Suzanne David Hall (January 23, 1927 – July 7, 2011) was a

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

for the

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

while still a teenager. During her training to become an

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

, she relayed messages that helped bring about the Allied

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. The 2003 novel ''For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy'' by

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (born June 24, 1967) is an American children's and young adult book author. In 2016, her children's book ''The War That Saved My Life'' received the Newbery Honor Award and was named to the Bank Street Children's Book ...

was based on interviews with Hall.Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. ''For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy.'' New York: Delacorte, 2003.

Biography

Hall was born on January 23, 1927, in Cherbourg,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to Étienne and Désirée LeDoux David. According to Bradley's book, Hall's conviction to fight for France began on the day she and her best friend Yvette went down to the beach. There they met Yvette's mother's friend, Madame Montagne, who was pregnant with a second child. A few minutes into conversation, German planes bombed the entire beach and town square. After the missiles ceased, Yvette and Suzanne looked up to find Madame Montagne lying dead with her small child also dead at her side. It was Wednesday, 29 May 1940. Hall was thirteen years old at the time. Yvette was also badly injured. She never recovered. Later, the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

forced Hall and her family to move out of their house and into a dingy apartment. They used her and other houses on her street as a "home base". Three years later the Germans abandoned the home, and Hall and her family came back to it. All their belongings had been sold or ruined. Two years after the bombing at the beach, Hall cut herself, and because there was no medication around to treat it, it became infected. She had to see her doctor, a Mr. Leclerc, about the abscess. As she was with her

voice teacher A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who assists adults and children in the development of their abilities in singing. Typical work A voice teacher works with a student singer to improve the various skills involved in singi ...

at the time, Mr. Leclerc asked if she traveled much for her opera singing. She replied that she only traveled to Normandy and soon would to Paris. The doctor told her that he was a spy as well and asked if she would like to be a spy for the French Resistance. Hall never told her name to any of the other spies. To them, she was spy number 22, the 22nd spy in Cherbourg, where she lived. All of the other spies she met also had numbers. She never knew their names. She only ever knew Dr. Leclerc's name. He had done this because names were dangerous. When she was seventeen, Hall was captured by the Germans. She was interrogated for hours, but she never confessed. She was saved when the Allies landed nearby in 1944. Soon afterward, she found out from another captured spy, number 14, that all of the others had confessed and been killed. Dr. Leclerc and his family had been shot in the street. For her brave service during the war, Hall was awarded the Croix de Lorraine by General Charles de Gaulle. Hall married Larson Hall and had a son and daughter. She died on July 7, 2011, in Kingsport, Tennessee, after having lived there for 64 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Suzanne David 1927 births 2011 deaths French spies Women spies French women in World War II