film and TV Ltd. in Film and TV, Military film Advisor, ministry of ungentlemanly warfare

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a group of military officials hatch a daring plan to neutralize Hitler’s fleet of German U-boats during World War II. Made up of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks, the top-secret combat unit uses unconventional techniques to battle the Nazis and change the course of the war.

The film is inspired by true events and based on the declassified files of the British War Department, ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. AKA the SOE and small-scale raiding force (SSRF).

The film is very loosely based on the book of the same name by war journalist Damien Lewis that narrates the recently declassified history of Winston Churchills top-secret department the SOE tasked with developing a fighting force trained in irregular warfare tactics to operate behind German lines and confuse, disrupt, terrorize, exhaust, and demoralize Hitler and his thugs.

Their methodology included all sorts of ungentlemanly things one really isn’t supposed to do in war: assassinations, black operations, bribery, corruption, money laundering, and much more.

For its own tactical inspiration, the SOE and one of its naval officers, Ian Fleming, pilfered lessons-learned from a range of then non-traditional warlords such as T.E. Lawerence, Michael Collins, and Al Capone. This was war with the gloves off.

Their audacious approach changed the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern Black Ops warfare.

Co-written and directed by Guy Ritchie, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has a stellar cast including Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Henry Golding, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and Cary Elwes.

The real operation, Operation Postmaster, was very different to what’s portrayed on screen as I mentioned in Timeout

Obviously, the ‘Official’ post operation report on Postmaster recorded no enemy kills. The report is then buried and only surfaced in 2014, and a war movie with no kills is going to play more like a documentary, which would not be as entertaining for the majority. And movies are made for everyone to enjoy!

So, to the behind the scenes drama of filmmaking and the military advisor providing military solutions to theatrical problems.

Day raid over, night raid.

The background to this scene.

Originally scripted and planned to be a night shoot, but for logistical reasons out of the productions control, the scenes could only be shot during the day.
The MA is summoned to the director for a military solution to the problem.

I suggested two options.

A. The SOE are conducting a close target recce with the intention of a night raid.
Then they see members of the SS turn up, which mean the prisoner is either going to be relocated or shot, so they have to conduct a daylight raid.

B. The majority of the soldiers get on a truck to go to the local town after a bomb, planted by the team goes off as a diversionary tactic, so the camp is not fully maned, and so a daylight raid at that point would be a good idea.

The director went with solution A because he wanted loads of soldiers to get the good news when things got noisy.

I also managed to get Fillyourboots – FYBUK a quick mention.

The 007 draw.

During the fight choreography in the bunker scene, I went into the background of the fighting techniques used by the SOE with the stunt co-ordinator and cast.

As per the teachings of SOE instructor .fairbairn and sykes I encouraged Allan Richardson to use the instinctive one hand, three, quarter hip draw.

Did you know?

The first actor to play James Bond on Dr. No. Sean Connery and his stunt double were trained in preparation for the role by weapons expert Geoffrey Boothroyd, who used the same training manuals

Cooking the Grenade.

Grenades have a second safety feature, which is a lever on the side of the main body, called the striker leaver or spoon, that is held in place by the pin. This spoon holds back a striker.

When you hold a grenade and pull the pin,, you do so in a way that keeps the spoon held down. When the spoon is released, the spring-loaded hammer strikes a primer and lights the fuse. The grenade then has an *approximate* 4–5 second fuse before the grenade detonates.

“Cooking” the grenade involves releasing the spoon, but holding onto the activated grenade for a few seconds, letting the fuse burn before throwing it, to limit the opportunity for an enemy to react to it or even throw it back.

Allan liked it!

Hollywood Magazines

One of my pet hates and something I will pester the cast to remember. Always try to get a magazine change during dialogue. Otherwise, the editor might squeeze it out to cut the time down.

For now, these are just a few examples of advice and problem solving given to production.

Now, for some BTS pictures of the hard work and dedication from all the cast and crew. Enjoy!

The Maid of Honour.

The Harbour.

Big bangs.

Training.

The set visitor.

One of the fun jobs to work on

Link

The British opera singer and the Tiger Tank.

Posted on February 25, 2021February 25, 2021 by PB Military Adviser for Film and TV Ltd. in Film and TV

Smiling enigmatically, this is the British opera singer-turned-spy who captivated Adolf Hitler.

Margery Booth led a double life inside Nazi Germany, where she performed for Hitler and his henchmen while smuggling the Third Reich’s secrets to British intelligence.

A picture of opera star Margery Booth which was taken at Freigegeben Stalag IIID and which she gave to British spy John Brown, signed with a Good Luck message. A British Army officer shoved the secret papers down her dress at the Berlin State Opera, just moments before she went onstage to sing for Hitler and his cohorts

The only known picture of opera star Margery Booth — A picture of opera star Margery Booth which was taken at Freigegeben Stalag IIID and which she gave to British spy John Brown, signed with a Good Luck message. A British Army officer shoved the secret papers down her dress at the Berlin State Opera, just moments before she went onstage to sing for Hitler and his cohorts

Margery had, been recruited by MI6 whilst MI9 had recruited John Brown, a former but now disillusioned member of Mosley’s infamous Fascist Blackshirts. Through the SOE it was designed for him to be captured on the Normandy beaches in order that that he could work as a spy behind the lines in a PoW camp.

Margery helped British prisoners of war to send coded messages back to spy chiefs in London, and even performed for the Führer with cyphers hidden inside her costume.

Discovery would have meant almost certain death for the mezzo-soprano, who endured regular questioning by the Gestapo. But Hitler was so taken by her performances that he once visited her dressing room, and later sent her 200 red roses, wrapped in a sash with a swastika on it.

The Army officer who used the singer to send his coded messages, John Brown, was hailed as a hero after the war, when his evidence was used in the treason trial of William Joyce, the traitor Lord Haw Haw.

The Mission.

Margery usually attends Hitler on his birthday every April and it was at one of these that Jodl presents him with the Tiger tank. As data is provided, Margery overhears most of this and, like the good singer she is, memorises these numbers as a tune.

John Brown, a spy in Stalag IIID but also working undercover for the Nazis, is passed details of the Tiger’s existence whilst Margery is singing to the PoWs there and radios this to London.

Back at the Opera House these numbers are encoded and soon at Bletchley Park, delivered to a delighted Hardy Amies, confirming John Brown’s earlier message. Churchill thus warned, gives instructions for a Tiger to be captured and delivered to No 10 Downing Street. This eventually happens in North Africa

I fell into Allied hands. It was Tiger 131. It was 21 April 1943 when 48th Royal Tank Regiment, newly arrived in Tunisia from Britain, went into action against the Germans for the first time.

But Miss Booth’s bravery has gone largely unrecognised, and calls for her to receive a posthumous honour have gone unheeded. So little was known about her war-time efforts that this photograph of her has only just come to light, almost 60 years after her death.

She was sent to sing at Stalag IIID, known as the ‘Holiday Camp’ to British PoWs. The Germans hoped this would encourage some of the British held there to change sides

It was at the camp that Booth met John Brown, a spy who was collecting information on traitors such as William Joyce, known as Lord Haw Haw.

These photographs are of a woman whose quiet bravery – like that of so many unsung heroes – helped Britain to victory in World War Two. Margery Booth was born in Wigan in 1905, and joined the town’s operatic society as a teenager.

By 1936 she had sung at Covent Garden and even briefly travelled to Hollywood to appear in a film version of Aida. Later that year she met and quietly married Dr Egon Ströhm, the son of a wealthy German brewery family, and moved to Germany.

Her first meeting with Hitler is thought to have been in 1933, when she was chosen to carry the Holy Grail in the spectacular finale to the Wagner opera Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival.

He burst into her dressing room and told her how elegant and lovely he thought her, and sent her the basket of 200 red roses the next day, with a card signed ‘Adolf’. When the war began, she was singing with the Berlin State Opera, and she was later allowed to perform for British prisoners of war at a camp in Genshagen, near Berlin.

Adolf Hitler and Nazi Party leaders at the Berlin Opera House where Margery Booth performed in 1936.

Adolf Hitler and Nazi leaders at the Berlin Opera House where Margery Booth performed in 1936. She mixed with the German top brass while passing secrets to British Intelligence.She would announce to her audience ‘I’m Margery Booth from Wigan’, and this photograph of her is believed to have been taken at Genshagen. It was found among photographs of inmates at the camp, Stalag IIID, known as a propaganda ‘holiday camp’ for British officers who the Nazis hoped to use as double agents. John Brown was transferred there in 1943 and convinced his captors he was willing to work for Germany.

He used their trust to send coded messages home in his letters, and also to pass secret documents to Miss Booth to send back to MI9, the intelligence branch tasked with unmasking traitors. Ironically, the opera singer’s links to the Nazi regime were so well-known that she was accused of collaborating against Britain, and turning traitor against her country.

In his book, In Durance Vile, Mr Brown wrote that she was initially given personal assurances from Hitler and Goebbels that they would ‘deal with the matter personally’ if she was insulted because of her British birth. But when Mr Brown’s secret work for Britain was discovered by the Nazis, Miss Booth was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo.

She kept silent and was eventually released, and she later escaped Berlin during an air raid and fled to Bavaria, where she was picked up by the Americans. After the war she divorced her German husband and moved to America, where she died from cancer in 1952.

The photograph of Miss Booth is part of a collection from Genshagen, stamped Freigegeben Stalag IIID, a special PoW camp where the Nazis held Britons who they thought they might be able to persuade to change sides.

She signed it, writing ‘With kindest remembrances, Good luck, Margery Booth’. She also signed the first page of John’s War Diary:

From John’s War Diary

Links

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11258623