Bancroft,
Mary. Autobiography of a Spy. New York: Morrow, 1983. Bancroft,
Mary. Autobiography of a Spy. New York: Morrow, 1983.
Bancroft worked for Allen Dulles in Switzerland in World War II.
Breaks,
Katherine. "Ladies of the OSS: The Apron Strings of Intelligence in
World War II." American Intelligence Journal 13, no. 3 (Summer
1992): 91-96.
Although this is a heavily edited (that is, shortened) version of the author's Senior Essay in the History Department, Yale University, it is an excellent introduction to the contribution made by women to the work of OSS. The author concludes: "The role of women in OSS was limited. OSS worked within the gender constraints of the period, hiring most women for gender-specific work and eschewing a leading role in promoting women with skills. But OSS was not regressive either, giving outstanding candidates meaningful work in Research and Analysis and Morale Operations. The work of the women in OSS was a mixed bag, not a treasure trove of opportunity but nevertheless provided one of the few ways women could play a direct role in World War II."
Breuer,
William B. War and American Women: Heroism, Deeds, and Controversy. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997.
The focus of this work is not on women in intelligence, but rather concerns American women in military service. Nevertheless, Smith,WIR 16.1, notes that Breuer's "stories about women in the OSS and their adventures in France and Switzerland prior to D-Day ... are well told and exciting."
Deschamps-Adams,
Hélène.
1. "An OSS Agent Behind Enemy Lines in France." Prologue, Fall 1992, 256-74. [http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/RefBibs/intell/ww2/oss.htm]
2. Spyglass: An Autobiography. New York: Holt, 1995.
Surveillant 4.2: This is the story of the author's "years in the French Resistance, and her later work in OSS."
Foster, Jane.
An Unamerican Lady. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1980.
Constantinides notes that Foster, who worked in Morale Operations with OSS during World War II, was indicted with her husband in 1957 as Soviet agents. In discussing her OSS experiences, Foster "relates much about personal, social, and administrative matters but precious little about her operations." With regard to the charges brought against her, she denies being a Soviet agent but admits that she lied about her Communist Party membership and marital status. The indictment against Foster came on the basis of information from FBI double agent Boris Morros. See Morros' My Ten Years as a Counterspy (1959).
Lovell,
Mary S. Cast No Shadow: The Life of the American Spy Who Changed the Course of World War II. New York: Pantheon Books, 1992.
Clark comment: This book is about Amy Elizabeth Thorpe Pack, the acquisition of the Italian and French naval ciphers prior to the American landing in North Africa in November 1942, and other espionage sexploits.
Troy, FILS 11.3, says Cast No Shadow is an "excellent work of research and writing." It provides a "convincing account of a sex-obsessed woman who found fulfillment in espionage, as a spy for BSC [British Security Coordination] and/or the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), chiefly in Washington in 1941-42." This is "a good read." Binker, AIJ 13.3, finds that, under the author's "skillful handling," Pack "emerges as a woman of extraordinary courage, daring, intelligence, and character. In short, the perfect spy."
MacDonald, Elizabeth P. Undercover Girl. New York: Macmillan, 1947.
Constantinides notes that this is "one of the earliest works on OSS Morale Operations (MO) and MO work in China and from India." But that is "secondary to what she revealed of the organization and personalities of OSS in Washington, China, and Southeast Asia.... Her trained journalist's eye caught a number of humorous incidents and the subtleties of OSS personalities." For Pforzheimer, Studies 5.2 (Spring 1961), this work "contains ... the most detailed information publicly available on OSS operations, especially in black psychological warfare, in the Far East."
See also the author's later work: Elizabeth P. McIntosh, Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998).
Mansfield,
Stephanie. The Richest Girl in the World: The Extravagant Life and Fast Times of Doris Duke. New York: Putnam's, 1992.
Surveillant 2.5: "A very brief involvement with OSS [in 1945] is described here."
McIntosh, Elizabeth
P. Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998. 2009. [pb]
Jonkers, AIJ 18.1&2, notes that McIntosh "joined OSS in 1943 and was part of operations against the Japanese in Burma. After postwar assignments with VOA and the State Department she joined CIA in 1958 and remained there until her retirement in 1973." This is "[a]n entertaining book, with many photos."
For Waller, Intelligencer 9.3, the author "serves history well with her book.... Sisterhood of Spies provides an authentic picture of women at war in the demanding field of intelligence." Bates, NIPQ 14.4, recommends this "interesting and worthwhile book." The "author's writing style is delightful."
Chapman, IJI&C 11.4, comments that "The Women of the OSS is a good read. It's fascinating, highly informative, and I learned a lot. My minor criticism is that in parts, where McIntosh deals with spectacular stuff, it's so one-foot-in-front-of-the-other factual that I wished there was more pizzaz to describe the operations of several heroines."
To Westlake, NYTBR, 31 May 1998, McIntosh tells her stories with "brisk polish. Unfortunately, she brings to her task a ... compulsion toward completeness rather than a storyteller's compulsion toward narrative." Smith, Military Review, Jan.-Feb. 2000, regrets that the author "focuses predominantly on civilian women" within OSS, "not the smaller military contingent." Nonetheless, this is a "fascinating book ... [that] combines historical narrative, case studies and oral histories to trace both the development of the OSS and women's expanding roles within the agency."
Hamilton, H-Minerva, H-Net Reviews, Aug. 2002 [http://www.h-net.org], comments that this "book is an interesting look into OSS activities during World War II, including how the OSS started and how it evolved into the CIA." It is, however, "less useful as an in-depth study into women's roles, either in how these activities opened up new roles for women or how women were perceived in these roles. The book touches on these ideas, but only in passing, as they are not central to the book's purpose."
See also the author's earlier work, where she relates her own wartime adventures in OSS Morale Operations in the Far East: Elizabeth P. MacDonald, Undercover Girl (New York: Macmillan, 1947).
Miller, Gene
E. [SFC/USA] "MI Corps Hall of Fame: Virginia Hall." Military
Intelligence 20, no. 3 (Jul.-Sep. 1994): 44-45.
[1]Adapted from Lawrence J. Cerri, Army Magazine (Feb. 1988). Using the pseudonym of Marcella Montagne, the "Incredible Limping Lady" served in France with SOE and the French underground and, later, in OSS' Operation Heckler preparatory to Operation Overlord. See also, Nouzille, L'espionne: Virginia Hall, une Americaine dans la guerre (2007); and Pearson, The Wolves at the Door (2005).
Nelson, Wayne. "Women Spies of the OSS." World War II (Jun. 1997). [http://www.historynet.com/wwii/blundercoverwomen/] "Female Spies Rendered Valuable Service to the OSS in the Days Following the Invasion of Southern France." CIRA Newsletter 22, no. 3
(Winter 1997/98): 27-30.
Nelson was with the Strategic Service Section detachment with the 36th Division, U.S. Seventh Army, in the Fall of 1944 when it crossed the Moselle River. He shares some stories here of courage and ingenuity on the part of female agents in across-the-line missions.
Nouzille, Vincent. L'espionne: Virginia Hall, une Americaine dans la guerre. Paris, Fayard, 2007.
Foot, Studies 53.1 (Mar. 2009), says that this is an "excellent account of one of the war's most remarkable secret agents...; a translation into English would be most welcome." It "is a great improvement" over Pearson, The Wolves at the Door (2005) (see below). See also, Miller, "MI Corps Hall of Fame: Virginia Hall," Military Intelligence 20.3 (1994).
O'Donnell, Patrick K. Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of WW II's OSS. New York: Free Press, 2004.
According to Seamon, Proceedings 130.4 (Apr. 2004), the author "lets the men and women" of OSS "tell their stories in their own words. For the most part, these stories are straightforward accounts." Bath, NIPQ 20.4 (Dec. 2004), sees the author giving readers "a comprehensive picture of the OSS from its inception." He has produced "a highly readable story" that "is less a book for the serious student of intelligence than for the non-specialist."
Laurie, Studies 49.1 (2005), notes that the author focuses on the reminiscences of 300 OSS veterans. This "is a useful contribution to the existing literature, and one that many will find fascinating. Unfortunately, these wonderful oral histories are poorly packaged.... [T]he portrait of the OSS presented here is one dimensional, telling only the well-known, often over-romanticized 'cloak and dagger' aspect of the Service's history that perpetuates the popular myth that this is all that intelligence agencies do."
Pearson, Judith L. The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2005.
Clark comment: This is a biography of Virginia Hall, who served with both SOE and OSS in German-occupied France. Peake, Studies 49.4 (2005), notes that the author has worked with recently released SOE and OSS files in telling the "fascinating story" of a "genuine heroine." See also, Nouzille, L'espionne: Virginia Hall, une Americaine dans la guerre (2007); and Miller, "MI Corps Hall of Fame: Virginia Hall," Military Intelligence 20.3 (1994).
Rossiter,
Margaret. Women in the Resistance. New York: Praeger, 1991.
The stories include that of OSS officer Virginia Hall.
Sullivan, Patricia. "Operative's Missives Weakened Enemy Soldiers' Morale." Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2009. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
"Barbara Lauwers Podoski, 95, who launched one of the most successful psychological operations campaigns of World War II, which resulted in the surrender of more than 600 Czechoslovakian soldiers fighting for the Germans, died of cardiovascular disease Aug. 16 at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Washington."
Weise, Selene
H.C. The Good Soldier: The Story of a Southwest Pacific Signal Corps WAC. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane, 1999.
Kruh, Cryptologia 24.2, finds that the author "offers a unique perspective as a member of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) who served overseas with the Signal Corps."
Wilcox, Jennifer. Women Sharing the Burden: Women in Cryptology during WWII. Ft. George G. Meade, MD: National Security Agency, Center for Cryptologic History, 1998. [http://www.nsa.gov/about/_files/cryptologic_heritage/publications/wwii/sharing_the_burden.pdf]
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