Mickey Starling
reporter3@greenepublishing.com
The accomplishments of women in our society have often been overlooked, though I hope that trend continues to diminish over time. Military exploits, especially, seem to be focused on men. That is somewhat natural, since far more men have served.
However, there are many women who stand out for their bravery and courage in the face of incredible danger, and this week’s history spotlight will shine on one of them.
New Zealand native Nancy Wake (1912-2011) was a carefree lady who lived life on her own terms. She ran away from home at 16 and began working as a nurse. She later inherited just under $5,000 from an aunt and went on a traveling spree to New York before moving to London to train as a journalist.
In the 1930s, she joined the Hearst newspaper empire and soon traveled to Vienna, where she witnessed the harsh treatment of Jewish citizens by the Nazis. What she saw left an impression that would later fuel her actions against Hitler’s regime. In 1937, she married a wealthy French industrialist named Henri Fiocca.
The couple was living in France when Germany invaded, trapping them within the country. Wake never felt trapped. Her disgust of the inhumane treatment of Jewish citizens inspired her to take action. She joined the French Resistance, becoming a courier who helped stranded British soldiers evade capture and return to the U.K.
Wake proved to be incredibly skilled at this. Her name became legendary to the Gestapo, and they rewarded her success by placing her on their most-wanted list and offering a huge bounty for her capture.
In 1943, the local resistance movement was betrayed and Wake was forced to flee Marseille, where she and her husband were living. Henri stayed behind to settle business affairs. Unfortunately, he was captured by the Gestapo and later tortured and executed for refusing to disclose his wife’s location.
She tried desperately to escape France and make her way to Spain. It took seven attempts before Wake was successful. Before escaping, she was briefly captured but soon released because she was able to conceal her identity.
Wake was an attractive woman, and she took full advantage of that asset when biking across enemy checkpoints. “A little powder and a little drink on the way, and I'd pass their posts and wink and say, 'Do you want to search me?'" This simple but effective ploy worked flawlessly.
Once in Spain, she made her way to Britain, where she was recruited by the Special Operations Executive, the British organization dedicated to conducting espionage and aiding resistance movements in Nazi- occupied territory. She quickly distinguished herself in training and was noted for “being a very good and fast shot.”
She later parachuted back into France, with instructions to help the Resistance prepare for an Allied invasion. Wake worked tirelessly to build the various resistance groups into a cohesive group of fighters. Thanks to her leadership, a force of 7,500 French guerilla fighters attacked German communication stations and factories and once defeated a German regiment of 22,000 soldiers who were sent to wipe them out.
After the war, Wake received numerous accolades from Allied forces and eventually had a TV movie produced about her in 1987. The movie portrayed her pursuing a romantic interest, wooing a fellow soldier with her breakfast-cooking skills. Wake scoffed at her portrayal in the film. "For goodness sake, did the Allies parachute me into France to fry eggs and bacon for the men?,” said Wake. "There wasn’t an egg to be had for love nor money, and even if there had been, why would I be frying it when I had men to do that sort of thing?"