INSPIRING WOMEN OF WAR

Discover how brave and daring female spies crossed enemy borders and infiltrated countries as they couriered military and political secrets. Many officers were usually unsuspecting of the women they met in brothels and late-night cafés. These female spies excelled at wheedling secrets out of high officials through their powers of seduction.

Female Spies of World War One tells the true stories of six courageous women living in a constant state of awareness, always looking over their shoulders for fear of being discovered, and always striving to stay one step ahead of the enemy.

• Gabrielle Petit: A working-class Belgian woman who revolted against the German occupation of Belgium. What did she mean when she exclaimed "I'm done being useless!"
• Felice Schmidt: One of Germany’s craftiest spies in the Great War. Young officers and military men were taken with her beauty and charming wit, but she had her eyes on a much bigger target.
• Louise de Bettignies: Under the alias of Alice Dubois, Louise was a spy of French origin recruited by the British to spy on the Germans. She was the clever engineer of the Alice Network.
• Sarah Aaronsohn: As the head of the Nili network, Sarah recruited spies and conducted espionage from places like Jerusalem, Nazareth, and along the Mediterranean coast. One challenge for her was managing the men of the network, as they were either too infatuated or recklessly defied her orders.
• Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois: Under her stage name Mistinguett, she hiked her skirt up her leg, showing an indecent amount of skin, and called back, saying, “How much higher do you want it to go?” Later, she would go to Germany under the guise of reporting back to her German masters when she would actually be spying on the Germans for the French. It was a clever plan, but was she as good a spy as she was a performer?