Nancy Wake, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Nancy Wake

war heroine

Date of Birth: 30-Aug-1912

Place of Birth: Wellington, Wellington Region, New Zealand

Date of Death: 07-Aug-2011

Profession: partisan, journalist

Nationality: Australia, New Zealand

Zodiac Sign: Virgo


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About Nancy Wake

  • Nancy Grace Augusta Wake, (30 August 1912 – 7 August 2011) (also known as Nancy Fiocca) worked for the Pat O'Leary escape line and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France for the Allies during World War II.
  • The official historian of the SOE, M.R.D.
  • Foot, said that "her irrepressible, infectious, high spirits were a joy to everyone who worked with her."Wake was living in Marseille with her French industrialist husband, Henry Fiocca, when the war broke out.
  • After the fall of France to Nazi Germany in 1940, Wake became a courier for the Pat O'Leary escape network led by Ian Garrow and, later, Albert Guerisse.
  • As a member of the escape network, she helped Allied airmen evade capture by the Germans and escape to neutral Spain.
  • In 1943, when the Germans became aware of her, she escaped to Spain and continued on to the United Kingdom.
  • Her husband was captured and executed.After reaching Britain, Wake, codenamed "Helene," joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE).
  • On April 29-30, 1944 as a member of a three person SOE team codenamed "Freelance," Wake parachuted into Allier Department of occupied France to liaise between the SOE and several maquis groups in the Auvergne region which were loosely overseen by Emile Coulaudon (code name Gaspard).
  • She was a participant in a battle between a large force of Germans and the maquis in June 1944.
  • In the aftermath of the battle, she bicycled 500 kilometers to send a situation report to SOE in London.Wake was a recipient of the George Medal from the United Kingdom, the Medal of Freedom from the United States, the Legion of Honor from France, and medals from Australia and New Zealand.
  • In 1985, she published her autobiography, The White Mouse, the title derived from what she said the Germans called her.

Read more at Wikipedia

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