Codename Cynthia
Photo: World War II Database
Canadian spymaster Sir William Stephenson, known as Intrepid, who directed British Security Coordination for the Western Hemisphere said that Amy Thorpe Pack Brousse, …
Secret Facebook Army
There is a secret Iranian army on Facebook to surveil, steal and undermine U.S., European, and U.K. interests and products across all the major industrial sectors including aerospace/defence and …
Honouring Women Commandos
Hannah Szenes, while living in Palestine in 1943 and writing song lyrics/poetry volunteered for a Jewish commando unit.
Like Liliana in IW Episode 3, with the help of the British military, she …
Mapping Women
In the late 1800s night spies in colonial Calcutta wrote about deviant women ~ their characteristics and where they went.
Victoria Memorial in Calcutta
These spies clandestinely surveilled and …
Write On Bowen
I’ll be part of the Write on Bowen Festival this year (2021) speaking about Invisible Women: The Podcast based on my interviews of WW 2 women spies in 2004/5.
I'll …
Shadow of Intelligence
The U.S. and the U.K have had ongoing mandates to increase the participation of women, those with disabilities and racial minorities in spy agencies that interpret foreign communications and run human …
Do You Feel Invisible?
The women agents I interviewed all went on to traditional lives post WW 2; wife/mother except one who found equality in intellectual/political/academic pursuits in another culture, India. …
Fight Without Arms
Andree (Dedee) de Jongh code name Postman, established the WW 2 "Comet Line" in 1940. It operated in Belgium and France to evacuate downed Allied airmen usually through neutral Spain to Britain via …
I Did Nothing Civil
Like Celine in Invisible Women Episode 7, Pearl Cornioley was recruited and trained in guerrilla warfare by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and parachuted into France in 1943 as a courier. …
Escape Lines
María Anatol Arístegui also know as Maritxu was born in Spain and exiled with her family to France during the Spanish Civil War. (See this newsletter for an article about her - scroll down to the …
I Am Not Invisible
I Am Not Invisible (#IANI) focuses on highlighting and increasing the conversation about women veterans of which there are about 2 million in the U.S.
Women have served in various and critical …
OSS’ Women Agents
Writing and presenting about women who perform in unexpected societal roles is always interesting for the writer and the audience. Linda Matchett will be discussing her book, Women in Espionage, at …
Season One Wrap
With the release of Invisible Women’s Episode 8, Heroine’s Journey, the podcast wraps up Season One. I will continue to post articles and updates on the website, so please check it and subscribe to …
Women’s Intuition
The CIA states that women make the best spies because of women's intuition. Is this an outdated societal expectation or is this statement based on something more? In a recent article by Professional …
Spies for Hire
Since more countries, companies and politicians are relying on private investigators or spies to collect sensitive information, it is becoming exceptionally difficult even for journalists, who have a …
Pioneering Career
In 1968 Janine Brookner was enrolled in the CIA’s secretive operations training program. She was one of 6 women registered, and although she knew that women were generally treated as second-class …
Hurricane Queen
In the Second World War 600,000 Canadian women stepped up to help the war effort. One of them was Elizabeth (Elsie) MacGill, the first female aeronautical engineer globally to graduate with a master's …
Antifascist Rebel
In 2004/5 when I was interviewing women agents from the WW 2 era, I was also capturing the experiences of others in intelligence and/or WW 2, to broaden my general knowledge. It was at this time that …
Musical Scores
Diana de Rosso was an Anglo-Italian opera singer and a courier for the Allied Forces in Europe.
Having grown up in the south of France with a Welsh mother, she went to London when war broke …
Soviet Soprano
The adventuresome and talented Nadezhda Plevitskaya was born in a Russian village in 1884. Being one of 11 children she was placed in a nunnery which she fled by joining a travelling circus.
In …
Private Collection
Kathleen (Kay) Moore was born in 1914 in Alberta, Canada. In 1936, graduating university in French language and literature, she went to study in Paris on a Sorbonne scholarship.
Although her …
Embodiment
In this episode you’ll hear Celine’s story. She was a young French woman who first joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in the UK, and then later became a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) …
Irish Resistors
Although Ireland remained neutral during WW 2 some of the Irish did not. A plaque at the Irish College in Paris commemorates 50 Irish women and men who fought in the French Resistance ~ half of them …
Women Tricksters
As in all wars, women are imperative in overcoming the enemy and this is also true of the U.S. Civil War in which hundreds of women were successful undercover agents.
Pauline Cushman, American …