WORLD WAR II: The Amazing Story of Nancy Wake

Amidst the shadows of World War II, a formidable figure emerged, wrapped in a veil of mystery and bearing the ominous alias, "The White Mouse." Born in New Zealand in 1912, Nancy Wake's existence unfolded as a riveting narrative of bravery and allure. Originally a journalist, she seamlessly transitioned into the epicenter of the French resistance, deftly eluding the clutches of the Gestapo. Pursued relentlessly by the enemy, she later reemerged as a Special Operations Executive agent, gracefully parachuting back into the perilous landscapes of occupied France.

Adorned with medals in recognition of her valor, Wake's enigmatic odyssey through espionage and resistance creates a spellbinding tableau of a woman who evolved into a living legend, imprinting an indelible mark on the clandestine chronicles of history. In this blog post, we delve into her extraordinary life and the profound impact she wielded on the events of World War II.

EARLY LIFE

Nancy Grace Augusta Wake was born on August 30, 1912, in Wellington, New Zealand, as the youngest of six children. When she was just 20 months old, her family relocated to North Sydney. Unfortunately, her childhood was marked by poverty and instability. When Nancy was four years old, her father, Charles Augustus Wake, abandoned the family. He returned to New Zealand to pursue his journalistic career. This left her mother, Ella, to navigate single motherhood and care for all the children. It is speculated that this event spurned Nancy's rebellious and tenacious nature. 

Nancy had Māori roots, with her grandmother, Pourewa, being a Māori woman from the Ngāti Māhanga iwi. Pourewa made history as the first Māori woman to marry a white man, a significant event at the time.

She attended the North Sydney Household Arts (Home Science) School and, at 16, boldly ran away from home to pursue a nursing career in various parts of Australia. An unexpected $200 inheritance from her aunt, a substantial amount at the time, funded her travels to New York, France and London, where she taught herself how to be a journalist. 

In the 1930s, Nancy lived an extravagant life, with her heart eventually settling on France. She secured a position as a European Correspondent with Hearst Newspapers and bought herself a small apartment in Paris. During this time, she met and married Henri Fiocca in 1936. The couple moved to Marseilles and enjoyed the vibrant social scene. Henri was a wealthy industrialist and indulged Nancy with everything her heart desired. He was also supportive of her career. 

WORKING WITH THE RESISTANCE AND SMUGGLING REFUGESS OUT OF FRANCE

While working as a journalist, Nancy traveled to Vienna. There, she witnessed the Nazi regime's brutal assault on the Jewish population first hand. Personally observing the Nazi Gestapo gangs beating and torturing innocent people on the streets deeply instilled a profound hatred of the Nazis within her. She expressed, "My hatred of the Nazis was very, very deep..." after witnessing these acts of brutality against the Jews.

When Germany invaded France in the 1940s, the social status and wealth of the Fioccas provided a degree of safety. However, Nancy wasted no time and actively contributed to local resistance groups. Henri paid for her driving lessons, and she acquired new skills to serve as a courier and transporter. Nancy played a crucial role in assisting Jewish individuals and Allied soldiers in escaping from France, guiding them over the Pyrenees mountains and into Spain. Additionally, she purchased an ambulance to facilitate the refugees' border crossings, taking advantage of the relative ease of her travels due to her marriage to a wealthy man. The ambulance served as makeshift bus, due to the fact that buses had been all taken to the front to be converted to ambulances. 

At this point, Henri had been enlisted into the French army and Nancy was busy running her refugee activities. She was enlisted to work with famous Scottish officer Captain Ian Garrow's escape network, now known as the Pat O'Leary line. It was a network created to help Allied soldiers and airmen to evade capture and get back to safety if there were stranded or shot down in German occupied France. 

Nancy also collaborated with Belgian Major General Albert-Marie Guérisse on this endevour. Wake was very good at evading suspicions of the Gestapo for so long as she had an uncanny ability to charm her way out of any situation with her feminine wiles. She also had a good intuition for when things seemed wrong. 

Nancy and Henri Fiocca

THE HUNT FOR THE "WHITE MOUSE" AND TRAINING WITH THE SOE IN ENGLAND

In 1943, Nancy caught the attention of the Gestapo, leading them to put a 5 million francs bounty on her head, making her their No 1 on the most wanted list. Despite her reluctance, this news forced her to leave Marseilles and her beloved husband behind. It was just too risky for Nancy to remain in France. Henri chose to stay, tending to his father and family business, promising to join her in England at a later date.

Unfortunately, Henri was captured by the Gestapo due to his link to Nancy. They tortured and interrogated him over many days to make him uncover information on his wife's whereabouts. Despite facing immense pressure, Henri remained silent, refusing to divulge any information. Even when the Gestapo resorted to bringing in his father, attempting to coerce him into talking in exchange for medical treatment, Henri steadfastly held his ground. Tragically, the Gestapo executed him by firing squad. 

Henri's father harbored lasting resentment towards Nancy, accusing her of his son's murder. Her father-in-law never liked her, even before her marriage to Henri. The elder Mr Fiocca believed that his daughter-in-law attracted trouble wherever she went. 

While attempting to flee to Spain, she was captured, tortured, and interrogated for four days by the French militia (la Milice). There was a German counter-agent working in the same network as Nancy, who dobbed her in. A timely intervention by Albert-Marie Guérisse, posing as a Milice officer, saved her. He told the other militia officers that Nancy was his mistress. The reason she was hiding her identity was because she had a wealthy and influential husband that could cause troubles. They believed him, and let Nancy go. 

It took six attempts to get to England. Nancy said of her journey that it included: “being imprisoned twice, once in France and once in Spain; jumping from a moving train; being shot at by German soldiers; going several days without food; spending some nights in a sheep pen; and almost freezing to death…”. 

After arriving in England, Nancy was desperate to continue contributing to the war effort. She applied to the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). This was a clandestine group formed by Winston Churchill aimed to train agents to use guerilla warfare against Nazis, and to collaborate with local resistance in Germany occupied France known as the Maquis. The rigorous training included learning survival skills, silent killing methods, operating a radio, reading Morse code, night parachuting, and mastering the use of plastic explosives, Sten guns, rifles, pistols, and grenades.

SABOTEUR IN FRANCE

After successfully completing her training with the SOE, Nancy was among the first operatives sent to France on a mission. Her handlers trusted her not to divulge information if captured, given her track record during previous interrogations. In 1944, she parachuted into France with 469 other men and women, tasked with preparing the way for the D-Day operations. Operating under the code name Hélène, her responsibilities included collaborating with French resistance groups, organizing ammunition drops, structuring resistance individuals into fighting groups, and establishing communications and supply lines.

To achieve her objectives, Wake strategically coordinated her fighters to weaken German defenses in the area. Despite being outnumbered—her team of 7,000 against 22,000 Nazi soldiers—they executed successful guerrilla attacks, significantly damaging German supply lines and posts.

During a critical moment, her radio operator, fearing capture by the Germans, destroyed the radio and all codes, leaving Nancy and her team stranded without a means to contact London or request supplies. The solution was to use another SOE radio operator, that was based in Chateauroux. This was 250 kilometers away from their camp and it involved crossing through multiple German checkpoints. Nancy volunteered for the challenging journey, disguising herself as a common country housewife. Despite her limited biking experience, she forged ahead, completing the 71-hour journey with minimal rest.

Nancy considered this journey the greatest and most heroic feat of her entire war experience. Despite the physical toll, she arrived barely alive but successful in re-establishing contact and replacing the destroyed codes. "I got there and they said: 'How are you?' I cried. I couldn't stand up, I couldn't sit down. I couldn't do anything. I just cried," she said when asked of her journey. 

Another daring feat of Nancy was the time when she killed a Nazi with her bare hands. Her team of Maquis fighters were conducting a raid on a German gun factory. Nancy was faced with an SS officer and she had to kill him with a fatal karate chop to his neck to stop him from raising the alarm. She also shot her way out of roadblocks and executed a German female spy when the other members of the Maquis were hesitating to do it. 

Henri Tardivat, one of her SOE colleagues, described Nancy as: "She is the most feminine woman I know until the fighting starts. Then she is like five men." Additionally, Nancy's strengths in the war zone extended to her strategic acumen, often taking the lead of troops not directly under her command. She was fearless when it came to battle. 

Nancy Wake, in old age, with one of her medals

END OF THE WAR

In June 1944, Nancy's troops faced a full-force ambush by the German army, leading to a strategic retreat. Despite the setback, they managed to inflict heavy losses, killing 1,400 Germans while losing only 100 of their own men. Concurrently, German troops began withdrawing from France. On August 26, 1944, Paris was liberated, prompting Nancy to dash into town with her men. 

However, the joy was bittersweet. Upon returning to Marseilles, and her flat shared with Henri, she discovered her husband had been executed less than a year after her departure. The news was a devastating blow, considering he was the love of her life. After finding out this news, she is quoted to have said: "In my opinion, the only good German was a dead German, and the deader, the better. I killed a lot of Germans, and I am only sorry I didn't kill more." 

After the war, Nancy became a highly decorated veteran. She received the George Medal from England, and the Medal of Freedom from the United States. France awarded her with the the Médaille de la Résistance, three Croix de Guerre medals, and the Légion d'Honneur. Australia also tried to decorate her, but Nancy relentlessly refused in typical Nancy fashion. She said that Australia could "stick their medals where the monkey stuck his nuts". In February 2004, she finally gave in and accepted to be made a Companion of the Order of Australia.

In 1957, she remarried John Melvin Forward. He was a former RAF pilot and prisoner of war. They moved back to Australia and led a quiet life. The couple did not have children. During this time, Nancy made two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the Australian Federal Elections. She was aiming for the Sydney seats for Barton and Kingsford Smith. In 1985, she published her autobiography, "The White Mouse," and relocated to Port Macquarie with her husband. After 40 years of marriage, John Forward passed away in 1997.

In 2001, Nancy returned to England for the last chapter of her life, residing at the Stafford Hotel in St James' Place. Her captivating tales attracted crowds, and the hotel rarely charged her for expenses, appreciating the business she brought. She was often found by the bar, enjoying a good gin and tonic. She later moved to the Royal Star and Garter Home for Disabled Ex-Service Men and Women in Richmond, London, in 2003.

Nancy kept a picture of Henri by her bedside throughout her life after the war. She consistently blamed herself for his death. She consistently spoke highly of him and called him the love of her life. Nancy Wake died on August 7, 2011 due to complications from a chest infection. She was admitted to Kingston Hospital with minor symptoms, but her health deteriorated rapidly and declined, leading to her death a week later. 

CONCLUSION

Nancy Wake's extraordinary life is a testament to her indomitable spirit and unwavering courage. From her daring exploits during World War II, where she played a pivotal role in the French Resistance, to her post-war years marked by political engagement and resilience, Nancy's legacy is one of exceptional bravery and commitment. Decorated with numerous honors for her wartime contributions, she faced personal tragedies with remarkable strength, keeping the memory of her late husband, Henri, close to her heart.

Her final years in England, regaling audiences with her captivating tales, reflected a life lived to the fullest. Nancy Wake, the White Mouse, left an enduring mark on history, embodying the essence of resilience, sacrifice, and the pursuit of justice.

References:

• Australian War Memorial: Nancy Grace Augusta Wake
• The New York Times: Nancy Wake, Proud Spy and Nazi Foe, Dies at 98
• The Guardian: Farewell to Nancy Wake, the mouse who ran rings around the Nazis
• The Chronicles of History: THE GESTAPO’S ENEMY NUMBER ONE╽ LIFE STORY OF NANCY WAKE – CODE NAME THE WHITE MOUSE
• Her Place Museum of Australia: Nancy Wake: (1912-2011)
• University of Utah: Nancy Wake: Anna Burkholder - The White Mouse - Heroine of World War II
• National Archives of Australia: World War II Heroine Nancy Wake