One of World War II’s most celebrated heroines, Nancy Wake —
Born in New Zealand but raised in Australia — died aged 98 in a
London hospital, where she had lived since 2001. She and her
French husband Henri Fiocca became active in the resistance
movement when France was occupied by the Nazis in 1940. The
British had trained her as a spy and she was called the White
Mouse by the Germans because of her ability to evade capture.
According to the Australian Associated Press, Wake saved
thousands of Allied lives by setting up escape routes and
sabotaging German installations and she led 7000 resistance
fighters in D-Day preparations and was on top of the Gestapo's
most wanted list. Wake learnt at the end of the war that her
husband was tortured and killed in 1943. Wake is regarded as a
heroine in France, which decorated her with its highest military
honor, the Legion d'Honneur, as well as three Croix de Guerre, a
French Resistance Medal, Britain's George Medal and the U.S.
Medal of Freedom. Australia’s Prime Minis