Nancy Wake

Nancy Wake was born in New Zealand but her family moved to Australia when she was 2. She spent her childhood in Sydney and after her studies she traveled to Europe where she worked as a journalist. In 1939 Nancy married French industrialist Henri Fiocca who was killed during the War. Nancy Wake joined the French Resistance with the nickname of "The White Mouse". After having been arrested, she was released but left France for Spain, then England. There, she became a British special agent. On 29th April 1944, Nancy was parachuted into Auvergne (region of France) with the task of helping the resistance to prepare for the armed uprising that was due to coincide with the D-Day landings. She received several medals after the war and worked for the Intelligence Department at the British Air Ministry before coming back to Australia in the 60s after she married John Forward. An English TV movie is based on her story: Nancy Wake (1987).