Clare Mulley

Out-scooping the men: six women reporters of the second world war

Judith Mackrell describes the trials and triumphs of Martha Gellhorn, Lee Miller, Clare Hollingworth, Helen Kirkpatrick, Ruth Cowan and Virginia Cowles

Helen Kirkpatrick, photographed in 1944. She had many scoops, from the invasion of Belgium to the sniper attack on De Gaulle after the Armistice. Credit: Alamy

Two war correspondents were hitching a lift towards Paris in August 1944 when a sudden wave of German bombers forced them to dive for cover. What the hell were they doing trying to cadge a ride when ‘war correspondents have their own jeeps and drivers?’ an American officer barked at them as his car screeched to a halt beside the shallow crater they had commandeered.

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