Behind enemy lines: Vietnam’s female spies who helped change the course of the war

By day, Nguyen Thi Hoa sold conical hats on the streets of Hue in southern Vietnam. By night, she funnelled secrets to Communist army handlers who were poised to launch an audacious assault on the city that would reshape the Vietnam war.

Hoa was part of the Perfume River squad, a top secret female combat unit formed in 1967 and bound by the communist propaganda slogan: “When the enemy comes to your home, even the women should fight.”

Deployed deep in enemy territory, the covert 11-strong unit played an instrumental role in the 1968 ‘Tet Offensive’ despite most of them being in their teens.

The offensive, the 50th anniversary of which will be marked on January 31 with an official ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City, was a military failure for the northern forces. But it swung US public opinion decisively away from the anti-communist fight, ultimately leading to the American pull-out.

Women were integral to the communist North’s battle against American “foreign invaders”, working mainly in non-combat roles for most of the war as spies and guides, cooks and messengers, mules and nurses for the injured.

Using her cover as a street trader, Hoa gleaned details on enemy movements in the strategically important imperial city of Hue, feeding information to commanders from the north.