Amy Elizabeth "Betty" Thorpe Pack Brousse | |
|---|---|
 "Mrs. Arthur J. Pack" wedding photo, Baltimore Sun, 1930 | |
| Born | Amy Elizabeth Thorpe November 22, 1910 Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
| Died | December 1, 1963 (aged 53) France, Castelnou, Pyrénées-Orientales |
| Spouse(s) | Arthur J. Pack, Charles Brousse |
| Parent | George C. Thorpe & Cora Wells Thorpe |
| Espionage activity | |
| Allegiance | Allied Powers |
| Agency | BSC, MI6, OSS |
| Codename | Cynthia |
Amy Elizabeth Thorpe, also known as Betty Pack, Betty Thorpe, Elizabeth Pack, and Amy Brousse; (November 22, 1910 – December 1, 1963) was an Anglo-American spy, codenamed Cynthia, who worked for British Security Coordination (BSC) which was set up in New York City in 1940 during World War II by the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). She later worked for the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Her method was sexual and romantic seduction of high-level foreign diplomats.[1] She successfully obtained some intelligence on the German Enigma machines and the Black Chamber in Poland, obtained the cipher books of fascist Italy, and stole the Vichy French naval codes out of a locked safe within an embassy. In an article published two months before her death she wrote, "...in the dangerous years of Nazi aggression I looked upon myself as a soldier serving my country. No sacrifice was too great for the soldiers. I felt that, in my own way, I could do no less than they."[2]
Her Time magazine obituary quoted William Stephenson, head of the BSC, saying that she was "the greatest unsung heroine of the war."[3][4] The full story of her World War II activities cannot yet be known because some official archives as of 2016 were still "closed indefinitely" or "heavily redacted."[5]
- ^ Lovell, Mary S. (2017). Cast No Shadow (Ebook edition, originally published in 1992 ed.). London: Abacus. p. 9. ISBN 9781408710579.
- ^ "The People 06 Oct 1963, page 2". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ "Espionage: A Blonde Bond". Time. December 20, 1963.
- ^ Lovell 2017, pp. 295–296.
- ^ Blum, Howard (2016). The Last Goodnight. New York: Harper Collins. p. 12. ISBN 9780062307804.