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Nancy Wake AC, GM was a British agent during World War II. She became a leading figure in the French Resistance. While working with the [1]French Resistance, she saved the lives of numerous refugees and Allied airmen whose planes had been shot down. She was one of the [2]Allies most [3] decorated servicewomen of the Second World War. By 1943, Nancy Wake was the Gestapo's most wanted person, with a 5 million-franc price on her head. The Gestapo called her The White Mouse.
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Nancy Wake [4]was born on 30 August 1912 in Roseneath, Wellington, New Zealand. Her parents were Charles Augustus and Ella Rosieur Wake. Nancy was one of six children; she was the youngest. [3] Charles and Ella Wake moved to Sydney, Australia, when Nancy was just 20 months old. This is where Nancy grew up.
Nancy ran away from home when she was 16 years old and started working as a nurse.
In 1932, after a windfall of money left to her by an aunt, Nancy traveled to Europe. She moved to Paris and began working for the Hearst newspapers as a journalist. One of her first assignments was to interview Adolph Hitler. That year, Nancy visited Vienna and saw how the Nazis worked firsthand. She later recounted;[5]
The stormtroopers had tied the Jewish people up to massive wheels. They were rolling the wheels along, and the stormtroopers were whipping the Jews. I stood there and thought, I don't know what I'll do about it, but if I can do anything one day, I'll do it. And I always had that picture in my mind, all through the war.
Nancy met Henri Edmond Fiocca in 1937. He was a wealthy French industrialist. They married on 30 November 1939.
While Nancy was living in Marseille, France, Germany invaded Poland.
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Nancy Wake's false identity papers |
In 1940, Nancy became a courier for the French Resistance. The Gestapo called her [6] the "White Mouse." She was in constant danger, with the Gestapo tapping her phone and intercepting her mail. Nancy and her husband helped in the escape of Allied servicemen and Jewish refugees from France into Spain. Nancy was captured and spent a brief time in prison. [7]
By 1943, Nancy Wake was the Gestapo's, most wanted person, with a 5 million-franc price on her head. [8]The resistance was betrayed later that year. She decided to leave Marseille. Her French husband, Henri, stayed behind. He was later captured, tortured, and executed by the Gestapo, after he refused to give any information on her whereabouts or tell them anything about her activities. I will go to my grave regretting that, for Henri was the love of my life.
In June 1943, Nancy escaped to England. She began working in the French Section of the [9]Special Operations Executive (SOE). In April 1944, she returned to France to help the Resistance before D-Day.[10] She led 7,000, guerrilla fighters in battles against the Nazis in the northern Auvergne, just before the D-Day landings in 1944.
There are so many stories of Nancy Wake's daring and bravery
Nancy described how she could get past the German posts: a little powder and a little drink on the way, and I'd pass the German posts and wink and say, Do you want to search me? God, what a flirtatious little bastard I was.
Nancy escaped the Nazis [11]on skis, across a hidden bridge, driving a car pursued by an airplane, and on one occasion by jumping from a moving train.
On the 30th April 1944, Nancy was parachuted into the Auvergne, becoming a go-between between London and the local maquis group led by Captain Henri Tardivat. Captain Tardivat found Nancy tangled in a tree and said, "I hope that all the trees in France bear such beautiful fruit this year," to which she replied, "Don't give me that French shit."
Nancy discovered a girl that her men were protecting was a German spy. They could not kill her in cold blood, so Nancy did. She said after that it was war, and she had no regrets about what she had to do.
On one raid, Nancy slit the throat of an SS sentry to prevent him raising the alarm. She also rode more than 800 kilometres, on a bicycle to replace codes her wireless operator had been forced to destroy during a German raid.
Nancy and the resistance were among the first to liberate the town of Vichy from [12]Marshal Philippe Petain and his [13] [14] regime, who had taken over the capital. They were also among the first into the newly liberated Paris. It was after the liberation that Nancy learned that her husband, Henri, had been killed by the Gestapo in August 1943.
In September 1944, Nancy left the Resistance and went to Paris to the SOE Headquarters, and then in October she moved to London. Straight after the war, Nancy was awarded the George Medal, the [15]United States Medal of Freedom, the Médaille de la Résistance, and the Croix de Guerre, with 2 Palms and a Star.
Nancy Wake returned to live in Australia in January 1949. She tried politics and ran for the Liberal Party but was defeated twice by a small margin. Nancy returned to England, and in 1957 she married John Forward, an RAF officer. Nancy and John returned to Australia in 1959. And after a third attempt at politics failed, they retired to Port Macquarie, where they lived until John died in 1997. She moved to England in December 2001.
Nancy Wake [16]died in Kingston Hospital, on the 7th of August 2011;[17] she was 98 years old . Nancy wanted [18]her ashes scattered at Montluçon in central France.[19]On the 11th of March 2013 Nancy Wake's ashes were scattered near the village of Verneix.
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At first Nancy refused offers of decorations from Australia, saying The last time there was a suggestion of that, I told the government they could stick their medals where the monkey stuck his nuts. The thing is if they gave me a medal now, it wouldn't be love, so I don't want anything from them. In February 2004, Nancy received[20] the Companion of the Order of Australia.
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See also:
This week's featured connections are Redheads: Nancy is 18 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 20 degrees from Clara Bow, 24 degrees from Julia Gillard, 19 degrees from Nancy Hart, 17 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 17 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 21 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 18 degrees from Rose Leslie, 20 degrees from Damian Lewis, 21 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 24 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 37 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
W > Wake | F > Forward > Nancy Grace Augusta (Wake) Forward AC GM
Categories: Cremated, Ashes Scattered | New Zealand, Notables | World War II Resistance | Women in World War II | World War II British Spies | Special Operations Executive | First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, United Kingdom, World War II | Female Resistance Members of World War II | Companions of the Order of Australia | George Medal | 1939-1945 Star | France and Germany Star | War Medal 1939-1945 | Defence Medal (United Kingdom) | Officiers de la Légion d'honneur | Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 (France) | Medal of Freedom | Médaille de la Résistance | Spies | Featured Connections Archive 2023 | 50 Coolest Kiwis Ever | Notables
We are featuring this profile in the Connection Finder this week. Between now and Wednesday is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. We know it's short notice, so don't fret too much. Just do what you can.
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Abby
A new category was created for the brave women who were part of the SOE and were additionally under the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry for the United Kingdom during World War II. I added it to this profile to honor Nancy Wake for all she did during World War II. Also this is a great profile, you have done a wonderful job honoring Nancy Wake.