The Courageous Story of WWII Spy Vera Leigh

A Light in the Shadows: The Courageous Story of WWII Spy Vera Leigh

What kind of courage does it take for a woman raised among the elegance of fashion and racehorses to walk straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied France, knowing every step could be her last?

Vera Leigh, born Vera Glass on March 17, 1903, in Leeds, England, and abandoned as a baby, had no idea her life would one day be marked by espionage, danger, and ultimate sacrifice. Adopted by H. Eugene Leigh, a renowned American racehorse trainer, she grew up in the high society of Paris, surrounded by elegance and ambition. From dreaming of being a jockey to co-founding a fashion house, Vera's early life bore no signs of the wartime hero she would become.

Her world changed forever when war erupted across Europe. Drawn by love to Lyon in 1940 to be with her fiancé, Charles Sussaix, Vera soon found her heart called elsewhere: the fight against tyranny. She joined the French Resistance, risking her life to guide Allied servicemen along perilous escape routes across the Pyrenees into Spain. Her own journey to England in 1942 was no less dangerous—she was arrested and interned in the brutal Miranda de Ebro camp in Spain. Far from breaking her, the experience only sharpened her resolve.

That same year, Vera joined the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret wartime organization created to conduct espionage and sabotage in occupied Europe. At 40 years old, she became Ensign Vera Leigh of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. Her instructors praised her fearlessness and precision, calling her the best shot of her group. Even as she wired explosives with practiced hands, Vera retained her signature elegance and deep dislike for the coarse khaki uniform.

In May 1943, she was parachuted back into France under the codename “Simone.” Working as a courier in the Inventor sub-circuit of the SOE’s Prosper network, she assumed the identity of Suzanne Chavanne, a milliner’s assistant. She delivered crucial messages across Paris and as far as the Ardennes, slipping through German checkpoints and Gestapo surveillance with nerves of steel and a confident smile.

Despite the ever-present danger, Vera lived as a true Parisienne, renting an apartment in the fashionable Sixteenth Arrondissement and frequenting local cafés to meet fellow agents. Her reports to London were described as “extremely cheerful.” The deceptive calm of Nazi-occupied Paris masked a world filled with treachery. Acts of resistance were rare due to the brutal reprisals by the Gestapo, and many Parisians were all too eager to betray their neighbors for personal gain.

Vera, perhaps lulled by the city's familiar comforts, became slightly too comfortable. She returned to the same hairdresser she had used before the war—a decision that would ultimately contribute to her undoing. There, she had a chance meeting with her sister’s husband. The innocent encounter was warm but dangerous, a reminder that even brief slips could have deadly consequences.

Betrayed by a double agent, Vera was arrested by the Gestapo on October 30, 1943. She was imprisoned in Fresnes, subjected to harsh interrogation, and eventually deported to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Alsace. On July 6, 1944, at just 41 years old, Vera Leigh was executed alongside three fellow female agents—Andrée Borrel, Diana Rowden, and Sonia Olschanezky. Witnesses later claimed the women were still conscious when they were forced into the crematorium—an ending as brutal as it was undeserved.

Yet Vera's legacy endures. A haunting watercolor by fellow SOE agent Brian Stonehouse captures her likeness, while a plaque at Holy Trinity Church in Maisons-Laffitte honors her courage. Posthumously awarded the King’s Commendation for Brave Conduct, Vera’s bravery, style, and sacrifice are now woven into the larger tapestry of those who gave everything for freedom.

To learn more about extraordinary women like Vera Leigh, discover the book and audiobook Women In War: A Gripping Collection of the Untold True Stories of History’s Bravest Women Warriors, available on all major platforms.