In 1933, Hall was a European language graduate working as a clerk at the American Embassy in Smyrna, Türkiye. She went on a hunting expedition, tripped on a fence and shot herself in her left foot. The injury turned gangrenous,: to save her life her leg was amputated below the knee. 2/10
She was fitted with a wooden prosthetic, which she nicknamed Cuthbert. Cuthbert meant she limped. She continued her career as a consulate clerk. Her multiple requests to become a diplomat were turned down due to a rule against hiring people with disabilities. 3/10
When Germany invaded France, Hall became an ambulance driver for the French army. When France fell, she fled to Spain where a chance meeting sent her to the newly formed Special Operations Executive in London. The British SOE supported the work of the French resistance. 4/10
Hall, with her knowledge of languages and of Europe, was recruited. She returned to France by boat, with a cover story that she was working for the New York Post. She was only the second woman they sent into the field. The SOE would eventually send 41 women to France, of whom 26 survived. 5/10
Based in Lyon in Vichy France, as well as the usual SOE agent tasks of gathering information and distributing equipment, Hall also ran an escape line for downed Allied airmen, getting them across the Pyrenees and into neutral Spain. 6/10
In November 1942, Germany began to occupy Vichy France. Hall decided it was time to run. She signalled London, saying she hoped Cuthbert - her false leg - would not be a problem on the escape. London, unaware of Cuthbert's identity, replied: "If Cuthbert troublesome, eliminate him." 7/10
Hall got a train from Lyon to Perpignan, close to the closed border between France and Spain. Then she set out on foot. With a local guide from the escape line, she walked fifty miles in two days, over the Pyrenees mountains. The pass they used was 7,500 feet high. 8/10
Back in London, Hall requested the SOE send her back to France. They refused as she was compromised as an agent. So she took a wireless course and convinced the American Office of Strategic Services to send her back in March 1944. She operated as an agent until April 1945. 9/10
After the war, Hall received a Distinguished Service Cross (US), an MBE (UK), and a Croix de Guerre (France). She joined the CIA in 1947, one of the first women to do so, but was side-lined as her extensive experience threatened her less experienced male colleagues. She retired in 1966. 10/10
I'm pretty sure getting sidelined by the CIA is a net moral positive compared to having a skyrocketing career at the CIA. I was actually a little bit relieved to see that.
Fantastic thread 🧵 🫡