Nancy Wake Part 2

[00:00:00] Hello everyone, welcome to the Almost Immortal History Podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Powers.

[00:00:10] Thanks for joining us for the second and final part of the Nancy Wake story. When we left

[00:00:14] off in part one, Wake had traveled an unlikely path becoming a wealthy socialite in France

[00:00:19] and an even unlikelier path as a leader in the French and British resistance efforts

[00:00:24] in World War II. Now as the stakes increase, Wake will have to make difficult choices

[00:00:28] that will put her in even greater danger but will see her legend grow and her contributions

[00:00:33] to the Allied war effort become legendary. So sit back and enjoy the conclusion of today's

[00:00:39] episode, World War II Spy, Nancy Wake.

[00:00:59] By 1942, the Guerrero and O'Leary line had rescued thousands but the activities had not

[00:01:05] gone unnoticed. Far from it. The Gestapo was hot on the trail of the resistance and more

[00:01:10] arrests were being made each week until finally, Guerrero himself was arrested. He was sentenced

[00:01:15] to three months in local prison and then a transfer to a French concentration camp

[00:01:19] for a ten year sentence. Nancy's new priority, in addition to her exhausting routine,

[00:01:24] was to get Guerrero out. She first tried all legal means. As those came up short, it

[00:01:30] was time to devise something more clever. Nancy knew they had to act fast after she

[00:01:34] witnessed Guerrero's three month transfer from the local prison to the concentration

[00:01:37] camp. He looked gaunt and amitiated. It was one of the most devastating things I've

[00:01:42] seen, said Nancy. Clearly he was not going to last long. The first break they got

[00:01:47] was when Nancy got a tip that there might be a bribeable prison guard at Guerrero's

[00:01:51] concentration camp. So she began writing letters to Guerrero in prison under the

[00:01:55] guise as his cousin. She knew the letters would be read by the guards and wanted

[00:01:59] to lay the groundwork that she was wealthy and distraught at Guerrero's

[00:02:02] imprisonment and would be willing to do whatever it took financially to get him

[00:02:05] out. After weeks of letter writing, she took her first visit to the camp to

[00:02:09] see Guerrero. She dressed intentionally well. Wake still did not know the

[00:02:13] identity of the supposed guard so she needed to be as conspicuous as

[00:02:17] possible while at the prison. After visiting Guerrero and sharing the plan,

[00:02:21] she booked herself into a hotel and waited. And waited some more but nothing

[00:02:25] happened. She visited again the following week and this time a man on a

[00:02:29] bicycle dropped her a note attached to a stone as he rode by telling her to

[00:02:33] meet at a local bridge at midnight. Ecstatic yet nervous that it could be

[00:02:37] a trap, she showed up to the meeting point only to be stood up. The routine

[00:02:41] went on like this for weeks until finally one weekend a man approached

[00:02:45] her and a local bistro outside the camp. It was the very prison guard they were

[00:02:48] hoping for. He asked for 500,000 francs and an extra guard uniform he could

[00:02:53] stow away inside the prison. Henri provided the money and O'Leary the

[00:02:57] uniform to Nancy and Nancy to the guard. On December 8th, 1942 at the

[00:03:03] changing of the guard, Guerrero slipped on the uniform and slipped out the

[00:03:07] front gate to a car waiting for him driven by O'Leary's men. Guerrero

[00:03:11] would now escape through the exact system he had set up after nearly a year

[00:03:15] in prison. Ian Guerrero was free. Weeks later, Nancy met up with him in a

[00:03:20] safe house in Toulouse for a brief reunion before he himself made the

[00:03:23] trek over the Pyrenees to freedom. It was marvelous to see him said Nancy.

[00:03:28] I must say I felt very proud of our accomplishment and I was delighted

[00:03:31] when a week later he safely made his way across the Pyrenees.

[00:03:35] Despite the euphoria about Guerrero, life in Marseille and Nancy's

[00:03:38] own life were coming under greater threat. During the same time as Guerrero's

[00:03:42] escape, the Nazis in response to 110,000 British troops landing in France took

[00:03:47] control of all of France including until that moment the free Vichy

[00:03:51] Territory. The Nazi presence in Marseille was immediate, frightening and

[00:03:56] catastrophic. As the Nazis occupied the area, the acts of secret

[00:04:00] resistance increased. In answer to that, the Gestapo went door to door of

[00:04:05] the Marseillans in 1943 in an effort to purge anyone suspected of

[00:04:09] disloyalty. They burned over 2000 homes, imprisoning or displacing more

[00:04:14] than 20,000 residents. The Fiocca's home was spared due to their careful

[00:04:19] precautions but as homes burned across Marseille, Nancy stood on her

[00:04:24] balcony and raged at what had happened. Those bastards, those

[00:04:28] absolute bastards she thought. While she was not discovered that

[00:04:32] night, the walls were slowly closing in. She had come to learn that the

[00:04:35] Gestapo had numerous reports about a woman in the resistance who had

[00:04:39] become one of their greatest wartime threats. Because she always seemed to

[00:04:43] evade capture just as the Gestapo was getting close, they nicknamed her

[00:04:46] the White Mouse. When Nancy found that out, whatever concern she

[00:04:51] had was displaced by another emotion. I got a swelled head, she said

[00:04:55] proudly. I thought, God, I've got a code name in Berlin. But with

[00:05:01] such attention, she also knew it was only a matter of time until the

[00:05:04] Gestapo came knocking at her door. Soon after, she learned she was

[00:05:08] being followed and that people had gone through her and Henri's

[00:05:11] mailbox. Once she told Henri later that day, he insisted it was now

[00:05:15] too dangerous and she had to flee. Reluctantly, Nancy agreed.

[00:05:19] Henri said he would stay behind but promised to follow her

[00:05:22] escape path once he knew she was safe. He believed if he left

[00:05:25] with her, that great harm would come to his employees and

[00:05:28] family and they would likely all lose everything they have. But

[00:05:31] if he stayed and they stayed some sort of fight where Nancy left,

[00:05:35] they might be able to pull it off for everyone's sake. So Henri

[00:05:38] and Nancy staged a difficult goodbye. They acted as if nothing

[00:05:42] was different but neither wanted to say goodbye. Back soon is what

[00:05:46] Nancy yelled for the benefit of anyone other than Henri to hear

[00:05:49] she left. As is often the case with dogs, Piquant was not

[00:05:53] fooled and let out a series of sad yelps. He was howling his

[00:05:58] head off said Nancy. It was all she could do not to break down and

[00:06:00] cry right then and there, which she then promptly did for hours

[00:06:04] when she was safely aboard the train heading for the Pyrenees.

[00:06:08] Nancy's trip through the O'Leary line and over the Pyrenees was

[00:06:11] neither short, taking six months nor easy. Weather delayed

[00:06:15] the trip repeatedly. At one point, Nancy was even arrested

[00:06:19] fortunately not because they knew who she was. After being

[00:06:22] interrogated, physically assaulted and forced to

[00:06:24] sleep in a bathroom stall for four nights, she was rescued

[00:06:27] by none other than O'Leary himself, who strode confidently into

[00:06:30] the local prison, told the warden that Nancy was his mistress.

[00:06:34] And since both he and she were married, that is why she was

[00:06:37] being so cagey and not answering their questions.

[00:06:40] Weeks later, in a separate incident, O'Leary would be

[00:06:43] betrayed by a mole captured and sent to the infamous Dachau

[00:06:46] concentration camp in Nazi Germany for the remainder of

[00:06:49] the war. Wake's six month journey across the network was

[00:06:52] harrowing to say the least. Since that time, she had been

[00:06:56] thrown in prison, slapped around, jumped out of a moving

[00:06:59] train, had been fired upon, lost all the possession she had

[00:07:03] brought with her, had to sleep in a dirty bathroom and in

[00:07:06] pig pens, had gone without food for days on end, and had frozen

[00:07:10] across the Pyrenees at heights as high as 12,000 feet.

[00:07:13] But she had at last reached Spain, where she would make

[00:07:16] her way to the British Embassy in Barcelona, send a coded

[00:07:19] message back to Marseille to let on Reno she had made it

[00:07:22] and then on to London. Despite her exhaustion and

[00:07:25] longing to see Henri, Nancy's overwhelming feeling at that

[00:07:28] moment was I made it. I made it. By the time Nancy left

[00:07:34] France in 1943, she had helped over 1000 people regain their

[00:07:38] freedom or safely relocate. Now she could count herself

[00:07:42] among that number as she traveled the same path.

[00:07:45] As great a contribution as the White Mouse had played,

[00:07:48] her wartime heroism was nowhere near over.

[00:07:52] Upon arrival in London, thanks to Captain Ian Garrow, now of the

[00:07:55] War Department, Wake was greeted by British intelligence and

[00:07:58] taken to a suite at the St. James Hotel. From there, Nancy

[00:08:02] rented an apartment in Piccadilly and began setting it up with

[00:08:04] all of Henri's favorite things. After months of waiting for

[00:08:07] word from Henri or hopefully just on re showing up one day, he

[00:08:11] still had not arrived. She decided she needed to stay busy

[00:08:14] and the only thing she wanted to do was to continue to help

[00:08:16] with the war effort. She first spoke with the Gauls

[00:08:19] Free French in London. Wake's reputation and admiration for her

[00:08:22] accomplishments was well known in both French and British

[00:08:25] circles, but rather surprisingly she was turned down. One of her

[00:08:29] British colleagues suggested she consider the Special Operations

[00:08:32] Executive. The SOE was born after Dunkirk as a way to help

[00:08:36] develop the resistance within Europe. The head of the

[00:08:39] French section of the SOE was Colonel Maurice Buckmaster

[00:08:43] who had earned praise for his own actions while at Dunkirk.

[00:08:46] Since his appointment, his SOE section had great success. So

[00:08:50] much so, Hitler is purported to have said, when I get to London,

[00:08:54] I do not know who I shall hang first. Churchill or this man

[00:08:58] Buckmaster? Winston Churchill said the SOE's objective was to

[00:09:03] coordinate all action by way of subversion and sabotage

[00:09:07] against the enemy overseas. This was right up Nancy Wake's

[00:09:10] alley. Colonel Buckmaster and the SOE agreed and Nancy

[00:09:14] along with dozens of other recruits were sent off to a 16

[00:09:17] week intensive training course. While the SOE headquarters was on

[00:09:21] Baker Street in downtown London, also the home of fictional

[00:09:24] detective Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, Nancy and the

[00:09:26] other trainees were sent hours away to what was

[00:09:29] affectionately known as the Madhouse. At the Madhouse, Wake

[00:09:33] learned all manner of spycraft and subterfuge from cutting

[00:09:36] train lines to making bombs to defusing them from killing

[00:09:40] a man with your bare hands to learning how to disarm one.

[00:09:43] They had weapons training and intense physical and

[00:09:45] psychological training. Nancy was all for learning the new

[00:09:48] skills, but she certainly could have done without some of it.

[00:09:51] Apparently creating many shortcuts on her long runs that

[00:09:55] her superior officers chose to record as quote taking

[00:09:58] initiative rather than what it was cheating when her

[00:10:01] fellow trainees were given the Rorschach test, they saw

[00:10:04] dragons or Germans or any number of things. When Nancy

[00:10:07] took the test and shown the famous ink blots, the test

[00:10:10] administrator said, tell me what you see. Nancy said, I see

[00:10:15] ink blots. Nancy graduated her class of 37 is the only female

[00:10:20] and one of only a few who weren't already trained British

[00:10:23] soldiers. Their objective as newly minted operatives was to be

[00:10:27] inserted back into France to help a local resistance group

[00:10:30] called the Machie comprised of French citizens who had fled to

[00:10:33] live in the woods when the Vichy government attempted to

[00:10:35] conscript all able bodied men into German war production. In

[00:10:39] most cases, sending them directly to Germany to help build

[00:10:42] weapons and other wartime supplies. The Machie may have

[00:10:46] fled, but then immediately actively engaged in any and all

[00:10:50] activities to help undermine the Axis powers in France. The

[00:10:53] SOE's objective was to help coordinate, direct and supply

[00:10:57] the Machies activities. Nancy was told she would be inserted

[00:11:00] into an area just north of Vichy France, the forest

[00:11:03] region of Mont-Lesson. The thick woods provided a natural

[00:11:07] hiding spot for thousands of Machie. The SOE's mission was to

[00:11:11] assess the monkeys capabilities and needs, then radio back to

[00:11:14] London what was needed supplies and anything else could then be

[00:11:17] airdropped to a designated location. The goal was to arm

[00:11:20] and train the Machie to cut the rail lines, blow up bridges

[00:11:23] and sabotage other strategic German outpost in the run up

[00:11:26] to what would become the D-Day landing on June 6th and

[00:11:29] hopefully to repeat the effort again and again. The British

[00:11:33] B-24 bomber and crew took flight that April with only Nancy

[00:11:38] codenamed Madame André and her SOE colleague Major John

[00:11:41] Farmer codenamed Ubert as its only other passengers. It was not

[00:11:47] atypical for first time parachutists to turn ghost

[00:11:49] white as they reconsidered the decision to jump. So it was not

[00:11:52] surprising that the crew of the B-24 mistook Nancy's pale

[00:11:55] complexion for fear. What ailed Nancy was not fear, but

[00:12:00] a wicked hangover from a long night out and some suspect food

[00:12:03] the next morning to help her cope. The violently choppy flight

[00:12:07] had just about done her in. So when the crew asked her if she

[00:12:10] was all right, she responded, All I want to do is get out of

[00:12:13] this bloody plane. Though she did admit that it would be

[00:12:17] easier if someone just shoved her from behind at the right

[00:12:19] moment rather than jumping on her own accord. So at the

[00:12:23] moment they were over the drop zone, that's exactly what

[00:12:25] they did. Wake immediately felt the rush of cold air and

[00:12:29] her stomach dropped. She plummeted towards France of all the

[00:12:32] many ways she had entered into France before she could not have

[00:12:35] imagined this would have been one of the ways she would have

[00:12:38] chosen. As she parachuted to earth, her goal of landing in a

[00:12:42] clear fell short and she got stuck in one of the many trees

[00:12:46] adding to aches and dignity of being stuck in the tree. She

[00:12:48] heard a French voice, thankfully not German, yell up to her

[00:12:52] Ah, that England should send us such a beautiful flower. Not

[00:12:56] missing a beat. Nancy retorted, cut out that French crap and get

[00:13:00] me out of this tree. Fortunately for Nancy, not only was the man

[00:13:04] French instead of German, but he was Nancy's official contact

[00:13:07] Henri Tardeva, leader of the local resistance. Days later,

[00:13:12] Wakenu Bayer were shown to the Maquis forested hideout to meet

[00:13:16] with their anointed leader, a man who went by the name

[00:13:19] Gaspard. Unfortunately, rather than grateful for the

[00:13:22] assistance, the SOE's welcome was anything but

[00:13:25] hospitable. Gaspard wanted nothing to do with them. For one, he

[00:13:29] thought they had all they needed. For another, the SOE were

[00:13:32] British. Thinking through their plan B, Nancy and who bear

[00:13:36] huddled outside the Maquis headquarters while Gaspard and his

[00:13:38] men did the same inside. Things immediately went from bad to

[00:13:42] worse when Nancy overheard the men inside tell Gaspard they

[00:13:45] were sure the SOE agents had plenty of money on them. One of

[00:13:49] them suggested he seduce Wake, take our money and then

[00:13:52] kill her. Never one to let threats, idle or not, go unanswered,

[00:13:56] Nancy approached the Maquis soldier later that day to ask if he

[00:13:59] wanted to get together later. Confused, the man said, I would be

[00:14:04] most honored. To which Nancy quickly added and then kill me

[00:14:07] and take my money. Is that the plan? The startled soldier

[00:14:10] denied knowing what she was talking about, realizing that

[00:14:13] that particular plan was clearly shot. After that initial

[00:14:16] incident and a successful supply raid Wakenu Bayer insisted on

[00:14:20] helping with later that same day, the Maquis began to have

[00:14:23] grudging respect for the SOE operatives. The challenge that

[00:14:26] Nancy and who bear had was that they were missing the third and

[00:14:28] most critical member of their SOE team, the radio operator.

[00:14:32] The operators were the lifelines back to London who could

[00:14:35] transmit the supply needs and coordinate the airdrop location

[00:14:38] for the Maquis. Fortunately for Nancy, the radio operator

[00:14:41] she had been assigned was a good friend and fellow

[00:14:43] classmate Dennis rake or Denden as she called him. The

[00:14:47] bad news was Denden was deathly afraid of jumping out of an

[00:14:50] airplane. So he had to be inserted into Montlusson by other

[00:14:53] means. And while Nancy knew she would be working with Denden,

[00:14:57] apparently Denden did not realize he would be working

[00:14:59] with Nancy. Before leaving London, the SOE told him he

[00:15:03] would meet his female contact in Montlusson to which

[00:15:06] Denden, the only openly gay member of the SOE or perhaps

[00:15:09] the entire service replied that he flatly refused to work

[00:15:13] for a skirt. But you know her the SOE replied, you've

[00:15:16] already met Nancy in your courses. Oh, Nancy. Why

[00:15:20] didn't you say so? That's different. Of course I'll go.

[00:15:23] Ex-centricities from an average operative were rarely

[00:15:26] tolerated by the SOE. But rake was without question their

[00:15:29] finest radio man and they couldn't afford to lose him.

[00:15:32] Finally arriving weeks after Nancy and Uber, Denden pulled

[00:15:36] up in the car radio and tow. From that moment

[00:15:39] forward, the SOE and by extension the Maquis were

[00:15:42] in business. Nancy, Uber and Denden helped arm and supply

[00:15:46] 17 separate Maquis units with airdrops almost daily

[00:15:50] throughout May 1944. Overall, London by war's end would

[00:15:55] drop more than 650 tons of weapons and supplies into

[00:15:59] occupied France. In addition to making the guns rain

[00:16:02] from the sky for any Maquis leaders like Gaspard who

[00:16:05] were initially skeptical of the SOE's female agent,

[00:16:08] Nancy Wake had another effective tactic she

[00:16:10] employed her in their trust. For whatever reason,

[00:16:13] her metabolism had always allowed her to drink alcohol

[00:16:15] like a fish, not just for someone her size but any

[00:16:19] size. So when met with the initial opposition, Nancy

[00:16:23] would challenge the Maquis leader and proceed to

[00:16:25] drink him under the table. Any questions about

[00:16:27] Madame André were answered right then and there.

[00:16:30] It was absolutely incredible, recalled Uber.

[00:16:33] I had never seen anyone drink like that ever.

[00:16:36] And I don't think the Maquis had either.

[00:16:38] We just couldn't work out where it all went.

[00:16:40] And how she stayed conscious.

[00:16:42] On the eve of D-Day June 5th 1944 and every day after

[00:16:46] in June, the now well armed and well trained Maquis

[00:16:49] thanks to the SOE was now able to coordinate the

[00:16:52] primary objective, cutting rail lines, blowing up

[00:16:55] bridges and booby trapping roads.

[00:16:57] All in an effort to slow down German reinforcements

[00:17:00] as Operation Overlord commenced on the beaches

[00:17:02] of Normandy and Serge Indlin from there.

[00:17:04] Nancy along with the SOE, Maquis and friends

[00:17:08] Henri Tadeva and his resistance and a former SOE

[00:17:11] training colleague, Rene Dussac, nicknamed

[00:17:14] Bazooka because of his affinity for and effectiveness

[00:17:17] with that particular weapon, Riecht Havoc.

[00:17:20] We were flat out buggering up everything we could,

[00:17:22] said Wake. I was blowing things up day and night

[00:17:25] and it was a positive joy to do it.

[00:17:27] Their efforts proved an overwhelming success.

[00:17:30] The respect the Maquis had for Nancy grew by

[00:17:32] the day and hers for them.

[00:17:34] I admired them, she said of the Maquis.

[00:17:36] So many of whom had been forced to leave their

[00:17:39] families unprovided for to escape.

[00:17:41] To me, they will always represent the true

[00:17:43] spirit of the resistance.

[00:17:46] The efforts of the Maquis continued daily

[00:17:48] and by mid-summer it was becoming clear that

[00:17:50] the tide of the war was turning.

[00:17:53] All went mostly according to plan for Wake

[00:17:55] and her colleagues until one firefight over

[00:17:57] the summer of 1944, Denden, fearing capture,

[00:18:00] hid both the radio and code separately and fled.

[00:18:03] By the time the skirmish was over,

[00:18:05] Denden was wounded and the radio was lost.

[00:18:08] With the essential piece of equipment missing,

[00:18:10] they set about finding the nearest location

[00:18:12] within France to acquire another one.

[00:18:15] The good news is that they found one.

[00:18:17] The bad news is that it was 120 miles away

[00:18:20] with plenty of Nazis between them and it.

[00:18:23] Still, someone had to go.

[00:18:25] Nancy determined that it needed to be her.

[00:18:28] She would come and do a bicycle and make the trip.

[00:18:31] For all the respect the SOE Maquis and

[00:18:33] resistance had for her, many thought she physically

[00:18:36] would be unable to make the trip and back in

[00:18:37] peacetime conditions, let alone across enemy lines.

[00:18:41] But that is exactly why Nancy believed there was

[00:18:43] no one else who could do it.

[00:18:44] She wasn't sure if she could physically

[00:18:46] make the journey either, but she also knew

[00:18:48] that a pretty young woman acting as if she

[00:18:50] was just out for a casual bike ride would

[00:18:52] stand a far better chance of getting through

[00:18:54] checkpoints or other danger than any of

[00:18:56] her male colleagues.

[00:18:57] Resigned to her sound logic, it was agreed

[00:18:59] upon by the group that she should give it a go.

[00:19:02] They all worked together to send word ahead

[00:19:04] to the various towns along Nancy's route to

[00:19:06] keep an ear out for potential trouble.

[00:19:08] They also acquired the supplies she would

[00:19:10] need for the trip, namely fruit, vegetables

[00:19:13] and wine to make her look as if she had just

[00:19:15] come from the market.

[00:19:16] Nancy herself procured a dress that she

[00:19:18] said made her look like a harmless country

[00:19:20] bumpkin.

[00:19:21] She got started first thing in the morning

[00:19:23] and rode all day and into the night,

[00:19:25] making several stops in towns along the way

[00:19:27] to take a break and get any intelligence

[00:19:29] reports from the local Maquis about what

[00:19:31] she was supposed to be doing to recover

[00:19:33] and take a short break and have her

[00:19:35] sleep at night, but lay ahead.

[00:19:37] In order to avoid some of the most dangerous

[00:19:39] areas, she took more mountainous roads

[00:19:41] than the easier routes.

[00:19:43] After a short sleep and another many

[00:19:45] miles, she arrived at her destination

[00:19:47] of Chateau, more than 35 hours

[00:19:49] after she had begun.

[00:19:51] Her exhaustion would soon turn to despair

[00:19:53] as the local SOE, for fear that

[00:19:55] she was a German agent, refused to

[00:19:57] help her, turned away, but undeterred.

[00:20:00] The message was then wired back to London to alert them about what had happened,

[00:20:03] and to set up the next drop time with a radio to be included.

[00:20:07] With her mission of success it was time to head back. But Nancy was beyond exhausted.

[00:20:12] I was so tired, I resolved to take the quickest route home, she said.

[00:20:17] Every kilometer I pedaled was sheer agony. I knew that if I ever got off that bike,

[00:20:21] I could never get on again, so I just kept pedaling.

[00:20:24] Despite her exhaustion and pain, Nancy managed to play the part through even more German

[00:20:29] checkpoints than her initial trip and arrived back to her colleagues just 72 hours after she had left

[00:20:35] them. They greeted me with open arms and shouts of joy, she said. When I got off that bike,

[00:20:40] I felt as if I had a fire between my legs. I couldn't stand up, I couldn't sit down,

[00:20:45] I couldn't walk, and I didn't sleep for days.

[00:20:49] It took Nancy several long days to recover, but during that time, the airdrop and

[00:20:54] acquisition of the new radio occurred. She had been successful, and they were back in business.

[00:20:59] Nancy would later say of all her accomplishments throughout the war,

[00:21:03] the bike ride was what she was most proud of. Though as proud as she was,

[00:21:07] she never rode another bicycle for the rest of her life.

[00:21:11] Once recovered from the bike episode, Wake's legend would continue to grow.

[00:21:15] She was magnificent, Ubersed. The Maki, many of them pretty tough boys, worshiped her,

[00:21:21] and were all a little scared of her too. That August, she became almost a legend in

[00:21:26] Maki country. The Germans found our camp an attacked. There were only 80 of us.

[00:21:31] Nancy armed with a small Colt automatic and a bazooka, led a section of 10 men against a German

[00:21:37] machine gun post, knocked it out, and led the section safely back.

[00:21:41] In another incident, Wake became aware of three women being held captive and sexually assaulted

[00:21:46] by a rogue group of Maki. She put a stop to the abuse and spoke to each of the three

[00:21:50] women. Their captors claimed the women were German spies. Nancy quickly learned that two

[00:21:55] of the women were no such things. She set them both free and immediately made sure the Maki were

[00:22:00] punished for their actions. The third woman, however, was a proud German spy.

[00:22:06] I'm sorry, Nancy told the woman, but we cannot release you and we do not have the facilities

[00:22:10] to keep you. This is war and you must have known the penalty for spying. You will

[00:22:14] have to be shot immediately and I would like you to prepare for that.

[00:22:18] Nancy fetched one of her own dresses for the scantily clad prisoner to wear

[00:22:22] and even offered to perform the execution herself when the Maki balked at the thought of

[00:22:26] executing a woman. Once they realized Wake was serious, they relented and agreed to do it themselves.

[00:22:32] Nancy was seated nearby the firing squad as they lined the woman up against a tree opposite

[00:22:36] the guns, attired in Nancy's dress, ready for execution. As the calls went out for ready, aim!

[00:22:42] The woman looked directly at Nancy, spat in her direction, tore off her dress,

[00:22:47] saluted in the air and yelled out as loud as she could one last zig hell before the guns shot her dead.

[00:22:53] Asked if she regretted the incident, Nancy said emphatically no. She didn't suffer. I knew her

[00:22:59] death was a lot better than the one I would have got and if I hadn't done it and she'd gotten away

[00:23:03] and reported to the Germans what the Maki were up to, how could I have ever faced the families

[00:23:08] of the Maki we lost because of it? It was definitely the right thing to do.

[00:23:12] Late in the summer, Nancy's friend Tadevan decided it was time to press their advantage

[00:23:16] and attack the Gestapo directly. They attacked their headquarters at Montlusson with Nancy,

[00:23:21] hurling the grenade into the building that killed dozens of the surprise Gestapo.

[00:23:25] In another raid, she stormed a sentry's outpost leading the way with other Maki at her side.

[00:23:30] They were only feet away in a full-on sprint when the sentry heard and then saw them rushing

[00:23:34] at him. He grabbed his rifle with bayonet affixed and swiped at Nancy, cutting her arm.

[00:23:40] But her inertia and adrenaline was too much for the sentry as she swung her hand down

[00:23:44] with all her might, striking the sentry in his neck, two inches below his ear as they had been

[00:23:49] trained to do back in Britain. The sentry dropped like a stone, not unconscious but dead. Nancy

[00:23:56] had just killed a Nazi with her bare hand. Her first thought? I was glad to find out the

[00:24:02] method worked alright. She would later reflect on her actions that day saying that she remembered

[00:24:07] Vienna, Berlin, Marseille and what the Germans had done to the Jews. No, I did not weep for

[00:24:13] that sentry. As the SOE Maki and resistance were doing their jobs, so too were the Allied forces

[00:24:19] across Europe. Through success after success they slowly liberated France beginning with Paris on

[00:24:26] August 25th 1944. The news spread far and wide and the country erupted in joy. Five days later

[00:24:34] was Nancy's 32nd birthday. Tardevant had planned a dinner in her honor with her close

[00:24:39] friends. After the meal he asked her to come outside where he presented her with a bouquet of

[00:24:44] flowers to her left hand and said to ready her right for the salute. After that moment dozens upon

[00:24:49] dozens of Maki marched by her in salute to her which they were only too proud to do. She returned

[00:24:55] the salute. The parade of saluting men seemed to go on and on. A moved Nancy said without doubt

[00:25:02] they were the finest and fittest body of fighters I have ever had the honor and privilege

[00:25:06] to salute. After the liberation of Ishii France in August and the German evacuation in September

[00:25:12] Nancy and her colleagues were among the first to enter the local now free towns and they like

[00:25:17] the Allied forces in Paris were greeted joyously as the liberators they were. Amidst the celebration

[00:25:23] Nancy embraced a woman she had known from Marseille. The woman greeted her and asked

[00:25:28] what are you going to do now? I'm going to go back to Marseille answered Nancy. Why

[00:25:32] said the woman? To see Henri said Nancy. Oh no Nancy you don't know he's dead.

[00:25:42] Upon hearing the news Nancy collapsed sobbing. Denden and Ubert took her aside to comfort her.

[00:25:49] Anyone would have been torn apart by the news said Ubert but in Nancy it just seemed so much worse

[00:25:55] because she was always such a happy joyous soul. This was the only time I ever saw her

[00:26:01] seriously, seriously distressed. After the crushing news Nancy, Denden and Ubert and a few

[00:26:07] others set off from Marseille to help her get answers. She was able to learn that Henri had

[00:26:12] been arrested by the Gestapo in May 1943. He had been held prisoner for five months,

[00:26:18] interrogated and tortured repeatedly. He refused to talk especially about anything that would

[00:26:24] put his wife in danger. After realizing that he was not going to give them any information of

[00:26:29] value he was lined up on October 16th 1943 and shot. The overwhelming sadness at the loss of Henri

[00:26:37] subsided at least somewhat when she learned that Piquant had been taken in by friends after Henri's

[00:26:42] arrest. When she went to see him the little dog was so excited he had to be given a sedative.

[00:26:49] Before leaving Marseille to head north to Paris Nancy went to her and Henri's home

[00:26:53] and found it in ruins. The furniture and most possessions were gone. After Henri's arrest

[00:26:58] three female Gestapo agents had lived there until they too had fled. The wine was empty,

[00:27:04] the food, clothes and money were all gone. As she kept looking around growing sadder and sadder

[00:27:09] to see the ruins of her old life she perked up when she saw one possession seemingly the only

[00:27:14] possession that was still there. Most appropriately it was the copies of her Anne of Green Gables

[00:27:19] books that had been with her since she was a girl. I rejoiced to find it she said through

[00:27:24] everything I had been through they were still there for me. The same young girl that dreamed of one

[00:27:30] day going on big adventures and visiting New York London and Paris she had done it all

[00:27:35] and so much more Anne would have been proud and despite the horrific news about Henri

[00:27:41] as Nancy opened the book to read it once more she too was proud.

[00:27:45] Having lived what seemed like several lifetimes worth of experiences Nancy Wake was still only 32

[00:27:53] years old. While the war would continue for another nine months Nancy's bit was over. She returned

[00:27:59] to London in October 1944 and began to consider what was next. After the war ended she secured

[00:28:06] several British government jobs in Paris while she found the work boring after all what

[00:28:11] desktop wouldn't seem boring to Nancy living in her beloved Paris again did allow her to see more

[00:28:16] of her friends past and present. She worked for a time with Dendenne in one of the offices and she

[00:28:21] saw Tardeva often after the liberation of Paris Tardeva had signed on with the newly reconstituted

[00:28:26] French army to keep fighting he unfortunately lost a leg before the war ended but he went on to

[00:28:32] have a successful business career got married and had a daughter he named Nancy after the

[00:28:37] child's godmother it was one of the proudest moments of my life when Tardeva made me godmother to that

[00:28:43] beautiful little baby said Nancy. Growing restless Nancy moved back to Australia in 1949 she was greeted

[00:28:50] everywhere as the hero that she was she reconnected with friends and family alike including her

[00:28:56] mother I realized that life had not been kind to my mother and that I should be Nancy spent

[00:29:03] several years in Australia even running for national office twice and nearly winning but in

[00:29:08] her heart of hearts she had been Europeanized as she would say and so she moved back to London in the

[00:29:13] 50s. There she got to re-engage in military intelligence work as a consultant and even had

[00:29:18] her first biography published about her by Russell Braden in 1956 but by far the most

[00:29:24] important thing to happen to Nancy in London was reconnecting with John Foward a British

[00:29:30] RAF pilot and then POW in the war Foward had briefly met Nancy in Paris after the war upon

[00:29:36] reading that she was back in London he decided to show up at her door one day I opened the door

[00:29:40] Nancy said and there he was in a way he never left the two were married in 1957 and after a

[00:29:48] brief stint in Malta moved to Australia which was more John's idea than Nancy's the two were

[00:29:54] very happy and had a wonderful life together they were married for 40 years until John died in 1997

[00:30:01] Nancy took the proceeds she made from her own autobiography and moved back to London into

[00:30:06] a room at the Stafford Hotel near Piccadilly at the age of 89 she loved her time at the

[00:30:12] Stafford and they her she even had a seat reserved for her with a nameplate and all

[00:30:17] at the hotel bar where she could be found often regaling any and all with the stories from

[00:30:22] her amazing life she even accompanied Prince Charles to the premiere of the movie Charlotte Gray

[00:30:27] starring Cape Lanchette the movie about a young woman working with French resistance in World War

[00:30:33] II just a few weeks shy of her 99th birthday Nancy Wake died in London on August 7th 2011

[00:30:41] she had said years earlier that her dying wish would be to be cremated and I want my

[00:30:46] ashes to be scattered over the mountains where I fought with the resistance that will be good

[00:30:50] enough for me in March 2013 her wish was fulfilled in partnership with Australia, Great Britain and

[00:30:58] France for all that she had seen lost and knew was at stake Nancy Wake had been transformed from a

[00:31:05] teen runaway in Australia to a journalist in Paris and a wealthy socialite wife from Marseille into

[00:31:11] World War II's most decorated female operative she was awarded some of the highest medals and

[00:31:16] recognitions 12 and all from Great Britain France America Australia and New Zealand she was directly

[00:31:25] responsible for saving over a thousand lives while in Marseille all of this before she had

[00:31:30] ever received a minute of formal training Nancy Wake's intelligence quick thinking

[00:31:35] and creativity made her one of the Nazis most despised people in all of Europe at first the

[00:31:41] Gestapo thought the resistance fighter was a highly trained male British soldier clearly Nancy

[00:31:47] Wake was none of those things which is what made her even better more dangerous unpredictable and

[00:31:54] successful when she finally gained her freedom and narrowly escaped her own death her first

[00:31:59] thought was not to get as far away from the danger as possible but to parachute directly back

[00:32:04] into it to help as many more people as she could and if possible help to end the war

[00:32:10] to that end Allied Supreme Commander and future United States President Dwight Eisenhower said of

[00:32:15] the French section of the SOE they helped shorten the war by six months it was the equivalent of

[00:32:21] 15 divisions perhaps Nancy Wake's commanding officer Colonel Maurice Buckmaster said it best

[00:32:28] when writing of Nancy that she volunteered for a most dangerous mission in enemy occupied

[00:32:34] territory she accomplished this task without standing success and displayed great qualities

[00:32:39] of personal bravery endurance and determination her strong personality gave her the undisputed

[00:32:45] leadership of a large number of French Patriots whom she organized with great tact in Savoy

[00:32:50] fair to attack the enemy under continuous fire from superior forces she showed exemplary

[00:32:56] courage she has much shrewdness and common sense and has accomplished an outstanding important

[00:33:02] task with unqualified success

[00:33:32] you