Born: 29 March 1902, United States
Died: 8 March 2000
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Gertrude Sanford
The following is republished from the Central Intelligence Agency. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Gertrude Sanford Legendre lived a life most people could only dream about. Born into a wealthy South Carolina family, Gertrude was the sister of internationally known polo player Stephen “Laddie” Sanford and socialite Sara Jane Sanford. The family was so well known that playwright—and family friend—Phillip Barry modeled his 1929 play, Holiday, on the Sanford family. Two movie versions of the play followed; the latter, made in 1937, starred a young Katherine Hepburn as Gertrude.
While still in her teens, Gertrude embarked on her first hunting trip, traveling to numerous destinations around the world: Africa, Iran, and Southeast Asia. She also made a few stops closer to home—Canada, the Grand Tetons of Wyoming, and Alaska. Many of the specimens she collected on her travels were sent to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. She also found plenty of time to party in the south of France with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald—not to mention a certain Ernest Hemingway. During her travels she found a kindred spirit, and future husband, in explorer Sidney J. Legendre.
When World War II broke out, both Gertrude and her husband wanted to serve their country. Gertrude got a job with OSS in Washington, D.C. as a clerk managing a cable desk. But Gertrude was later transferred to Paris, giving her a WAC uniform and paperwork identifying her as a second lieutenant.
“I am just a woman.”
In late September 1944, she became the first American woman in uniform to be captured in Germany during an unauthorized visit to the front near Luxembourg (it was rumored she was looking to meet up with old friend George S. Patton). As they approached the front, Gertrude, along with two OSS officers and their driver, ended up being pinned down by sniper fire and were forced to surrender.
Gertrude was held prisoner by the Germans for six months. Early on in her capture, she concocted a story that she was nothing more than a Red Cross volunteer who had hitched a ride with the soldiers.
After all, she told them, “I am just a woman.”
Gertrude never broke under interrogation and the Germans finally bought her story.
After months of waiting, she finally found an opportunity to escape while she was being moved to another camp by train.
As the train she was on drew closer to the Swiss border, she—in a bold move straight out of a World War II action movie—jumped off the train and landed near a forest. The German guards—stunned by what they had just seen—ordered her to stop, threatening that they would shoot. But Gertrude ignored them and ran away, securing her freedom.
Later, after hearing about her dramatic escape from behind enemy lines, the OSS sent her back to the States—with strict instructions not to tell the story of her capture to anyone.
After the war, Gertrude continued to pursue her travels around the world. She later turned her ancestral home, Medway, into an environmental trust to manage the land and teach conservation.
As someone who loved the finer things in life, she continued to live the opulent life of a socialite up until her passing away at age 97. A true bon vivant, she would always end her annual New Year’s Eve parties with the same toast: “I look ahead. I always have. I don’t contemplate life. I live it, and I’m having the time of my life!”