November 2, 2025 • 9 mins
heesy and Fondue talk about a spy who made cheese, a spy named cheese, a spy saved by cheese, an operation called cheese and spies who used cheese as cover. And of course, we tell a very cheesy joke!
Find us at www.justcheesy.com and everywhere you enjoy social media! https://linktr.ee/JustCheesy
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Why is cheddar the most dangerous of all the cheeses? Because it is very sharp!
Show Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Hall
https://culturecheesemag.com/travel/wheys-less-traveled/history-cheesemaker-spy-nazis-world-war-ii/
https://www.obscurehistories.org/renato-levi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cheese
https://codenames.info/operation/cheese-i/#google_vignette
https://historyreheated.com/2022/02/22/cheesecake-and-spies/
https://wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk/CUL/exhibitions/Spies/Alfred_Leete.html
https://fromagerie-guillaume.com/notre-histoire
https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/knowledge-of-men/man-knowledge-15-cool-spy-concealments/
Related episodes
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/just-cheesy-the-podcast/id1594272993?i=1000612933163
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Just Cheesy the podcastpresented by Just Cheesy Productions.
Hi there. I'm your host, Fondue
I'm Cheesy.
We're talking about spies andcheese. One who made cheese, one
named Cheese, one saved bycheese, an operation called Cheese,
and spies who used cheese ascover. And of course, we're gonna
(00:24):
tell a very cheesy joke.
Of course.
Stay tuned for episode 207,the Spy who Loved Cheese, on Just
Cheesy the podcast. We'vetalked about cheese and war before
episode 57 link in our show notes.
Oh, yeah.
But this first story isnothing short of amazing. According
(00:45):
to culturecheesemag.com andWikipedia, there's a woman named
Virginia Hall. Virginia wantedto become a diplomat. Okay. But her
aspirations were foiled whenshe accidentally shot herself in
the foot and got gang green.Her leg had to be amputated at the
knee, and she replaced it witha wooden prosthetic that she nicknamed
(01:05):
Cuthbert. Unfortunately, herdisability disqualified her from
being a diplomat. But thatdidn't stop Virginia from participating
in World War II. She joinedBritain's Special Operations Executive,
SOE and became one of theearliest and most remarkable female
agents. She trained in Franceand operated under the COVID of a
(01:26):
New York Post reporter. Thisbasically allowed her to move freely,
ask questions and gather intelligence.
Sure.
She learned to blend in andchange her appearance at a moment's
notice. She founded what theSOE network called Heckler. She coordinated
safe houses, wirelesscommunications and escape routes.
She also helped British airmenwho had been shot down escape and
(01:47):
return to England. But theGermans, they were onto her. They
nicknamed her the Limping ladyand put her on their most wanted
list. The SOE leaders didn'twant to put her back in action in
France because she'd been compromised.
Right.
But that didn't stop her,really. She took a wireless course
and contacted the AmericanOffice of Strategic Services about
a job. She was hired by theSpecial Operations Branch, where
(02:10):
she had her most interestingassignment. She was 36, but she was
disguised as an older woman.They gave her gray hair and they
filed her teeth down in orderto resemble that of a peasant woman.
Talk about dedication.
Right? She disguised her limpwith the shuffle of an old woman.
From March to July of 1944,she roamed around France south of
(02:32):
Paris, posing as an elderlymilkmaid. She was able to approach
a German convoy with farmhousecheese states that German soldiers
made a surprise visit to thefarm. She had just completed a radio
report when she emerged fromthe cottage and the Germans confronted
her. Virginia stuck to herstory and a German officer Recognized
(02:52):
her as a cheese seller.
Really?
And the mood lightened. Heeven complimented her on the cheese
and took some more, left somemoney. And never knew how close he
had been to capturing her.
Holy cow.
Virginia was the only civilianwoman in World War II to be awarded
the Distinguished ServiceCross. Virginia wasn't world War
only. Cheese related. Spy.Really? According to the times.com
(03:15):
and obscurehistories.org,renato Levi worked under the code
name Cheese for British MI6.He built a fake spy network so convincing
that it deceived the Nazis forover six years. He had a money drop
nicknamed Mousetrap.
Mousetrap.
And that fed intelligence thatmisled Hitler about Allied plans
(03:36):
in North Africa and before d day.
Whoa.
World War II was just loadedwith cheese references. Yeah, there
was one called OperationCheese. This was an intelligence
mission in southern Norwayfrom 1940 to 1941.
Wow.
According to codenames.infoand Wikipedia, a man named Odd Starham
and a radio operator namedGunvald Tomstad set up a radio station
(04:01):
in southern Norway in order toestablish communications with the
uk. Their transmissionsincluded the first radio contact
from Occup Europe to the uk.And they even had an early report
of the German battleshipBismarck setting out to sea.
Holy cow.
(05:07):
World War II was not asponsor. But if it was, the ad would
go right here. Did you knowthat cheesecake got in on the spy
action?
It did.
Back in 1943, Paul and Frank,a couple of German born American
machinists living in New YorkCity, were arrested for espionage.
A Gestapo agent recruited thetwo men to produce microfilm of industrial
(05:28):
blueprints, drawings and other documents.
Oh no.
And you're wondering how doesthis relate the cheesecake?
Yeah.
How? These guys were membersof the Duquesne spy ring and in order
to identify themselves, theywould go to the bakery, give their
name and order a cheesecake.And this was the code needed in order
to get a cheesecake and apacket of papers to photograph.
(05:48):
Oh no.
In 1943, the two were arrestedand pled guilty to charges. And they
were sentenced to 15 years inprison. According to an article in
fromagerie guillaume.com.
Oh my.
Marcel Guillaume had four oldwine cellars and he had the idea
of diggin passages betweenthem creating an underground network
of aging sellers. But in theSecond World War, he turned those
(06:12):
cellars into a hiding spot forover 20 tons of weapons and ammunition
for the resistance network in France.
Holy cow.
Unfortunately, he was foundout and the Germans sent him to a
concentration camp where hewould never return. But his wife
kept the business going andshe sold cheese in markets and shipped
them to other regions.
Wow.
In the 1960s, their son tookover the business. He even relaunched
(06:35):
the shop by Plac fake cheesesin the window, which attracted customers.
The shop has been passed downthrough the family for many years
and it still exists today.
Wow.
And you can even take a lookat their cheeses on their website.
No spy tales would be completewithout talking about the Cold war.
Right?
In 1985, here comes some namebutchery. Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB
(06:58):
colonel, defected to the UK inorder to smuggle him across the border
to the west. He had to hideout in the trunk of a car. At their
first crossing, the man pulleda metallic silver space blanket over
himself to mask his body heatfrom the guards thermal imaging cameras.
They made it through two morecheckpoints, but the next one was
far more of a problem. Heheard the sound of the sniffing and
(07:22):
whining of dogs. He knew thatif they smelled him, they would surely
find him. And the game was up.But by some stroke of luck, the dogs
seemed to ignore the trunk andthey seemed more interested in the
front of the car.
They did.
The reason was a packet ofcheese and onion crackers.
Cheese to the rescue.
The lady in the front of thecar, trying to smuggle him through
(07:43):
acted as a decoy and casuallyfed the dogs the crackers and cheese.
Yum.
In order to look convincing,she also had a baby that she was
nursing and she took its dirtydiaper and tossed it on the ground,
which was actually enough tooverpower the noses of the dogs.
They were able to drive offundetected nice and straight out
of James Bond and The websitecalled artofmanliness.com Art of
(08:07):
what? In it article about 15cool spy concealments. They talk
about shoes.
Shoes.
The first heel compartment ofa shoe was created in 1901. And apparently
Houdini used it to hide keysfor his escapes.
He did.
Clayton Hutton designed flyingboots for the RAF pilots that had
a secret compartment in theheel. They could actually stash things
(08:28):
like food packets or maps.Hutton was also able to hide cheese
wire in the laces of some ofthe shoes.
Oh yeah.
This was in case any of thesoldiers were taken prisoner. They
would be able to use the wireto cut through metal bars and escape.
Holy cow.
This article has a lot ofreally nifty inventions that put
James Bond to shame.
I'm ready for a joke. Fondue.
(08:49):
Okay. Why are Swiss cheesesthe best secret agents?
I don't know. Why?
Because they have eyeseverywhere. Get it? Seriously, did
you not listen to episode 59called Holes, Holes? Holes about
Swiss cheese and the holesbeing called eyes?
Um, maybe.
Well, you need to listen tothat episode in order to get this
joke, because I thought it wasfunny and a little bit cheesy. Thanks
(09:16):
for listening to Just Cheesy,the podcast, episode 207, the Spy
who Loved Cheese. Thank you.We've got a couple of links in our
show notes to some of ourolder episodes. Please listen, check
them out, and subscribe to usanywhere you get your podcast.
And stay cheesy, everybody.
Just Cheesy the podcastpresented by Just Cheesy Productions.
Hi there. I'm your host, Fondue
I'm Cheesy.
We're talking about spies andcheese. One who made cheese, one
named Cheese, one saved bycheese, an operation called Cheese,
and spies who used cheese ascover. And of course, we're gonna
(00:24):
tell a very cheesy joke.
Of course.
Stay tuned for episode 207,the Spy who Loved Cheese, on Just
Cheesy the podcast. We'vetalked about cheese and war before
episode 57 link in our show notes.
Oh, yeah.
But this first story isnothing short of amazing. According
(00:45):
to culturecheesemag.com andWikipedia, there's a woman named
Virginia Hall. Virginia wantedto become a diplomat. Okay. But her
aspirations were foiled whenshe accidentally shot herself in
the foot and got gang green.Her leg had to be amputated at the
knee, and she replaced it witha wooden prosthetic that she nicknamed
(01:05):
Cuthbert. Unfortunately, herdisability disqualified her from
being a diplomat. But thatdidn't stop Virginia from participating
in World War II. She joinedBritain's Special Operations Executive,
SOE and became one of theearliest and most remarkable female
agents. She trained in Franceand operated under the COVID of a
(01:26):
New York Post reporter. Thisbasically allowed her to move freely,
ask questions and gather intelligence.
Sure.
She learned to blend in andchange her appearance at a moment's
notice. She founded what theSOE network called Heckler. She coordinated
safe houses, wirelesscommunications and escape routes.
She also helped British airmenwho had been shot down escape and
(01:47):
return to England. But theGermans, they were onto her. They
nicknamed her the Limping ladyand put her on their most wanted
list. The SOE leaders didn'twant to put her back in action in
France because she'd been compromised.
Right.
But that didn't stop her,really. She took a wireless course
and contacted the AmericanOffice of Strategic Services about
a job. She was hired by theSpecial Operations Branch, where
(02:10):
she had her most interestingassignment. She was 36, but she was
disguised as an older woman.They gave her gray hair and they
filed her teeth down in orderto resemble that of a peasant woman.
Talk about dedication.
Right? She disguised her limpwith the shuffle of an old woman.
From March to July of 1944,she roamed around France south of
(02:32):
Paris, posing as an elderlymilkmaid. She was able to approach
a German convoy with farmhousecheese states that German soldiers
made a surprise visit to thefarm. She had just completed a radio
report when she emerged fromthe cottage and the Germans confronted
her. Virginia stuck to herstory and a German officer Recognized
(02:52):
her as a cheese seller.
Really?
And the mood lightened. Heeven complimented her on the cheese
and took some more, left somemoney. And never knew how close he
had been to capturing her.
Holy cow.
Virginia was the only civilianwoman in World War II to be awarded
the Distinguished ServiceCross. Virginia wasn't world War
only. Cheese related. Spy.Really? According to the times.com
(03:15):
and obscurehistories.org,renato Levi worked under the code
name Cheese for British MI6.He built a fake spy network so convincing
that it deceived the Nazis forover six years. He had a money drop
nicknamed Mousetrap.
Mousetrap.
And that fed intelligence thatmisled Hitler about Allied plans
(03:36):
in North Africa and before d day.
Whoa.
World War II was just loadedwith cheese references. Yeah, there
was one called OperationCheese. This was an intelligence
mission in southern Norwayfrom 1940 to 1941.
Wow.
According to codenames.infoand Wikipedia, a man named Odd Starham
and a radio operator namedGunvald Tomstad set up a radio station
(04:01):
in southern Norway in order toestablish communications with the
uk. Their transmissionsincluded the first radio contact
from Occup Europe to the uk.And they even had an early report
of the German battleshipBismarck setting out to sea.
Holy cow.
(05:07):
World War II was not asponsor. But if it was, the ad would
go right here. Did you knowthat cheesecake got in on the spy
action?
It did.
Back in 1943, Paul and Frank,a couple of German born American
machinists living in New YorkCity, were arrested for espionage.
A Gestapo agent recruited thetwo men to produce microfilm of industrial
(05:28):
blueprints, drawings and other documents.
Oh no.
And you're wondering how doesthis relate the cheesecake?
Yeah.
How? These guys were membersof the Duquesne spy ring and in order
to identify themselves, theywould go to the bakery, give their
name and order a cheesecake.And this was the code needed in order
to get a cheesecake and apacket of papers to photograph.
(05:48):
Oh no.
In 1943, the two were arrestedand pled guilty to charges. And they
were sentenced to 15 years inprison. According to an article in
fromagerie guillaume.com.
Oh my.
Marcel Guillaume had four oldwine cellars and he had the idea
of diggin passages betweenthem creating an underground network
of aging sellers. But in theSecond World War, he turned those
(06:12):
cellars into a hiding spot forover 20 tons of weapons and ammunition
for the resistance network in France.
Holy cow.
Unfortunately, he was foundout and the Germans sent him to a
concentration camp where hewould never return. But his wife
kept the business going andshe sold cheese in markets and shipped
them to other regions.
Wow.
In the 1960s, their son tookover the business. He even relaunched
(06:35):
the shop by Plac fake cheesesin the window, which attracted customers.
The shop has been passed downthrough the family for many years
and it still exists today.
Wow.
And you can even take a lookat their cheeses on their website.
No spy tales would be completewithout talking about the Cold war.
Right?
In 1985, here comes some namebutchery. Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB
(06:58):
colonel, defected to the UK inorder to smuggle him across the border
to the west. He had to hideout in the trunk of a car. At their
first crossing, the man pulleda metallic silver space blanket over
himself to mask his body heatfrom the guards thermal imaging cameras.
They made it through two morecheckpoints, but the next one was
far more of a problem. Heheard the sound of the sniffing and
(07:22):
whining of dogs. He knew thatif they smelled him, they would surely
find him. And the game was up.But by some stroke of luck, the dogs
seemed to ignore the trunk andthey seemed more interested in the
front of the car.
They did.
The reason was a packet ofcheese and onion crackers.
Cheese to the rescue.
The lady in the front of thecar, trying to smuggle him through
(07:43):
acted as a decoy and casuallyfed the dogs the crackers and cheese.
Yum.
In order to look convincing,she also had a baby that she was
nursing and she took its dirtydiaper and tossed it on the ground,
which was actually enough tooverpower the noses of the dogs.
They were able to drive offundetected nice and straight out
of James Bond and The websitecalled artofmanliness.com Art of
(08:07):
what? In it article about 15cool spy concealments. They talk
about shoes.
Shoes.
The first heel compartment ofa shoe was created in 1901. And apparently
Houdini used it to hide keysfor his escapes.
He did.
Clayton Hutton designed flyingboots for the RAF pilots that had
a secret compartment in theheel. They could actually stash things
(08:28):
like food packets or maps.Hutton was also able to hide cheese
wire in the laces of some ofthe shoes.
Oh yeah.
This was in case any of thesoldiers were taken prisoner. They
would be able to use the wireto cut through metal bars and escape.
Holy cow.
This article has a lot ofreally nifty inventions that put
James Bond to shame.
I'm ready for a joke. Fondue.
(08:49):
Okay. Why are Swiss cheesesthe best secret agents?
I don't know. Why?
Because they have eyeseverywhere. Get it? Seriously, did
you not listen to episode 59called Holes, Holes? Holes about
Swiss cheese and the holesbeing called eyes?
Um, maybe.
Well, you need to listen tothat episode in order to get this
joke, because I thought it wasfunny and a little bit cheesy. Thanks
(09:16):
for listening to Just Cheesy,the podcast, episode 207, the Spy
who Loved Cheese. Thank you.We've got a couple of links in our
show notes to some of ourolder episodes. Please listen, check
them out, and subscribe to usanywhere you get your podcast.
And stay cheesy, everybody.
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