Helen Fry’s book sheds light on the untold stories of women who defied barriers to excel in intelligence roles during the early to mid-20th century, challenging the male-dominated myths of espionage. Fry highlights the bravery, ingenuity, and resilience of these women, emphasising their significant but often overlooked contributions to intelligence work.

There is an old saying that the secret of success lies in keeping one’s successes secret. For women in the intelligence world, this saying has particular meaning. Historically, as in other walks of life, women trying to break into intelligence work have faced barriers which would have made many men despair. Bullying and early forms of gaslighting were not uncommon, in addition to point blank refusal to employ them. And all too often, a woman who finally managed, against the odds, to pull off a successful career in intelligence was unable to talk about it, ever. In some cases, even her family would never know what her real job was. Helen Fry must therefore be warmly congratulated on her well-researched and accomplished narrative of a largely untold story of women in intelligence, trawling through dusty archives to bring to life amazing accounts of audacity and ingenuity. In doing so, she upends, the mythical male-dominated model of espionage that writers like Le Carré and Fleming have generated and busts the myth of women spies as “Mata Hari” like caricatures.

With an engaging writing style, Fry brings to life the personal accounts of remarkable stories of bravery, initiative, stamina and resilience in the face of adversity. Her narrative spans much of the first half of the twentieth century, covering the range of intelligence disciplines, spanning the collection, analysis, and reporting arising from what would come to be known as human intelligence, signals intelligence, imagery (or geospatial) intelligence, and security intelligence operations—conducted both domestically and internationally.

Along the way, Fry provides evocative accounts drawn from the experience of women during and between the two world wars in Europe. The book includes little known but amazing stories about the incredible work of women such as Marthe Cnockaert, Edith Cavell, Madame Rischard, and the network of women spies known as La Dame Blanche who worked tirelessly and heroically, collecting and passing secret reports from behind enemy lines in the First World War. Many suffered imprisonment and silently endured interrogation. Their defiance and heroism, Fry writes, left a legacy that would inspire women behind enemy lines a generation later in the Second World War, notably those connected with the Double Cross operations and Special Operations Executive.

Similarly, Fry reveals the role of the “Hush WAACs,” members of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, tasked as codebreakers and interceptors. Formed in 1917 and disbanded after the war, their work set a precedent for what would follow with the “Secret Ladies” employed two decades later. Women codebreakers also featured in the Admiralty’s codebreaking centre, Room 40, as part of the Naval Intelligence Division, and Room 40’s successor organisation at Bletchley Park. Fry explains how these women performed way more than standard secretarial roles.

Chapters that follow expand on the inspirational work of women in the inter-war years (arguably the first real Cold War) and the Second World War. The book provides a remarkable account of so many impressive and highly capable, but understated and under-appreciated women who made a real difference to a range of successful intelligence operations.

What comes through in Fry’s book is that notwithstanding all the extraordinary difficulties, hardships, and hair-raising dangers they faced, women still found ways to excel. Gender is a hot topic in research into psychology. There are certain qualities and abilities we associate particularly with women that lend themselves to intelligence work. These include the ability to “multi-task,” resourcefulness, endurance, a preference for an intuitive approach to problem-solving, language skills, and the ability to perceive patterns.

Thankfully, in many countries, the more visible constraints that used to stymie women seeking an intelligence career have now disappeared. In Australia, for example, the draconian “marriage bar,” which many years ago actually forced women to resign upon getting married no longer exists. Today, the heads of four of Australia’s top ten intelligence agencies are women. And yet, abolishing the visible, obvious constraints on women is not enough. The culture of intelligence agencies established by men and for men tends to linger in subtle ways, like the exclusion of women from social groups of men having strategy discussions about getting promoted.

Fry’s record of remarkable achievements in the most difficult of circumstances leaves the reader speculating about what women will be able to do when they are free of the invisible as well as the visible constraints.

We hope that Fry’s book will not only help to ensure that the work of women in intelligence throughout history is appropriately valued and appreciated, but that it will pave the way for young women hoping for an intelligence career in Britain today. As the work by Christopher Andrew, Keith Jeffrey, and John Ferris spurred the commissioning of histories of Australia’s Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO, and the Australian Signals Directorate, Helen Fry’s work likely will prompt more counterparts in places like Australia and Canada to emulate her inspirational work on Britain’s women in intelligence.

This is a review of Helen Fry’s Women in Intelligence: The Hidden History of Two World Wars (Yale University Press, 2024). ISBN 9780300279313. 

John Blaxland is Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australia National University and a former military intelligence officer. 

Clare Birgin’s career in DFAT spanned 30 years, with a focus on national security and intelligence. She had postings in Warsaw, Moscow, Geneva, and Washington DC as the Liaison Officer of the Office of National Assessments, followed by postings as Ambassador in Hungary, Serbia, Kosovo, Romania, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Subsequently she was a Visiting Fellow at the ANU before joining John Blaxland’s history writing team. 

This review is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.