Virginia Hall  1906-1982

A distinguished military veteran of the U.S. special forces in WWII, Virginia Hall was considered by the Gestapo to be “the most dangerous of all allied spies”.  She was a pioneering agent for the Special Operations Executive and OSS in France, and conducted espionage, sabotage, reconnaissance, and rescue missions in occupied Europe against Nazi Germany.  She supplied arms, training, and direction to French resistance groups in occupied France prior to the arrival of the American army in September 1944.

Bicknell’s Thrush populations have declined by over 60% between 2010 and 2022.