Female Spies of World War Two

Short History Of...

Noiser

History

4.7 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During World War Two, dozens of British-trained women were deployed as spies and saboteurs, to infiltrate behind enemy lines in Nazi-controlled France. Ranging from housewives to countesses, they were trained as secret agents, and played critical roles to aid the war effort. But who were these women, and how did they find their way into espionage? What did they do undercover, and what were the consequences of capture? And how did those who made it home adjust to life when the war was won? This is a Short History of the Female Spies of World War Two. Written by Lindsay Galvin. With thanks to Clare Mulley, award-winning historian and broadcaster, and author of The Spy Who Loved. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It is the 19th of June 1943 in the Loire Valley, a calm, moonlit night in the center of
0:10.4	Nazi-occupied France.
0:13.2	A small car chugs along a rural road, headlamps illuminating only moths and the occasional
0:18.0	swooping bat.
0:19.6	The driver, a young forestry official called Pierre Leclerc, sits beside an older woman.
0:26.0	In the back sits two strangers.
0:29.2	Hearing the men talk quietly to each other, the woman shoots Leclerc a worried glance.
0:34.8	The passengers' accents are off.
0:37.5	They don't sound native French.
0:40.6	This is because they are Canadian and agents of these special operations executive of the
0:45.2	United Kingdom, or S.O.E.
0:48.1	The same organization she herself belongs to.
0:52.0	Though her codename is Jacqueline, her true identity is Ivonne Roudella, a 46-year-old
0:57.8	hotel secretary from London.
0:59.9	She's a new grandmother, a special agent of the S.O.E.
1:05.4	Today she's coordinating the arrival of these new agents, who parachuted in only two
1:09.9	hours ago, and ferrying them along with their wireless equipment to Paris.
1:16.0	They approach the small town of Duisant, and navigate through narrow streets of shuttered
1:21.1	stone houses.
1:23.6	Leclerc slows.
1:25.5	A Nazi roadblock made of old palettes, a few sandbags, and a plank painted with a word
1:30.4	halt, has sprung up in the last few hours.
	...

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