Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence

Claire Hubbard-Hall reveals the stories of women who worked behind the scenes of British Intelligence, inspiring Ian Fleming’s character Miss Moneypenny.

About the event

Since the inception of the Secret Service Bureau in 1909, women have worked at the very heart of British secret intelligence – yet their contributions have been all but written out of history. Now, drawing on private and previously-classified documents, leading historian Claire Hubbard-Hall brings their gripping true stories to life.

From encoding orders and decrypting enemy messages to penning propaganda and infiltrating organisations, the women of British intelligence played a pivotal role in both the First and Second World Wars. Prepare to meet the true custodians of Britain’s military secrets, from Kathleen Pettigrew, personal assistant to the Chief of MI6 Stewart Menzies, who late in life declared, ‘I was Miss Moneypenny, but with more power’, to Jane Archer, the very first female MI5 officer, who raised suspicions about the Soviet spy Kim Philby long before he was officially unmasked, and Winifred Spink, the first female officer ever sent to Russia in 1916.

About the speaker

Claire Hubbard-Hall is a writer and historian who specialises in the history of secret intelligence. She has held lecturing posts in several British universities and is an honorary Associate Professor of Intelligence History. She has contributed to television documentaries and written for popular history magazines.