Female Spies Who Helped Win World War II

Since this is Women’s History Month, let’s uncover a hidden chapter about women in WWII that’s often left in the shadows. Many people don’t know the full story behind the brave women who played a crucial role in World War II. If you’re one of them you’re not alone. While it’s not hard to find the tales of female spies who helped win the war, most of us haven’t even thought about looking.

That’s okay, because I’ve done it for you. Let’s go back through time, and shine a spotlight on these unsung heroines whose cunning and courage were instrumental in shaping the course of the war. From seducing secrets out of enemy officials to parachuting behind enemy lines, these women were far from ordinary.

So, sit back and get ready to be amazed. These are the stories of two of the most able female spies who helped win World War II.

Betty Pack nee Amy Elizabeth Thorpe

Betty Pack

Betty could have been the archetype for the terms ‘honeypot’ and ‘honey trap’. She was apparently one of those women that men are attracted to like flies to honey. And she wasn’t the least bit shy about using that to seduce and sleep with enemy sources in order to gain access to intelligence for the allies.

Betty was an American, born in Minneapolis, Minn., the daughter of a Marine Corps officer and the daughter of a state senator. With her parents connections, she was making the rounds of the Wasjington social scene and became romantically involved with a number of high-ranking foreign service officers. At the age of 19, she married the second secretary at the British embassy in Washington, Arthur Pack.

When Arthur was posted to Warsaw, Poland, British Intelligence saw her obvious talent at seduction and recruited her, giving her the code name, Cynthia. Her exploits became legendary.

• In Warsaw, she seduced an aide to the Polish Foreign Secretary which allowed her to obtain valuable intelligence on the German Enigma code machine.
• When her husband was posted to South America, she was called to New York by British Security Coordination. She was assigned to seduce senators Vandenburg of Michigan and Connely of Texas who were both staunch isolationists to get them to support FDR’s Lend Lease legislation for sending arms to England. She was successful with Vandenburg but not Connely.
• At some point she renewed a prior relationship with an Italian Naval Attache at the Italian embassy in Washington. From him she learned of an Italian plan to sink Italian ships in American harbors to block them. The British passed the information to American authorities.
• In 1941, Cynthia was assigned to find someone at the Vichy French Embassy. She eventually began an affair with the embassy press attache, Pierre Brousse, who was disillusioned with Vichy French policies. Several months into the affair she told him she was a British spy and was willing to pay for information. Over the period of the affair, he gave her copies of almost all telegrams to and from the embassy. Together, they were able to burgle the safe where the French naval codes were stored, and sneak them out the window to a waiting agent who took them to have copies made. The codes were copied and passed back through the window and placed back into the safe with no one at the agency ever knowing.

After the war, Betty was asked if she was ever ashamed of using sex to spy on enemies of the Allies. She replied, “Ashamed? Not in the least, my superiors told me that the results of my work saved thousands of British and American lives….It involved me in situations from which respectable women draw back — but mine was total commitment. Wars are not won by respectable methods.” American OSS Chief ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan said, “She was the greatest unsung heroine of the war.”

Barbara Lauwers

Barbara Lauwers

Barbara was a Czechoslovakian lawyer who moved to the United States with her husband in 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, her husband enlisted in the U.S. Army. Barbara followed her husband into the Army in 1943, the day after she became a U.S. citizen. She said, “The truth was, I hoped the service would be a great adventure and I did not want to miss it.”

After basic training, she was sent to the Women’s Army Corps officer candidate school in Georgia. It didn’t take long for them to discover that Barbara was someone special. She and two other women were sent to Washington. Turns out, she had been assigned to the Office of Special Services (OSS, precursor of the CIA) for special training. She was put through intensive training in all types of espionage.

Barbara’s first assignment was to Algeria. Little is known about her duties there. Once Allied forces liberated Rome, Barbara was transferred to Italy. She was assigned to the Morale Operations (MO) Branch responsible for propaganda.

In the summer of 1944, a group of German army officers attempted to assassinate Hitler. Within hours, the MO initiated ‘Operation Sauerkraut’. Because Barbara spoke German, French, Czech, Slovak, and English, she was sent to a POW camp south of Naples. She was supposed to interview captured German soldiers and find those who were disillusioned with the war and Hitler. She was looking for soldiers who would be willing to infiltrate German lines and distribute Allied propaganda. She spent four days training them and creating new identities for them.

After four days, the prisoners were provided with German uniforms, papers, firearms and ammunition, and survival supplies. Each of them was provided with 3000 pieces of propaganda literature. They were told to spread the materials by nailing them to trees, buildings or just scattering it through the streets in towns and villages.

Operation Sauerkraut was a massive success. In addition to spreading the propaganda, the German prisoners returned through German lines with valuable intelligence, including German troop movements. The operation was so successful that it was expanded and continued through the rest of the liberation of Italy and on into France.

Barbara was assigned to continue producing the propaganda for Operation Sauerkraut. She was the only woman on the team and received credit for creating the ‘League of Lonely War Women’ which was designed to ruin the morale of German soldiers. The League, itself, was fictional. The propaganda was put out that any soldier on leave who wore a heart on his lapel would be approached by a member of the League who would offer her ‘companionship’. The idea was to undermine the morale of German soldiers by making them believe that their wives and girlfriends back home were having fun with other soldiers. Another massive success.

One of Barbara’s most successful operations was the production of propaganda written in Czech and Slovak to convince Czechoslovakian soldiers who had been forcibly drafted into the German Army to cross the front lines into Allied territory. The propaganda was distributed with leaflets in Northern Italy and broadcast by the BBC. It worked. Six hundred Czechoslovakian soldiers crossed the front lines into Allied territory. Many of them had Barbara’s leaflets still in their pockets. This operation was considered so successful that it earned Barbara a Bronze Star.

Assignment

There you have it. Two of the incredible women whose bravery and cunning played a pivotal role in the Allied victory. It’s time we remember and honor their contributions, proving that heroism knows no gender. Let’s keep their stories alive, not just as a nod to the past, but as a reminder of the strength and resilience that lies within us all.

If these stories have inspired you, your assignment is to look up more stories of the brave and talented women who did as much as any male spy if not more. Some of them parachuted behind enemy lines and ran communications circuits for the resistance. Some even fought alongside partisans and resistance members. Look them up. Tell your children about these women. Their value was beyond measure.

Talking with Tan