A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII’s Most Dangerous Spy

On March 21, 1944, Virginia and a man named Henri Lassot landed on a Brittany beach. Virginia now worked for the OSS, which had only five agents in France. Her code name for this period was Diane. Henri went by Aramis. Virginia posed as a peasant woman; after studying with Hollywood makeup experts, she could now give herself wrinkles and had also had her teeth ground down. Aramis was her chief, but she disliked him.

Virginia traveled under the name Marcelle Montagne. The situation in Paris disturbed her. The Germans had taken over most buildings and given streets anti-Jewish names. She stayed with a woman named Madame Long in Paris. Aramis stayed with an old acquaintance, Madame Rabut. Virginia only had to meet with Aramis once a week. His lack of ambition, his scant accomplishments, his tendency to overshare sensitive information, and his physical weakness irritated Virginia. She recruited other helpers so that she didn’t have to rely on him. She continued to gain intelligence by posing as a cheese seller. An agent named Elisée Allard arrived, along with Marcel Leccia and a Belgian named Pierre Geelen. Virginia affectionately referred to Allard and Leccia as her nephews.

In the spring of 1944, Virginia was transmitting messages from a farm when German officers arrived at the building.