Nancy Wake
Nancy Wake was born on the 30th of August 1912 in North Island of Wellington, she then moved to Sydney with her family when she was 20 months old. Nancy ran away from home at 16 and started working as a nurse but then immediately travelled to Europe in 1932 when she had inherited some money, settling down in Paris to work as a journalist. Whilst working, she witnessed the German’s fascism and anti-Semitism become more and more predominate. As WW2 progressed, Germany had invaded Poland in 1939 which meant that France and Britain had no choice but to declare war on Germany, at this time Nancy was in Britain but when she heard the news she moved back to France and married a wealthy industrialist named Henri Fiocca.
Six months after her marriage to Henri Fiocca, Germany had invaded France, Nancy and her husband joined the french resistance to fight against the Nazis when France had surrendered. Nancy first became a courier, carrying food and messaged to the underground refuges in southern France, but then her and her husband's involvement grew as they began to assist allied service men and Jewish refugees to escape to neutral Spain and she too as she was afraid of being captured, after many attempts and some time spent in jail, Nancy made it to England in 1943 where she began working in the french sector of the SOE (Special Operation Executive).
Nancy Wake had a major impact during WW2, she single-handedly lead an army of 7000 men to sabotage the Nazis by using guerrilla warfare on D-Day and made herself known to the Gestapo (Secret State Police of Nazi Germany) obtaining the code name "white mouse" and 5 million franc on her head. on one instance, the supply drops were endangered as the radio codes were being destroyed, Nancy biked for 72 hours and around 500 miles (about 800 km) carrying the new code for the allies, going through several German checkpoints and dispatching German
soldier along the way. without her help, the french resistant could not have successfully aided the allies in WW2.
One person can make a big difference, the courage of one person can inspire many more to fight for their rights. Nancy Wake showed the world that a women can do just as well as men in the war and she chose to use her wealth and beauty to gain victory for the allies.
soldier along the way. without her help, the french resistant could not have successfully aided the allies in WW2.
One person can make a big difference, the courage of one person can inspire many more to fight for their rights. Nancy Wake showed the world that a women can do just as well as men in the war and she chose to use her wealth and beauty to gain victory for the allies.