What Would Your WWII Spy Job Have Been?

By: Zoe Samuel
Estimated Completion Time
5 min
What Would Your WWII Spy Job Have Been?
Image: Shutterstock

About This Quiz

The intelligence services in World War II did most of their work in the shadows. While some groups like the Bletchley Park codebreakers who hacked the Nazis' Enigma code are now recognized and lauded for their contributions, many other groups go unrecognized. There are those like Dr. Ho Feng Shan, a Chinese diplomat in Berlin who defied his orders and illegally issued thousands of visas to help Jews flee the Nazis. Other diplomats blackmailed and bribed highly placed Nazi and Japanese sources to get intelligence on what the Axis intended to do before they did it.

World War II spies also included groups like MI6 and the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The latter's operation to blow up a Nazi heavy water plant in Norway is probably the main reason that the Nazis had no way to get the atomic bomb before the Allies did. The SOE also pulled off Operation Rubble, which destroyed many ships, as well as organizing resistance groups across Europe's occupied nations.  Brave MI6 and SOE agents went behind enemy lines to steal secrets, derail operations, and blow up key targets. They also trained the OSS, precursor of the CIA, in the dark arts of espionage and sabotage, and OSS enjoyed plenty of their own intelligence triumphs.

Like the Bletchley codebreakers, SOE's forces were about one-third women, meaning that serving in the intelligence services was a great way for a female patriot to fight the Nazi threat. SOE also welcomed career criminals, people with disabilities, and all sort of folks that the regular military wouldn't touch. These people made a huge difference in the morale and resources of occupied peoples, and in some places, changed the course of battles - and in the case of Bletchley, the war itself. Where would you belong among them?


Do you speak French?
Nope, sorry.
Oui, très bien.
Un peu. Je peux avoir une conversation.
Oui, je parle français couramment.

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Do you have a good head for numbers?
The best head in the world.
It's quite good, yes. Especially mental arithmetic.
I really don't.
It's not terrible but it's not good either.

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Can you blend in?
No, I'm a big dork and it's obvious.
Yes, but only among people of middle and lower classes.
No, I'm clearly incredibly upper class.
I am a total chameleon and can seem to be anyone.

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Do you have a disability that might preclude you joining the regular soldiers?
No, I'm just too clever to waste there.
Nope.
My "disability" is that I am a coward. Please don't make me fight.
Yes, I am deaf.

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Are you a woman?
I might be.
Probably not.
Definitely not.
Yes.

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How good a shot are you?
Terrible.
I'm very good.
I can hit the broadside of a barn.
I am scarily good.

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Can you wire together intricate circuits?
Yes, pretty darn well.
Yes, and I can do it under pressure in pitch blackness.
Not really.
I hold my own in that area, but that's all.

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How's your sense of direction?
Absolutely useless.
Excellent.
Not bad.
Freakish, like a bat or a homing pigeon.

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Do you like working predictable hours?
Yes, I don't mind long but I prefer predictable.
I hate that!
Yes, predictable and not too long, ideally.
I don't care either way.

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Do you do your best work while very slightly drunk?
No, I can't function drunk.
No, that's a good way to end up dead.
Of course. Who doesn't?
A little Dutch courage helps in the right situation!

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Can you seem upper class enough to get powerful people to take you seriously?
Somewhat, yes.
LOL, no.
Of course, my mother is a princess from a small Eastern European principality and my father is a duke.
Yes, I am pretty posh when I need to be.

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Do you mind being deep behind enemy lines?
Trust me, you wouldn't want to risk what's in my head falling into their hands.
I would love that!
I can deal if I'm in a protected area.
I like going everywhere, like a bird. I don't respect "lines".

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How big is your optimal team size?
Very large, even if nobody notices anyone but me.
Me and a few brave, handpicked guys and gals.
A small senior team then large support staff.
Just me is fine, or one partner.

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What special skill do you have?
I am literally a supercomputer.
I have the steadiest hands in the world.
I am the most socially competent person you've ever met.
I can learn a new language to fluency in about four months.

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Can you kick someone when they are down?
No, that's mean.
Yes, if necessary.
No, that's a good way to get a bad reputation.
Obviously I can. That is the best time to kick someone!

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Are you physically very brave?
LOL not even a tiny bit.
Yes, very.
I have very occasional moments.
Yes, insanely so.

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Do you look good in a suit?
I don't care how I look.
I think so but nobody agrees.
That's all I look good in.
Oh, yes.

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Would you sleep with someone for your country?
The opportunity to sleep with someone for any reason at all is very exciting to me.
Sure, if it comes up.
No, my spouse would not like that.
It would be my pleasure and honor.

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Are you good under pressure?
Depends on the pressure.
I am the best.
Better than anyone would think.
I am very good.

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Can you survive in the wilderness?
For five minutes, sure. Longer? No.
Yes, I could live in a cave and eat bats for a year, I'd be fine.
No, I'd die immediately.
Sure, for a while.

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Could you hold up under torture?
No, and what I know would compromise the entire war effort.
Yes, for weeks.
Almost certainly not.
I could hold up long enough for my buddies to hear I was captured and flee town.

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Would you kill someone for your country?
No thanks.
I would super love to do that.
If I absolutely had to.
I would be fine with that.

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How do you feel about gadgets?
I like them very much!
I love them very much!
I dislike and mistrust them.
I see them as a useful tool.

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Would you like to literally work with Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond and a fellow WW2 spy?
Not really.
Sounds like fun. Why not?
No, he isn't my kind of chap.
Yes, I bet we could learn from each other.

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In which theater of the war would you most like to work?
Strategy, so kinda all of them.
Wherever I get to make things go boom.
Definitely Europe. Asia was a total s*** show for people like me.
Western Europe. Please don't make me see what's happening in Russia.

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Do you mind not getting credit for your work?
I'd like it eventually, and from my peers, but I don't need it from everyone immediately.
I prefer it.
I would hate that.
I don't love it, I'll be honest.

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Who would you most like to help?
High command as they make strategic decisions.
Civilians living under Occupation, who want to fight back.
Civilians fleeing the Holocaust.
Intelligence services that need information to get where it's going to be effective.

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Do you have a very extensive Rolodex?
I knew enough people to get into the top colleges.
Nope, I'm street scum and proud of it.
Yes, it's like an encyclopedia.
I know one or two of the right people, that's all.

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How traumatized do you anticipate being?
Not at all.
Fairly.
Very little at first, then progressively more and more.
I could easily see things that induce a breakdown.

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Who do you like to work with?
Smart people.
Career criminals with hearts of gold, who love their country.
Elegant upper class people.
Risk-takers and adrenalin junkies.

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You Got: