Writer Steven Knight has said that his new film, Allied, is based on a story about World War II spies that he heard third-hand from an old girlfriend. It could well have been more than an urban legend, though: dozens of remarkable women played a key role in “the Resistance,” much as Marion Cotillard’s character does in the film.

These women were especially prevalent in the Special Operations Executive, a cobbled-together network of spies and amateurs that wrought havoc on German-occupied Europe; President Eisenhower later credited the organization with reversing the fortunes of the Allies against Hitler.

Scores of female operatives worked for the S.O.E. These women were trained to handle guns and explosives, memorize complex codes, organize munitions and supplies drops, endure harsh interrogation, and, in some cases, were in charge of thousands of men. To follow their stories is to follow the trajectory of the war.

It also made for tales that read like spy thrillers, the kind that should look like gold to any screenwriter. This winter, Jessica Chastain will star in The Zookeeper’s Wife, based on the true story of a Polish woman undermining the Nazi occupation; 2001’s Charlotte Gray, another story of a female resistance fighter, is said to be based on a composite of real-life women. But for every Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line, there’s an equally dramatic tale about a wartime heroine waiting to be told. Here are five real women whose stories would make compelling cinematic thrillers.

Vera Atkins: The Most Powerful Woman in the History of Espionage

Vera Atkins was a young Romanian working in Bucharest when she met the dashing Canadian William Stephenson, according to William Stevenson’s Spymistress: The True Story of the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II. Later, he would be known as agent “Intrepid,” the supposed inspiration for James Bond—but for now, he supplying pre-war intelligence to Britain.

Charmed by Vera, he introduced her the German ambassador to Romania (who, it’s said, loved beautiful women) in order to get information from him, Stevenson writes in Spymistress. The ploy worked. Soon, Vera began gathering intelligence for the British while outwardly working as a translator for Stephenson’s steel business.

Vera Atkins was Jewish (her real name was Rosenberg), a fact she didn't readily disclose to the high-ranking anti-Nazi bureaucrats she worked with. In the years leading up to the war, she smuggled information to Churchill as he railed against Hitler’s regime in political exile—while the nervous English government tried to quiet him, believing Hitler’s promise not to invade.

When Churchill was brought back to power to steel England against imminent German invasion, Vera was assigned to a high-ranking position in the Special Operations Executive, also known as “Churchill’s secret army.” In spite of the S.O.E.’s success, England still needed American support. Churchill had secretly been in contact with Franklin D. Roosevelt, but it was well known the Americans were deeply against entering another world war—especially with Britain’s gloomy prospects. Roosevelt sent his head of intelligence, William Donovan—the future creator of the C.I.A.—to scout the situation on the ground in Europe. Churchill made sure Donovan spent substantial time with Vera, according to Spymistress.

Vera was a firm believer in the power of ordinary citizens to wreak havoc. Stevenson writes in Spymistress that she liked invented weapons that could be assembled on the fly, like rats stuffed with explosives. Instead of trying to impress Donovan with fancy dinners, Vera deliberately took him to the heart of the S.O.E., where “underpaid amateurs . . . fiddled with bits of metal bicycle tubing for guns” and “faked horse manure to conceal explosives,” according to Spymistress. University students worked furiously to translate codes. In the end, Donovan was so impressed with the underdog S.O.E.’s effect on its formidable German enemy that he outlined the S.O.E.’s activities for Roosevelt, who in turn permitted Donovan to return to monitor the S.O.E.’s progress.

Krystyna Skarbek: Churchill’s Favorite Spy

From Rex/Shutterstock.

Krystyna Skarbek was the daughter of Polish aristocracy. Her doting father taught her horsemanship and shooting; for the rest of her life she excelled in charming men. And as she roamed Europe on secret missions, she left many of them heartbroken. In 1939, the Germans invaded, quickly followed by the Russians. Krystyna was overseas, and her attempts to enlist were frustrated by the fact she was a woman. In London, according to Clare Mulley’s The Spy Who Loved, she presented the British secret service with a plan: she would ski into Nazi-occupied Poland and deliver British propaganda. Positive news about the fight against Hitler was vital to fuel the resistance, especially now that the Polish government had fled the country.