Virginia Hall

Virginia Hall was, to put it mildly, quite the dame. An American born in Baltimore, she spent time as a State Department clerk before World War II gave her a chance to really shine. Fluent in French and possessing an artificial leg she nicknamed "Cuthbert," Hall worked undercover for both the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Nazi-occupied France.

Her missions were the stuff of Hollywood legend, though far more dangerous in reality. She organized resistance networks, supplied weapons, coordinated parachute drops, and orchestrated sabotage operations. The Gestapo, led by the infamous Klaus Barbie, considered her "the most dangerous of all Allied spies" and launched an extensive, though ultimately unsuccessful, manhunt for "the limping lady."

After the war, she was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the U.S., becoming the only civilian woman to receive it during WWII, and was also made a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Later, she joined the nascent CIA, continuing her service to her country until her retirement. If only her leg could talk.