The US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was America’s first civilian intelligence agency and it wasn’t called 'Oh So Social' by accident. The WWII operatives were mainly Ivy League lawyers, advertising moguls, and wealthy volunteers - Ph.D.s who could win a bar fight - and their derring-do still shapes intelligence thinking.
Peter Sichel is a legend and, at the age of 101, one of the oldest OSS officers alive. After his family’s daring escape from Germany to the US in 1941, Peter returned to Europe to run German PoW spies against Hitler and target the Soviet atomic bomb project. He joined the family wine business in the ‘60s but vividly recalls his most dangerous mission as a young OSS recruit infiltrating agents behind enemy lines.
Animal Farm author George Orwell popularized the term 'Cold War' in a 1945 essay. The CIA subsequently financed the adaptation of Animal Farm as a propaganda film to fight communism at the height of the Cold War.
Fusing art, politics, and espionage, each original artwork from the film comprises a pencil drawing and a hand painted animation ‘cel’ - iconic pieces of cinematic history acquired by SPYSCAPE directly from the filmmakers.
Baltimore debutante Virginia Hall had her heart set on working for the US Foreign Service before a hunting accident left her disabled. Physical limitations wouldn’t define her though. Virginia (portrayed by Sarah Megan Thomas in A Call to Spy) set out on her next adventure on the eve of WWII - driving ambulances in France, building spy networks, and waging guerilla warfare against the Nazis.
Daring spymaster ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan founded the OSS but he needed a scientific wizard to conjure up spy gadgets and dirty tricks. Enter Stanley Lovell, a salty inventor-turned-chemist with a love of umbrella guns, exploding pancake flour, and Beano grenades. Lovell styled himself after Sherlock’s Professor Moriarty - spy mischief at its diabolical best.
Operation Jedburgh dropped teams of OSS, British, and French operatives behind enemy lines before the ‘44 invasion of Normandy - among them, future CIA director William Colby. Back then, he was a 24-year-old hiding in a ditch and wondering how in the world he’d gotten into this. It would prove to be a life-defining moment for Colby, an Army brat with an adventurous streak who enjoyed sticky situations.
Boston Red Sox Moe Berg was a Princeton grad, a superb linguist, and an unusual MLB star. “He could speak 12 languages,” a teammate joked, “but he couldn’t hit in any of them.” Berg secretly filmed Tokyo during a tour of Japan and joined the OSS in ‘42 but it was Berg’s grasp of nuclear physics and German that made him an icon. His baseball card is even on display at the CIA museum.
Forget blowing up railways and parachuting into enemy territory. We’ve laid our hands on a 1944 OSS guide that offers 9-to-5 agents tips to help the Allies’ cause by sabotaging productivity. The Simple Sabotage Field Manual advocates prolonged meetings, convoluted explanations, nitpicking, and the art of long-winded speech-making. Can a promotion be far behind?
At SPY HQ you’ll explore hidden worlds, break codes, run surveillance and spot liars - while a system developed with MI6 experts reveals your personal spy role and profile.