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Birth
Nancy Grace Augusta Wake is born in Roseneath, Wellington, New Zealand -
Move to Sydney
The Wake family moves to Sydney for her fathers editing job on a local newspaper -
Running away from home
At the age of 16 Nancy ran away from home to work as a nurse in the country. -
Leaves Sydney for London
Reicieves money from her aunt and leaves Sydney for London, sailing via New York and trained herself as a journalist -
As a journalist
In 1933 she 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. -
Meeting Henri Fiocca
In 1937 she met her future husband, a French millionare named Henri Fiocca and in 1939, they married. But sadly Fiocca was tortured to death by the Germans when he stayed in France and refused to give up Nancy's location -
Fall of France
When Germany invaded France in 1940 she felt angry at how they were already treating the people they did not think were "Aryan". -
The French Resistance
After the German invasion Nancy started working with the Resistance as a courier. Her group helped Jewish families and British pilots who were shot down in France to escape. -
"The White Mouse"
By 1943, Nancy was at the top of the Gestapos Most Wanted list, and the Gestapo called her "The White Mouse" because of her ability to slip away whenver she was cornered. -
Escape from France
Knowing she would be killed if the Germans caught her, she fled over the mountains of Spain, eventually making it back to London -
As a spy
Nancy spent the next year training to become a spy in the Special Operations Executive and become one of their best spies. -
Back in France
On the night of 29/30th of April she along with other SOE recruits, she was parachuted back into France, becoming a liaison between London and the local maquis group headed by Captain Henri Tardivat (pictured). Upon discovering her tangled in a tree, Captain Tardivat greeted her remarking, "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.” -
Victory in Europe
In May 1945 Germany surrendered and France was free. Nancy had played a big part in the Allies' victory. -
Victory in Japan
On the 2nd September 1945, World War 2 officially ended with the surrender of Japan. -
In Australia
In both 1949 and 1951 she ran as a Liberal candidate and lost both times. -
Move to England
She 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 Air Staff at the Air Ministry in Whitehall. She resigned in 1957 after marrying an RAF officer, John Forward, in December of that year. -
Return to Australia
She returned to Australia with her husband 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 per cent against the sitting Labor member Daniel Curtin, Wake was again unsuccessful. -
Port Macquarie
In 1985, Nancy and her husband moved to Port Macquarie. In 1997, her husband John Forward died at Port Macquarie on 19 August 1997; the couple had no children. -
Return to England
in 2001, she emigrated back to london and she became a resident at the Stafford Hotel in St James's Place, near Piccadilly. She had been introduced to her first "bloody good drink" there by the general manager at the time, Louis Burdet. In the mornings she would usually be found in the hotel bar, sipping her first gin and tonic of the day. In 2003, Wake chose to move to the Royal Star and Garter Home for Disabled Ex-Service Men and Women in Richmond, London, where she remained until her death. -
Death
On the 7th August 2011, Nancy Wake died at the Kingston hospital.
