A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII’s Most Dangerous Spy

Périgueux Prison housed 12 SOE agents, including the five taken from the Villa des Bois. Gaby Bloch, the wife of deputy who had at one point been arrested, asked Virginia for help in early 1942. No one had ever broken out of Périgueux, but Virginia was determined. She met with Admiral Leahy at the American embassy. He agreed to think about how he could help through diplomacy.

On March 14, 1942 a telegram announced that the prisoners would move to an internment camp at Mauzac that housed 600 prisoners. Gaby smuggled items into the prison for their escape. A legless priest smuggled a transmitter inside in his wheelchair, and an agent named Bégué began transmitting to Baker Street. He used a bread mold to make a key. Gaby got caught trying to pass a message, but the officer agreed to help them if they paid him 50,000 francs, which Virginia did.

In July, the men escaped the prison. Gaby was arrested but provided an alibi she had created with Virginia’s help. A driver took the men to an old barn and house in a forest 20 miles from the prison. After a fortnight the manhunt ended. The agents split up and made their way to the Grand Nouvel Hotel.