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Top 10 Amazing Facts about Nancy Wake

Nancy Grace Augusta Wake,  also known as Madame Fiocca and Nancy Fiocca, was born on 30th August 1912 and died 7th August, 2011.

She was a nurse and journalist who joined the French Resistance and later the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II, and briefly pursued a post-war career as an intelligence officer in the Air Ministry.

1. Nancy became a courier for an escape network when WW2 broke out and France fell

World War 2- Author; No 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit- Wikimedia

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wake grew up in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

By the 1930s, Wake was living in Marseille with her French industrialist husband, Henri Fiocca, when the war broke out. After the fall of France to Nazi Germany in 1940, she became a courier for the Pat O’Leary escape network led by Ian Garrow and, later, Albert Guérisse.

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.

2. Nancy Wake joined Special Operations Executive under the name ‘Helene’

Author; Gary Todd- Wikimedia

After reaching Britain, Wake joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) under the code name “±áé±ôè²Ô±ð”.

On 29–30 April 1944 as a member of a three-person SOE team code-named “Freelance”, Wake parachuted into the Allier department of occupied France to liaise between the SOE and several Maquis groups in the Auvergne region, which were loosely overseen by Émile Coulaudon, code name “Gaspard”

She participated in a battle between the Maquis and a large German force in June 1944.

In the aftermath of the battle, a defeat for the maquis, she claimed to have bicycled 500 kilometres to send a situation report to SOE in London.

3. Trained in several programmes to help win the war

Army Training- Author; Unknown- Wikimedia

After reaching Britain, Wake joined the Special Operations Executive and was trained in several programs.

Vera Atkins, who was the senior female in the SOE overseeing the agents going into France, recalls her as “a real Australian bombshell. Tremendous vitality, flashing eyes. Everything she did, she did well.”

Training reports record that she was a very good and fast shot and possessed excellent fieldcraft. She was noted to “put the men to shame by her cheerful spirit and strength of character.”

4.  Wake was awarded a number of medals and awards

Nancy Wake’s Medals- Author; Nick-D- Wikimedia

Wake was a recipient of the George Medal from the United Kingdom (17 July 1945), the Medal of Freedom from the United States (1947), the Légion d’honneur from France (Knight – 1970 and Officer – 1988), a Companion of the Order of Australia from Australia (22 February 2004), and the Badge in Gold from New Zealand (2006).

5. Ran away from home to go work as a nurse at only age 16

World War 2 Nurses- Author; Unknown- Wikimedia

At the age of 16, Nancy ran away from home and worked as a nurse. With £200 (1928 currency) she had inherited from an aunt, she journeyed to New York City, then London where she trained herself as a journalist.

6. Worked as a European Correspondent

World War 2 correspondents- Author; U.S. Army Official Photograph- Wikimedia

In the 1930s, Nancy Wake worked in Paris and later for Hearst newspapers as a European correspondent.

She witnessed the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement and “saw roving Nazi gangs randomly beating Jewish men and women in the streets” of Vienna.

In November 1942, Wehrmacht troops occupied Vichy France after the Allies’ Operation Torch had started. This gave the Germans and the Gestapo unrestricted access to all parts of Vichy France and made life more dangerous for Wake.

When the network was betrayed that same year she decided to flee France. Her husband, Henri Fiocca, stayed behind. He later was captured, tortured, and executed by the Gestapo.

7. Nancy Wake was saved from arrest and execution through a lie

In early 1943, while in the process of getting out of France, Wake was picked up with a whole trainload of people and was arrested in Toulouse, but was released four days later.

The head of the O’Leary Line, Albert Guérisse, managed to have her released by claiming she was his mistress and was trying to conceal her infidelity to her husband (all of which was untrue).

She succeeded in crossing the Pyrenees to Spain. Until the war ended, she was unaware of her husband’s death, and she subsequently blamed herself for it.

8. At the height of the war, she parachuted to France to give her services

Photo by Mario Majer on Unsplash

On 29–30 April 1944 as part of the three-person “Freelance” team headed by John Hind Farmer (code name “Hubert”), Wake parachuted into Auvergne province, France.

Resistance leader Henri Tardivat discovered Wake tangled in a tree. He remarked, “I hope that all the trees in France bear such beautiful fruit this year,” to which she replied, “Don’t give me that French shit.” Denis Rake, a radio operator, was the third member of the team.

SOE began sending in large amounts of arms, equipment, and money. Wake’s duties were pinpointing locations at which the material and money were parachuted in, collecting it, and allocating it among the maquis, including pay to individual soldiers.

She carried with her a list of the targets the maquis were to destroy before the invasion of France by the Allies (which would take place on 6 June).

The destruction of communication lines and other facilities throughout France would hinder the German response to the invasion.

9.  Stood as a liberal candidate in the Australian federal election

Australian Federal Election- Author; DraftSaturn15- Wikimedia

Wake stood as a Liberal candidate in the 1949 Australian federal election for the Sydney seat of Barton, running against Dr. Herbert Evatt, then deputy prime minister, attorney general, and minister for external affairs in the Ben Chifley Labor government.

While Chifley lost government to Robert Menzies, Wake recorded a 13 percent swing against Evatt, with Evatt retaining the seat with 53.2 per cent of the vote on a two-party preferred basis.

Evatt slightly increased his margin at subsequent elections before relocating to the safer seat of Hunter by 1958.

10. Worked as an intelligence officer when she moved back to England

Wake left Australia just after the 1951 election and moved back to England. She worked as an intelligence officer in the department of the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff at the Air Ministry in Whitehall.

She then resigned in 1957 after marrying an RAF officer, John Forward, in December of that year. They relocated to Australia in the early 1960s.

Maintaining her interest in politics, Wake was endorsed as a Liberal candidate at the 1966 federal election for the Sydney seat of Kingsford Smith.

Despite recording a swing of 6.9% against the sitting Labor member Daniel Curtin, Wake was again unsuccessful.