In 1933, a young journalist named Nancy Wake watched Nazi gangs beat Jewish civilians in the streets of Vienna.
She later said that day she swore she would fight them.
Born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, Wake lived in France with her husband, Henri Fiocca, until the German invasion ended their comfortable life. She joined the Resistance, smuggling Jewish refugees, guiding downed Allied pilots to safety, and transporting money, documents, and weapons through underground networks.
The Nazis underestimated her. A charming woman chatting in cafés appeared harmless, but she was mapping checkpoints and escape routes. By 1942 she was among the Gestapo’s most wanted, earning the nickname "The White Mouse" for repeatedly escaping capture.
After several failed attempts, she crossed the Pyrenees to Britain and joined the secret SOE, training in sabotage, weapons, and parachuting. In April 1944 she parachuted back into occupied France, organizing Maquis fighters, coordinating weapons drops, and sabotaging railways and bridges that helped Allied forces after D-Day.
In one famous mission, she cycled nearly 500 kilometers in three days to restore resistance communications. Her husband, left behind in France, was later tortured and executed for refusing to betray her, something she learned only after the war.
Decorated by Britain, France, and the United States, Nancy Wake became one of the most highly decorated women of World War II. She died in 2011 at age 98, her ashes scattered in the French hills where she once fought as the Resistance legend known as The White Mouse.
by Abu_Itai