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Second World War · 1940–1945 · 9 files

Resistance networks

Researched stories and films about the people who served on the Resistance networks in the Second World War, with the sources behind every account.

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Written stories

Case files from the Resistance networks

Virginia Hall receiving the Distinguished Service Cross from General William Donovan, 1945 File 021Article Occupied France · 1941–1944 The Limping Lady of Lyon Turned down by the State Department because she had lost a leg, Virginia Hall became one of the most effective Allied agents in occupied France. The Germans hunted “the limping lady” for years. They never caught her. Studio portrait of Nancy Wake, 1945 File 017Article Marseille · Auvergne · 1940–1944 The White Mouse A runaway from Sydney became a journalist in Paris, smuggled Allied airmen out of France, and parachuted back in 1944 to arm thousands of French resistance fighters. The Gestapo never caught her. Irena Sendler in 1942 File 016Article Warsaw · 1939–1945 The Names in the Jars A Warsaw social worker used a pass for typhus inspections to get into the ghetto, and led a network of women that smuggled Jewish children out. She wrote their real names on lists and buried them in jars. Portrait of Noor Inayat Khan in WAAF uniform File 005Article Occupied France · 1943–1944 Madeleine: The Last Radio in Paris A children’s author trained as a wireless operator, Noor Inayat Khan kept transmitting to London for more than three months after her network was destroyed around her. Andrée de Jongh after receiving the George Medal at Buckingham Palace File 003Article Belgium · France · Spain · 1941–1943 Dédée and the Line Through the Pyrenees At twenty-four, Andrée de Jongh walked a British soldier from Brussels to Spain and then talked the British into funding her. The Comet Line she built brought more than seven hundred Allied servicemen home.
Films

Watch the documentaries

Noor Inayat Khan ▸ Film Resistance networks Noor Inayat Khan A children's book author became the last spy in Paris — her last word was "Liberté" Virginia Hall ▸ Film Resistance networks Virginia Hall The most dangerous Allied spy had a wooden leg — the Gestapo never caught her Irena Sendler ▸ Film Resistance networks Irena Sendler The buried jars that held the names of 2,500 rescued children Nancy Wake ▸ Film Resistance networks Nancy Wake The woman the Nazis couldn't catch