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 Sorbonne research was thwarted due to the fact that women and foreigners were not allowed to use primary sources at the national archives, she graduated and immediately began working for the British embassy. When war broke out the embassy was evacuated. Kay Moore discusses how she was recruited by a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent to work with the French Resistance couriering weapons, messages and more. She became part of the “Private Collection” (those who were recruited by SOE agents on the ground in France). When the cell was infiltrated she was flown out from a French field on a moonlit night via Lysander.

Once in London, Kay Moore joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) and was soon working for British intelligence (SOE) due to her flawless French. Initially, she briefed SOE agents on what they could expect behind France’s enemy lines. Later she headed up the Air Liaison section and was the only woman to hold a senior position. Her responsibilities included telling squadrons where exactly to drop their agents/weaponry to thousands of Resisters in France, Belgium and Holland.