WEBVTT - 4. Spy Games (Season 2) 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:16.520 Diversion audio. A note this episode contains descriptions of violence 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:20.079 that may be disturbing for some audiences. Please take care 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:25.959 in listening. This series is based on historical characters and 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:30.280 real events. Some dialogue has been imagined for dramatic purposes 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:37.000 when no primary source material is available. No I know. 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:43.320 The first time Virginia Hall met Vera Atkins in February, 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.840 she believed the woman was nothing more than another airheaded socialite. 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:52.199 Vera had been hosting a party, decked out in lavish clothes, 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:56.160 relaxing on expensive furniture, and doing her best to entertain 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:00.560 her guests. But now, two weeks after the party, as 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.760 Virginia sat across from Vera in a high end restaurant 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:08.360 in central London, the woman's demeanor seemed very different. The 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.360 day before, she'd asked Virginia to meet her in a 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:15.440 phone call with hushed tones. She carried with her a 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.680 sense of urgency. Virginia didn't associate with the airy, lavish 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:24.679 lifestyles of the ridge. Vera. I don't want to give 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:27.720 you the wrong idea, but there's no way I'll be 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:33.360 able to afford anything on this menu. I know it 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:39.640 will be taken care of you made quite a scene 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:45.360 at my policy, Virginia. Suddenly, Virginia remembered her appearance at 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.720 Vera's home. After a few too many glasses of wine. 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:53.360 She granted loudly about her distaste for the Nazis, without 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:56.680 considering that somebody at the party might have been sympathetic 0:01:56.720 --> 0:02:01.640 to the Germans. Ah, I'm sorry, I just think be 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:08.720 I'm merely curious. How far are you willing to go? 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.160 Virginia Bristle did this, not entirely sure what Vera meant, 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:19.200 but annoyed nevertheless at the obvious challenge. But as Vera continued, 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.280 Virginia couldn't help but be fascinated by what she was 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:26.760 telling her. Vera explained that she was an intelligence officer 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:31.400 with a Special Operations Executive, the s o E. The 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:36.680 year before, in Winston Churchill became Britain's Prime Minister and 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.920 months later created the s o E for the purpose 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:45.120 of surveying overseas operations and coordinating action against agents who 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:50.160 meant harm to British interests. So they have an intelligence service, 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:54.440 the equivalent to the CIA that existed pre World War Two. 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:58.040 It was called the Secret Intelligence Service or m I six. 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:03.280 That's Chris Costa from previous episodes. He's the executive director 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:07.760 of the International Spy Museum m I six ran agents, 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:13.480 meaning they recruited, as I said, individuals that could provide intelligence. 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:17.760 But that wasn't good enough for Churchill when Britain went 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:22.640 to war, so he said. Churchill said, we need somebody 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:27.840 to set Europe ablaze, and that was the mandate of 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:34.360 this Special Operations executive. Churchill wanted somebody to wreak havoc 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:41.080 on the battlefield. So sabotage plus a little espionage paramilitary 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:46.600 operations make things blow up. Apparently, the s OE needed 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.880 feet on the ground in France who could facilitate British 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:54.160 operatives with safe houses, information and escape routes out of 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:58.520 the country. You're offering me a post. I don't exactly 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:06.520 have an elegant hiring history with intelligence agencies. Virginia was 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:10.280 referring to her ten years in various American embassies, where 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.520 all her efforts for promotion were rejected by her various superiors, 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.320 all of them men. Of course, what do we need 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:24.359 our passionate, intelligent agents, people who know France, the country 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:28.240 and the language. According to our research, you have knowledge 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:31.640 of both and we need more young people. A lot 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:36.760 of our current connections are a bit mature, shall we say. 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.480 You could hear her taking a drag and her cigarette, 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:47.520 but she was extremely shrewd. That's Judith Pearson, who wrote 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:51.120 the first biography of Virginia Hall, The Wolves at the Door. 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:56.960 She's describing Vera Atkins. She was extremely well thought of 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:02.080 by the s o E, and they were desperate for 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:05.960 people who could speak French, who knew their way around France, 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:10.120 who had a bit of an attitude, and Virginia had 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:15.919 all those. The job would be difficult and Virginia's responsibilities numerous. 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:19.839 She wouldn't only shelter multiple spies in various safe houses 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.640 at any given time, but would be subject to the 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:28.400 gestapos interrogations at any moment. If any Virginia's compatriots found 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.599 themselves with their covers blown or sought out by the Nazis, 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.920 it would be her responsibility to keep them hidden in 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.599 the safe houses and navigate their way out of the 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.880 country and back to London. Virginia did have one key 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.719 advantage the s OE could leverage. She was American and 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:50.599 in the USA was still ostensibly neutral in World War Two. 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:54.920 As FDR said in late ninety there is no amm 0:05:55.279 --> 0:06:01.839 forss sending an American expeditionary FOSS outside our border. There 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:06.520 is no intentiontion by and a member of your government 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:12.000 who send such a thought. At the time, Americans like 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.880 Virginia still had the latitude to live freely in France. 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.440 She would be tasked with transmitting German intelligence back to 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:25.440 the UK through wire transmissions and secret radio broadcasts, as 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:29.159 well as coordinating the pickup of pilots and weaponry that 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:33.120 fell out of British planes. All of this information over 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:37.840 single dinner could have been overwhelming. You know about my 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:41.760 leg If it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother us. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.880 Virginia couldn't deny how much the job seemed too good 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:48.800 to be true. For nearly a decade, she had been 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.680 rejected from promotions and positions of authority in the American government. 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:55.880 She'd wanted to serve all this time, and yet was 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:59.719 dismissed for every reason under the sun. She was a 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:04.120 one it, she was handicapped, she didn't have the right attitude, 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:07.960 and suddenly here she was in the presence of a 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:12.320 real life spy offering her responsibilities. She had only ever 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:17.520 dreamed of. Her response was succinct. When do I start, 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:31.560 I'm Stephen Talty and from diversion, this is good Assassin's 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:35.760 Season two. Being killed would be the easy part. Being 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:40.040 tortured would be the hard part. Our intel suggests she 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.400 is behind many of the prison bricks all over the country. 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:51.680 She's dangerous, so sabotage plus a little espionage paramilitary operations 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:56.000 make things blow up. The message for Captain Bobby and 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.960 I believe I have found the nest of the limb 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:12.080 being Lady Episode four Spy Games. All right, man much. 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:20.440 When Virginia arrived in Guildford in the UK in March 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:25.960 of for s o E training, she was given a nickname. Really, 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.680 the nickname was meant for her prosthetic leg. It was 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.720 dubbed Cuthbert as some of the other recruits joked she 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:35.760 could use the limb as a sword in a pinch. 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:40.440 They confused the word with cutlass, but Virginia felt like 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.640 correcting them would give her a reputation as a know 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:48.120 it all. It was a cross introduction, but Virginia knew 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:52.320 she'd have to expect worse from the Nazis. She never 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:59.160 told anybody that's Brad Catling, Virginia's great nephew. Apparently Virginia 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:03.040 never told the family this story, and in fact Katling 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:07.000 has a different theory on why Virginia culture pathetic. Cuthbert 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:11.880 Cuthbert was St. Cuthbert who lived in the eight hundreds, 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:17.400 and he lived on the northeastern coast of England, right 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:21.320 on the coast. But today if you go there, it's 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:27.439 a bird sanctuary and you know they're gazillion nesting birds 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:31.640 that are there all the time. But St. Cuthbert was 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:36.120 actually given credit for saving all of these birds or 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:40.440 protecting all of these birds. And he also had an 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:45.480 injured knee that had given him trouble, but it ended 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:52.800 up being cured through a miracle. That's the story anyway. 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:56.880 So Cuthbert fits on a number of different levels. First 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:01.319 of all, in Turkey, she was hunting for birds, and 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:05.760 so if St. Cuthbert is the protector of the birds, 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:08.240 then he saved the bird that she was trying to shoot. 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:14.400 And choosing Cuthbert is also aspirational for her because he 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:21.080 was eventually healed, the next few weeks would test her metal. 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:27.120 She didn't have to worry about oral examinations or office politics. Anymore. Instead, 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:36.360 she was training for combat, demolition, and survival. Keep your 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:42.600 aunts up, Cuthbert, heads up, for you'll get knocked down. 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:54.679 The camp was full of volunteers. Trainees were dropping like flies, 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:59.560 getting cut for different reasons. Some were too slow, others 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.840 were too hockey. Some couldn't keep their mouth shut and 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:07.240 were deemed incapable of protecting valuable intel. The s O 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:12.439 couldn't risk their agents cracking, and the Nazis were brutal interrogators. 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.920 Virginia's reality began to set in when she noticed the 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:20.720 number of her compatriots was whittling down every day. The 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:25.080 exercises were merciless. She was put through hours and hours 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:28.839 of mock interrogations that involved splashing cold water over her 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:33.000 head until her lips turned blue. Her memory was challenged. 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:36.480 Could she walk into a room with fifteen people and then, 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:41.360 after twenty seconds, accurately described the facial features, clothing, and 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:45.800 demeanor of every person. Virginia was trained in Morse code 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:50.640 and tasks with transmitting it over a secret radio. The 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:53.959 volunteers deemed not up to snuff were sent up north 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:56.840 to an isolated estate, where they were kept for a 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.559 few weeks until the intel they were already privy to 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.839 was no longer of use to the British or the enemy. 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.120 The prospect of being sent up North began to haunt 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.720 Virginia's nightmares. She had come this far and now she 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:20.000 was terrified of failing. Virginia, wake up, what you're moving on? 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:26.440 Moving on? Wait? Please don't hand me up North North. 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:29.720 We're not sending you up North? Is your next session? 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:37.360 Performance training? Get dressed. After she had proven herself physically, 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.599 Virginia was placed in the next tier manners. As the 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.920 Bridge saw it, Virginia was a shoot from the hip, outspoken, 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:48.880 highly opinionated, independent woman. She would stick out like a 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:52.960 sore thumb in France and attract lots of unnecessary attention. 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.720 They'd have to change her, train her to hide her 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.320 American accent, to not look around like a tourist, to 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:04.760 blend in without suspicion, and that was easier said than done. 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.640 As her three week training session began to wind down, 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.360 she left behind etiquette and leveled up to the final 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:16.200 tier of weapons training. Here she received a tip she 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:20.360 didn't expect. Her weapons instructor informed her that have given 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.640 a choice between wounding and Nazi and killing him. She 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:28.240 should always wound him. If you kill him, they'll just 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:30.840 leave the body behind. If you put him in the 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:35.520 infirm right, his higher ups get paperwack. Keep them busy 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:39.840 and distracted. The best Nazi is a dead Nazi. But 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:48.280 let's win the war first, shall I. Following eight weeks 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:51.559 of lifestyle training and then mastery of weapons and close 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:56.200 combat tactics, Virginia was left with a final trial, to 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.120 be dropped off in the nearby village of wine Borough 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:01.720 and given a list of duties she had to complete 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:05.840 in one week. She had a fine safe house, receive 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:09.920 and transmit sensitive information via Morse code, and then ship 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.160 a package out of town. All of this had to 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:17.280 be done while several other volunteers sought her out. If 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:20.800 she was discovered or if any of her information confiscated, 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:24.720 she'd have to start her entire training process over, and 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:28.160 she failed twice, she would in fact be sent up north. 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.440 At the end of the week, Virginia had successfully evaded 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.920 her searchers and completed all of her tasks. The sa 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:42.120 we decided she was ready. So what Virginia Hall, what 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.400 have learned is how to set up a safe house, 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:50.320 how to recruit support agents, meaning people to be a 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:56.160 part of her network to collect intelligence. That's Chris Costa again. 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.520 She would have learned how to shoot, she would have 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:04.080 learned hand to hand combat. She would have gone through 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:09.320 various obstacle courses. You learn about dead drops. Some people 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:14.920 in paramilitary operations special operations learn how to set up 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:21.600 pickup zones for aircraft or drop zones for night parachute operations. 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:26.880 So all of those combinations of skills gave Virginia Hall 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.880 a suite of tools that she can use. But it 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:37.200 was all iterative. It She never was fully prepared to 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:41.320 execute all the possible tasks that she could get to 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:45.560 survive on the battlefield. So that's where she relied on 0:15:45.600 --> 0:16:00.680 her senses and her instincts and just her acumen. Uh, 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:04.960 you wanted to see me. You're shipping out, Custbert. We've 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:08.640 got a fly by in a month. But seeing as 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:10.960 how that leg of yours would kill you in a jump, 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.600 we're not parachuting you in. By the grace of God, 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:18.040 you were born an American, so you'll enter the country 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:21.359 legally and your cover will be that of an American journalist. 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.480 Sound good, I can make the jump, sir, and I 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.440 could make a soufle, but I wouldn't serve it to Churchill. 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:33.280 You'll go in legally. Where in France will I be stationed, 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:38.040 Sir Leon in the East. It's the Free Zone. It's 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.720 a strategic location for us. We've begun planting the seeds 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:45.480 of the resistance there, but it's also becoming a hotspot 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:49.400 for German activity. You'll be very busy both aiding our 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:55.760 men and gathering intel from the Nazis. Virginia heads into 0:16:55.760 --> 0:17:12.080 the field after the break. Virginia Hall landed in Leone, 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:17.560 near France's eastern border, in August. Now she was on 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:21.840 her own. Her public alias was Brigitte le Contra, a 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.960 name picked out by Vera Atkins would become something of 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.800 a friend and her unofficial handler and the special operations 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:33.159 executive for the British government. Virginia's code name was to 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.679 be German. Now she had to get used to responding 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.880 to Brigitte, which was easier said than done. She found 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.720 cheap boarding in Leone, but needed her cover. She called 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:46.959 on an old family friend who worked at the New 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.359 York Post newspaper, and pitched herself as a culture and 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:55.560 politics reporter stationed in France. Weeks of interrogation training made 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:59.680 the job interview fly by well, Michel. If you can 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:04.639 do the job safely, it's yours. Virginia was employed by 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.199 the New York Post, so she had her cover and 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:10.600 was ready for action. Now she'd have to bury all 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:13.680 her s OE training under the guise of an American 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:17.439 leading a normal expatriate life in France, she had to 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:21.680 blend in. It didn't take long for Virginia to hook 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.480 into the resistance network and leone. The s O had 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.320 given her a number of British and French contacts she 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:31.359 could lean on in the pinch, and under the guise 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:35.560 of a neutral American reporting lifestyle pieces, she was able 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:40.240 to travel the region with relative ease. Her first article 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:45.040 for the Post, dated September four, detail the reality of 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:50.040 living under German food rations. The country's food was prioritized 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:53.119 for the Germans, a flexive power that matched with the 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:56.439 Statute des Wife, a law passed in v She, France 0:18:56.480 --> 0:19:00.280 the previous year in October ninety that had to aired 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:03.880 all Jews second class citizens and strip them of their 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:07.879 human rights. Virginia had to be careful about her writing 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.280 as it pertained to choose. Even if it was published 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:14.160 across the ocean in America, the word could get back 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:17.879 to France and compromise her position. She was critical of 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:21.200 the Nazi occupation, but always wrote in a way where 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:25.240 she could maintain plausible deniability. She had a right facts 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:35.119 not commentary. OUI. I was told to me that doctor 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:40.120 Roussett here, have you treated the cats on the roof? Yes? 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:45.960 But they won't take Brandy. It is wonderful to meet you, Brigitte. 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.520 If we are still calling you that until I come 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:56.159 up with something catchy. After a few weeks exploring the 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.920 city of Leon, Virginia, was introduced to doctor Jean Bussey, 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:06.080 a gynecologist and major support system for the resistance. So 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:11.160 you are the newest addition to the resistance. I was curious, 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:13.600 when we get a woman. That's not going to be 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.119 a problem, is it not. If you can shoot straight 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:19.000 and run a mile, just give me something to shoot 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:23.440 and a place to go, we are going to get 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:29.560 on just fine. Now to business. There is a pilot 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.440 who's playing was shut down last week. He has been 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:34.800 holed up in a safe house and claims to a 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.119 valuable information. We need you to get him out of 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:42.959 the country and back to London. Just like that. This 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:46.639 job doesn't come with a lot of preamble. You're hoping 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:51.960 to do some good, aren't you? So yes, just like that? Okay, 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:57.399 then tell me where he is. Virginia's instructions were simple. 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:00.040 At the edge of town, she left a letter in 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:03.840 the mailbox of a small farmhouse and returned home to 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:07.520 a layman's eye. The note described happy birthday wishes, but 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:11.280 actually functioned as code. The down British pilot inside the 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:14.359 farmhouse was to meet her in a nearby cafe the 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:20.280 next evening. There the two would discuss his escape road. 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:25.760 The pilot was a nervous wreck. He detailed his harrowing 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:30.320 mission to Virginia anxiously forgetting they were in public. A 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:33.119 week earlier, during an aerial dog fight somewhere in the 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:37.280 skies above southern France, a barrage of Nazi gunfire blew 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:40.399 through his left wing, and he had bailed later than 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:46.480 he would have liked. The first thing to realize is 0:21:46.520 --> 0:21:50.960 that this is World War two. Nobody can eject that's 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:55.680 a modern concept that requires an adjective seat, a rocket 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:59.359 powered seat that shoots out of the plane. They don't 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:03.600 have those in World War Two aircraft. That's Andrew or 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:07.800 the professor of military history from Kansas State University. You've 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:12.600 heard him in earlier episodes. If your plane is damaged, 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:16.439 there are two ways to escape. One is to crash, 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:20.000 land the plane right, to find an open place and 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:23.840 land the land your damage plane. The other option is 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:27.400 to bail out. You have to hold the plane steady, 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:30.920 open a door if it's a big plane, or open 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:35.359 the canopy and manually if it's a small plane, and 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:40.800 climb out of the airplane at speed. It's a heroine 0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:46.359 and very dangerous experience. As the pilot floated to Earth, 0:22:46.760 --> 0:22:49.679 he assumed the enemy plane would fire through his parachute. 0:22:50.280 --> 0:22:52.359 It was only by the grace of God, he said 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:55.480 that the German didn't come back and finish the job. 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:00.920 But landing safely wasn't the end of his problems. When 0:23:00.920 --> 0:23:04.160 you hit the ground, you're in a lot of trouble 0:23:04.840 --> 0:23:09.399 because the enemy knows about your aircraft. They know it 0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:13.680 got shot down because they did the shooting. They've already 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:19.040 alerted local security forces. Eventually, you're gonna need food, you're 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:22.760 gonna need help. You usually end up knocking on a 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:27.919 door or approaching somebody when they're by themselves, and it 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:31.600 has to be by themselves because the more people who 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:34.879 see you, the more likely one of them is loyal 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:38.600 to v she and will turn you in. So you're 0:23:38.640 --> 0:23:44.920 basically playing Russian roulette. You're gambling that the person you 0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:48.920 find will be sympathetic and hook you up with the Resistance, 0:23:49.760 --> 0:23:52.440 or at least feed you and not rack you out 0:23:52.480 --> 0:23:57.200 to the Germans. Dog fights above Leone have become commonplace 0:23:57.520 --> 0:24:01.679 since the Nazis realized the British will dropping valuable weapons, food, 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:06.080 and medicine to specific drop zones in the countryside. It 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:07.960 was a fast and easy way for the s o 0:24:08.040 --> 0:24:13.320 E to supply the resistance. Fighter planes dog fight to 0:24:13.440 --> 0:24:19.400 try and stop German aircraft from attacking the larger, slower 0:24:19.920 --> 0:24:24.840 bulk transports. So German fighters didn't want to dog fight 0:24:25.119 --> 0:24:29.760 British or later American fighter planes. They wanted to get 0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:34.359 at the transport planes, which were easy killed full of agents, 0:24:34.800 --> 0:24:39.040 knock them down and win or described with These dog 0:24:39.119 --> 0:24:43.199 fights looked like and a World War two. Fighter planes 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:46.360 could only shoot an enemy in front of them, so 0:24:46.600 --> 0:24:49.480 getting behind or to the side of an enemy, but 0:24:49.560 --> 0:24:53.160 with your plane facing your enemy was how you won 0:24:53.560 --> 0:24:57.280 and also how you survived, because most of the time, 0:24:57.320 --> 0:25:00.000 if a pilot could see and shoot at his end, 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:03.439 to me, that enemy couldn't shoot at him because of 0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:07.280 the way physics worked. And so you had these fairly 0:25:07.480 --> 0:25:11.720 compact battles, those which really almost looked like a ball 0:25:11.800 --> 0:25:17.640 of string, with multiple aircraft turning and turning repeatedly trying 0:25:17.680 --> 0:25:20.760 to get an enemy to lose its line of fire 0:25:20.760 --> 0:25:24.520 on them while they bring another enemy into their own 0:25:24.560 --> 0:25:34.600 line of fire. Unique the pilot's tale rattled Virginia. He 0:25:34.680 --> 0:25:38.520 quickly realized this wasn't training anymore. This was a man 0:25:38.520 --> 0:25:42.320 would come shockingly close to death in the most dramatic way, 0:25:42.640 --> 0:25:44.399 and he couldn't help it, wear it on his face. 0:25:45.320 --> 0:25:48.080 Virginia got the impression that if he was this shaken, 0:25:48.359 --> 0:25:51.200 he would attract attention, and she urged him to settle 0:25:51.240 --> 0:25:54.560 down and accompany her out of the cafe. But the 0:25:54.600 --> 0:25:58.080 pilot was adamant on remaining in public. For all he 0:25:58.160 --> 0:26:01.439 knew Virginia could be a double agent and going somewhere 0:26:01.440 --> 0:26:05.400 alone with her could be dangerous. Virginia tried to make 0:26:05.440 --> 0:26:07.959 sense of this. Why meet with her at all? If 0:26:07.960 --> 0:26:10.679 there was a possibility. She wasn't who she said she was. 0:26:11.720 --> 0:26:15.439 She chalked it up to paranoia, and paranoia made sense. 0:26:16.440 --> 0:26:19.359 Virginia was so lost in thought she almost didn't notice 0:26:19.359 --> 0:26:24.480 a waiter approached their table. Bonjou, What would you like? 0:26:25.800 --> 0:26:32.399 Just the water would be fine. I'd like a beer. Ok, 0:26:33.680 --> 0:26:38.640 we don't sell beer water. He's just come from America. 0:26:38.800 --> 0:26:44.679 It's his first time back in a while. Just t waters, 0:26:44.720 --> 0:26:50.120 I will be back. The pilot had made a bad mistake. 0:26:50.960 --> 0:26:53.760 Beer was no longer served in the occupied country, and 0:26:53.800 --> 0:26:55.800 this would be something anyone who had been a citizen 0:26:55.840 --> 0:26:58.840 of France for the past two years would know. The 0:26:59.080 --> 0:27:02.359 entire restaurant was staring at them, but if they left, 0:27:02.600 --> 0:27:05.520 it would be obvious they were hiding something. This was 0:27:05.560 --> 0:27:07.960 the kind of thing that had tripped up Virginia in 0:27:08.000 --> 0:27:12.240 her training. Now she was responsible for another agent's mistake. 0:27:14.960 --> 0:27:19.080 That's when Virginia noticed them, two men dressed almost entirely 0:27:19.080 --> 0:27:23.160 in black, getting up from their table and walking towards them. 0:27:23.200 --> 0:27:28.920 They smirked with cold, dead eyes. There was no mistaking them. Gestapo, 0:27:30.680 --> 0:27:37.800 good evening, Hello, gentlemen, I enjoy beer as fed. May 0:27:37.880 --> 0:27:43.240 we see your papers? And that's a good place to 0:27:43.320 --> 0:27:56.360 take a quick break stay with us. Virginia was sweating. 0:27:57.200 --> 0:28:01.600 The Gestapo officer's hand was outstretched to her, beckoning for 0:28:01.640 --> 0:28:05.720 their identification. She knew that hers would pass a smell test, 0:28:06.040 --> 0:28:09.359 but she worried about the pilots. It was likely that 0:28:09.480 --> 0:28:12.320 his was a rushed job, as the Brits needed men 0:28:12.320 --> 0:28:15.159 in planes, and they didn't give much thought to the 0:28:15.200 --> 0:28:19.000 likelihood of their survival if they were shot down. Their 0:28:19.040 --> 0:28:23.240 thought process was understandable. Why make fake I das for 0:28:23.359 --> 0:28:31.159 dead men? Uh, surely here you are m hmm, grigit 0:28:31.800 --> 0:28:39.600 leucum American Huh on his he left them at home? 0:28:40.600 --> 0:28:45.880 At home. Virginia had to think fast. Her lie was 0:28:45.920 --> 0:28:48.640 the same one that everybody used, and it was clear 0:28:48.760 --> 0:28:53.200 it wasn't playing with the Nazis. Uh. He's been forgetful 0:28:53.280 --> 0:28:55.640 ever since he got back. He suffered an injury in 0:28:55.680 --> 0:28:58.080 the States, and he hasn't been old there since. His 0:28:58.160 --> 0:29:02.480 family is taking him to the doctor next week. An injury. 0:29:02.960 --> 0:29:07.640 They couldn't take care of him overseas. It's not like 0:29:07.840 --> 0:29:12.800 American doctors are busy. Then the answer came to Virginia. 0:29:13.280 --> 0:29:16.320 She was sharp and quick, and these talents would prove 0:29:16.440 --> 0:29:21.280 valuable in her career as a spy. That's exactly what 0:29:21.360 --> 0:29:25.840 I am interviewing him about. Interviewing him you can see 0:29:25.840 --> 0:29:28.560 in my paper some a reporter for the New York Post. 0:29:28.920 --> 0:29:33.240 It's an American paper. I'm interviewing him to understand why 0:29:33.280 --> 0:29:36.440 he would come back to France Fouquier instead of staying 0:29:36.480 --> 0:29:43.800 over there. So tell me, I don't cost the Americans. 0:29:45.000 --> 0:29:51.000 You don't trust them. The smartest things they've done in 0:29:51.080 --> 0:29:55.160 Ages is stay out of this war. Let's the Germans 0:29:55.200 --> 0:30:00.920 get a job done, get Europe back in shape. The 0:30:01.000 --> 0:30:04.480 pilot's acting was good, but Virginia couldn't help but WinCE 0:30:04.600 --> 0:30:07.200 at any ground given to the Nazis, even if it 0:30:07.240 --> 0:30:10.280 was going to save their lives. Virginia was watching the 0:30:10.320 --> 0:30:15.200 Germans closely. Their faces had relaxed. These were men of ego, 0:30:15.760 --> 0:30:18.840 and seeing there as appropriately stroked meant they could drop 0:30:18.880 --> 0:30:24.560 their guard I hope to read this interview soon. Hopefully 0:30:24.600 --> 0:30:27.880 it will make its surrounds here. If it is apploading 0:30:28.000 --> 0:30:32.240