Among the many heroes of World War II, few stand out as boldly as Nancy Grace Augusta Wake. A fearless resistance fighter, she played a crucial role in the defeat of Nazi forces in France. One of her greatest achievements was leading a group of 7,000 resistance fighters in guerrilla warfare against the Germans in 1944. Wake’s leadership helped disrupt German supply lines and sabotage key infrastructure. She also killed a German SS officer with her bare hands to prevent him from alerting enemy forces.
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, on August 30, 1912, Wake moved to Australia as a child. Her father, a journalist, abandoned the family, leaving her mother to raise six children alone. By the 1930s, Wake was working as a journalist in Europe. While reporting in Germany, she witnessed roving Nazi gangs beating Jewish men and women in the streets, an event that ignited her deep hatred for the Nazis. In 1939, she married French industrialist Henri Fiocca and settled in Marseille.
When Nazi Germany occupied France, Wake joined the French Resistance. She worked as a courier, transporting messages and smuggling supplies. She also helped Allied soldiers and Jewish refugees escape to Spain. Her ability to evade capture earned her the nickname “The White Mouse” from the Gestapo, who placed a bounty on her head. After her network was betrayed in 1943, she escaped to Britain and joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE). After extensive training, she parachuted back into France in 1944 to lead resistance efforts, establishing crucial communication lines for the Allied invasion.
Wake once admitted she did not like killing people but believed women should not just “wave our men a proud goodbye and then knit them balaclavas.” Her wartime experience hardened her, as she later remarked, “I was not a very nice person. And it didn’t put me off my breakfast.”
Wake’s bravery was recognized with the George Medal from Britain, the Medal of Freedom from the United States, and the Croix de Guerre from France. She lived out her later years in London, selling her medals to support herself. Despite her accolades, she remained humble, insisting she was simply doing her duty.
Nancy Wake’s legacy continues to inspire generations. She passed away in 2011 at the age of 98, but her name and heroism will never be forgotten.
