Nancy Wake: A Life from Beginning to End

Nancy Wake was a brave woman. She risked her life behind enemy lines during the Nazi occupation of France in the Second World War. The Gestapo dubbed her “The White Mouse” for her uncanny ability to evade their traps. When it became too dangerous, she left France—not to flee—but to join the resistance.

Before the war, Nancy lived a life of luxury with her husband, a wealthy French industrialist. The war disrupted this idyllic life and brought out a new side to Nancy’s personality. Suddenly, she hid downed Allied servicemen in her home and guided them over the Pyrenees to the safety of neutral Spain. Later, she helped organize the French resistance fighters known as the Maquis. Nancy parachuted back into France just in time for the D-Day invasion, joining other brave partisans and saboteurs to boost the chances of an Allied victory.

After the war, Nancy Wake lived several more happy and eventful decades. This is her life—this is her story.