Editing Julia Child (section)

=== Second World War ===
Child joined the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS) in 1942<ref name="history"/><ref name="museum">[https://web.archive.org/web/20210711200742/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/julia-child-shark-repellant-world-war-ii "Julia Child Helped Develop Shark Repellant During World War II"]. ''[[The National WWII Museum]]'' via [[Internet Archive]]. Retrieved June 3, 2021.</ref> after finding that at {{convert|6|ft|2|in|m}} tall,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/julia-child-cooking-up-spy-ops-for-oss/ | title=Julia Child: Cooking up Spy Ops for OSS - CIA }}</ref> she was too tall to enlist in the [[Women's Army Corps|Women's Army Corps (WACs)]] or in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy's]] [[WAVES]].<ref name="wacs">{{cite book |last=Child |first=Julia |author2=Prud'homme, Alex |title=My Life in France |publisher=Random House |year=2006 |page=85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8cKLQO4bgDQC&pg=PA85 |isbn=978-0-307-27769-5}}</ref> She began her OSS career as a [[copy typist|typist]] at its headquarters in [[Washington, D.C.]], but, because of her education and experience, soon was given a position as a [[top-secret]] researcher working directly for the head of OSS, General [[William J. Donovan]].<ref name="abc">{{cite web |title=Julia Child Dished Out ... Spy Secrets? |url=https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5579095 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=August 14, 2008 |access-date=February 16, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Abigail |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/30/cia-women-national-security-500312.html |title=Women of the CIA: The Hidden History of American Spycraft |magazine=[[Newsweek]] |date=September 21, 2016 |access-date=September 22, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Patrick |first=Jeanette |title=The Recipe for Adventure: Chef Julia Child's World War II Service |website=[[National Women's History Museum]] |date=November 8, 2017 |url=https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/recipe-adventure}}</ref>

As a research assistant in the Secret Intelligence division, Child typed over 10,000 names on white note cards to keep track of officers. For a year, she worked at the OSS Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section (ESRES) in Washington, D.C. as a file clerk and then as an assistant to developers of a [[shark repellent]] needed to ensure that [[sharks]] would not explode [[Weapon|ordnance]] targeting German [[U-boat]]s.<ref name="history"/><ref name="museum"/> When Child was asked to solve the problem of too many OSS underwater explosives being set off by curious sharks, "Child's solution was to experiment with cooking various concoctions as a [[shark repellent]]," which were sprinkled in the water near the explosives and repelled sharks.<ref name=volkman>{{cite book |last1=Volkman |first1=Ernest |title=The History of Espionage: The Clandestine World of Surveillance, Spying and Intelligence, from Ancient Times to the Post-9/11 World |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofespiona0000volk/page/160/mode/2up?q=shark+ |page=163 |year=2007 |publisher=Carlton |location=London |isbn=978-1-8444-2434-4}}</ref> Still in use today, the experimental shark repellent "marked Child's first foray into the world of cooking."<ref>{{cite web |title=Julia Child and the OSS Recipe for Shark Repellent |url=https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/julia-child-and-the-oss-recipe-for-shark-repellent/ |access-date=2021-10-09 |website=CIA}}</ref>

During 1944–1945, Child was posted to [[Kandy]], Ceylon (now [[Sri Lanka]]), where her responsibilities included "registering, cataloging and channeling a great volume of highly classified communications" for the OSS's clandestine stations in Asia.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-archives15-2008aug15,0,1415513.story |title=Files from WWII Office of Strategic Services are secret no more|last=Miller|first=Greg|date=August 15, 2008|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref name="cia">{{cite web|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170307163049/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2007-featured-story-archive/julia-child.html |title =A Look Back ... Julia Child: Life Before French Cuisine|website=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|date = 20 June 2008|url = https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2007-featured-story-archive/julia-child.html|archive-date= 7 March 2017}}</ref> She was later posted to [[Kunming]], [[China]], where she received the [[Meritorious Civilian Service Award|Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service]] as head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat.<ref name="history"/><ref name="cia"/>

For her service, Child received an award that cited her many virtues, including her "drive and inherent cheerfulness".<ref name="abc"/> As with other OSS records, her file was declassified in 2008. Unlike other files, Child's complete file is available online.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.nara.gov/oss/McWilliams_Child_Julia.pdf |title=Julia McWilliams |website=[[National Archives and Records Administration]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927143746/http://media.nara.gov/oss/McWilliams_Child_Julia.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2011 }} [https://research.archives.gov/description/2180661 ARC Identifier 2180661] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201211227/http://research.archives.gov/description/2180661 |date=February 1, 2014 }}, [https://www.archives.gov/research/arc/topics/oss-personnel/ Office of Strategic Services Personnel Files from World War II]</ref>

While she was in Kandy, she met [[Paul Cushing Child]], who was also an OSS employee. The two later married on September 1, 1946, in [[Lumberville, Pennsylvania]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/juliachild |work=CooksInfo.com |title=Julia Child |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325002745/http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/juliachild |archive-date=March 25, 2012}}</ref> later moving to Washington, D.C.. Paul, a [[New Jersey]] native<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/14/obituaries/paul-child-artist-dies-at-92.html |title=Paul Child, Artist, Dies |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |first=Wolfgang |last=Saxon |date=May 14, 1994 |access-date=May 24, 2013}}</ref> who had lived in [[Paris]] as an artist and poet, was known for his sophisticated palate<ref>{{cite news |title=Julia Child: bon appétit: Celebrated cook taught America to relish life's bounty |first=Sylvia |last=Lindman |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/julia-child-bon-appetit-nwbna3694953 |website=[[Today (American TV program)|Today]] |date=August 13, 2004 |access-date=September 30, 2006}}</ref> and had introduced his wife to fine cuisine. He joined the [[United States Foreign Service]], and, in 1948, the couple moved to Paris after the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] assigned Paul there as an exhibits officer with the [[United States Information Agency]].<ref name="cia"/> The couple had no children.