True Life Tuesday: Jane Wallis Burrell

Jane O'Neil Willis was born on September 22, 1911 in Dubuque, Iowa. Her father, James Harold Wallis, was a newspaper editor, writer and local politician. The family moved to Washington, D.C. in 1921 when her father became a speechwriter for Herbert Hoover, then the Secretary of Commerce. She graduated from Holten-Arms, an all-girls school, in 1929 She then studied French and English literature at Smith College in Northhampton, Massachusetts. While at Smith she was president of the French club. She also studied in Montreal and at the Sorbonne in Paris. She travel extensively across Europe spending time in Germany, Italy and Spain. She ended up graduating from college in 1933. That year she eloped with David Burrell and moved to New York state where his family had a dairy machine business. She continued her French and English literature studies at Columbia University between 1936 and 1937.

In 1943 Jane and David moved to Washington, D.C. when David was assigned to Naval Air Station Anacostia. In 1943 Jane was appointed to a junior clerk position with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). She analyzed pre-war photos of Nazi occupied Europe to develop maps and find potential targets. She was then sent to London in December 1943. After the war she worked in Germany helping to track down German officials and debriefing them after capture. She also worked to help track down cultural works looted by the Nazis. She returned to D.C. in November 1945 to serve in the Strategic Services Unit which replaced the OSS. She and David separated in January 1946 over her intention to return to Europe. She ended up returning to France in July 1946. She joined the Central Intelligence Agency when it was established in September 1947.

In January 1948 she went to Brussels to provide testimony for George Spitz who was accused of collaborating with German occupiers. As she was returning to France on January 6, 1948 her plane crashed while landing at Paris-LeBourget Airport. The plane rolled on its side and caught on fire killing 15 of the 16 people aboard. She was the first CIA agent killed in the line of duty. The CIA downplayed her involvement stating that she was a clerk returning from vacation. The CIA also did not send a representative to her funeral. The Paris station chief, Phillip Horton, ended up apologizing to her father for this. Since she died on a commercial flight she was not included on the CIA Memorial Wall. Her parents established a scholarship at Smith College in her name to assist students with studying in france for a year. Her work laid the foundation for the CIA's approach to anti-Soviet inteligence, particularly in the recruitment and handling of spies.