On the Line with Helen Fry - British Secret Service during WWI and WWII

Helen will speak about the two most important British Secret Service intelligence (MI6) networks behind the enemy lines in WWI and WWII. At the heart of MI6’s operations were the White Lady (‘La Dame Blanche’) and Clarence Service which operated in German-occupied Belgium. This is a compelling account of the agents who risked their lives and found ingenious ways to smuggle intelligence out of occupied Belgium. The men and women in the networks operated as agents, spies, couriers and heads of intelligence sectors. From knitting coded messages into jumpers, to running entire sections behind the German lines, agent handling and traditional spycraft that included messages in invisible ink. Operators in the field sent over 800 radio messages to London and delivered more than a thousand reports, including groundbreaking information on Hitler’s secret weapon the V-1. From her ground-breaking research, Helen will reveal an astonishing espionage history from her extensive research in Brussels and London.

ABOUT HELEN FRY

Historian Dr Helen Fry has written over 25 books on the Second World War, with particular reference to the 10,000 Germans who fought for Britain, and also British intelligence, espionage and WWII. Her latest highly acclaimed book Women in Intelligence: The Hidden History of Two World War received the Silver Award from Military History Matters Book Award. Her bestselling books include The Walls have Ears about the secret wartime eavesdropping operation; also Spymaster: The Man who Saved MI6; and MI9 about the British Secret Service for escape and evasion in World War Two. She appears frequently in numerous TV documentaries, including covering the major anniversaries of D-Day for the BBC. In 2022 Helen was recognized as a woman of achievement at the Women of the Year Lunch Awards. In 2023 she received The Lifetime Achievement Award in Jewish Military History and Education. She is an ambassador for the Military Intelligence Museum; a trustee of the Friends of the Intelligence Corps and a trustee of the Medmenham Collection.

Live Talk

Hosted by Company of Makers' co-founder Steve Bomford.

Q&A

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