Virginia Roush was born in Dayton, Ohio and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. On May 1, 1937, she married Philippe d'Albert-Lake, whom she had met in France a year earlier. Philippe had a French father and a British mother. Virginia retained her American citizenship although the couple resided in France. Philippe was in the French army when World War II began in 1939. After France surrendered to Germany in 1940, Philippe was demobilized. Virginia chose to remain in France with Philippe. The couple could not live in the family chateau near Dinard in Brittany because the Germans occupied it. They moved to Paris.Rossiter, Margaret L. (1986), Women in the Resistance, New York: Praeger, p. 204
