Nancy Grace Augusta (Wake) Forward AC GM (1912 - 2011)

Born 30 Aug 1912 in Roseneath, Wellington, New Zealand

Ancestors

Wife of Henri Edmond Fiocca — married 30 Nov 1939 (to 1943) in Marseille, Oise, Picardie, France

Wife of John Melvin Phipps Forward — married Dec 1957 (to 19 Aug 1997) in London, England

Died 7 Aug 2011 at age 98 in London, England

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Biography

Nancy (Wake) Forward AC GM is Notable.

Nancy Wake AC, GM was a British agent during World War II. She became a leading figure in the French Resistance. While working with the ^[1]French Resistance, she saved the lives of numerous refugees and Allied airmen whose planes had been shot down. She was one of the ^[2]Allies most ^[3] decorated servicewomen of the Second World War. By 1943, Nancy Wake was the Gestapo's most wanted person, with a 5 million-franc price on her head. The Gestapo called her The White Mouse.

Nancy Wake AC, GM

Quotes from ^[4]Nancy Wake

I don't see why we women should just wave our men a proud goodbye and then knit them balaclavas.

I have only one thing to say: I killed a lot of Germans, and I am only sorry I didn't kill more.

I was someone who loved nothing more than a good drink and handsome men especially French men.

Freedom is the only thing worth living for. While I was doing that work, I used to think it didn't matter if I died, because without freedom there was no point in living.

I was never afraid. I was too busy to be afraid.

If ever the opportunity arose, I would do everything I could to stop the Nazi movement. My hatred of the Nazis was very very deep.

I was not a very nice person. And it didn't put me off my breakfast.

On not having affairs during WWII - And in my old age, I regret it. But you see, if I had accommodated one man, the word would spread around, and I would have had to accommodate the whole damn lot.

Nancy Wake ^[5]was born on 30 August 1912 in Roseneath, Wellington, New Zealand. Her parents were Charles Augustus and Ella Rosieur Wake. Nancy was one of six children; she was the youngest. ^[3] Charles and Ella Wake moved to Sydney, Australia, when Nancy was just 20 months old. This is where Nancy grew up.

Nancy ran away from home when she was 16 years old and started working as a nurse.

In 1932, after a windfall of money left to her by an aunt, Nancy traveled to Europe. She moved to Paris and began working for the Hearst newspapers as a journalist. One of her first assignments was to interview Adolph Hitler. That year, Nancy visited Vienna and saw how the Nazis worked firsthand. She later recounted;^[6]

The stormtroopers had tied the Jewish people up to massive wheels. They were rolling the wheels along, and the stormtroopers were whipping the Jews. I stood there and thought, I don't know what I'll do about it, but if I can do anything one day, I'll do it. And I always had that picture in my mind, all through the war.

Nancy met Henri Edmond Fiocca in 1937. He was a wealthy French industrialist. They married on 30 November 1939.

While Nancy was living in Marseille, France, Germany invaded Poland.

Nancy Wake's false identity papers

In 1940, Nancy became a courier for the French Resistance. The Gestapo called her ^[7] the "White Mouse." She was in constant danger, with the Gestapo tapping her phone and intercepting her mail. Nancy and her husband helped in the escape of Allied servicemen and Jewish refugees from France into Spain. Nancy was captured and spent a brief time in prison. ^[8]

By 1943, Nancy Wake was the Gestapo's, most wanted person, with a 5 million-franc price on her head. ^[9]The resistance was betrayed later that year. She decided to leave Marseille. Her French husband, Henri, stayed behind. He was later captured, tortured, and executed by the Gestapo, after he refused to give any information on her whereabouts or tell them anything about her activities. I will go to my grave regretting that, for Henri was the love of my life.

In June 1943, Nancy escaped to England. She began working in the French Section of the ^[10]Special Operations Executive (SOE). In April 1944, she returned to France to help the Resistance before D-Day.^[11] She led 7,000, guerrilla fighters in battles against the Nazis in the northern Auvergne, just before the D-Day landings in 1944.

There are so many stories of Nancy Wake's daring and bravery

Nancy described how she could get past the German posts: a little powder and a little drink on the way, and I'd pass the German posts and wink and say, Do you want to search me? God, what a flirtatious little bastard I was.

Nancy escaped the Nazis ^[12]on skis, across a hidden bridge, driving a car pursued by an airplane, and on one occasion by jumping from a moving train.

On the 30th April 1944, Nancy was parachuted into the Auvergne, becoming a go-between between London and the local maquis group led by Captain Henri Tardivat. Captain Tardivat found Nancy tangled in a tree and said, "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."

Nancy discovered a girl that her men were protecting was a German spy. They could not kill her in cold blood, so Nancy did. She said after that it was war, and she had no regrets about what she had to do.

On one raid, Nancy slit the throat of an SS sentry to prevent him raising the alarm. She also rode more than 800 kilometres, on a bicycle to replace codes her wireless operator had been forced to destroy during a German raid.

Nancy and the resistance were among the first to liberate the town of Vichy from ^[13]Marshal Philippe Petain and his ^{[14] [15]} regime, who had taken over the capital. They were also among the first into the newly liberated Paris. It was after the liberation that Nancy learned that her husband, Henri, had been killed by the Gestapo in August 1943.

In September 1944, Nancy left the Resistance and went to Paris to the SOE Headquarters, and then in October she moved to London. Straight after the war, Nancy was awarded the George Medal, the ^[16]United States Medal of Freedom, the Médaille de la Résistance, and the Croix de Guerre, with 2 Palms and a Star.

Nancy Wake returned to live in Australia in January 1949. She tried politics and ran for the Liberal Party but was defeated twice by a small margin. Nancy returned to England, and in 1957 she married John Forward, an RAF officer. Nancy and John returned to Australia in 1959. And after a third attempt at politics failed, they retired to Port Macquarie, where they lived until John died in 1997. She moved to England in December 2001.

Nancy Wake ^[17]died in Kingston Hospital, on the 7th of August 2011;^[18] she was 98 years old . Nancy wanted ^[19]her ashes scattered at Montluçon in central France.^[20]On the 11th of March 2013 Nancy Wake's ashes were scattered near the village of Verneix.

At first Nancy refused offers of decorations from Australia, saying The last time there was a suggestion of that, I told the government they could stick their medals where the monkey stuck his nuts. The thing is if they gave me a medal now, it wouldn't be love, so I don't want anything from them. In February 2004, Nancy received^[21] the Companion of the Order of Australia.

Ribbon	Issuing authority	Description	Date awarded
	Commonwealth of Australia	Companion of the Order of Australia	22 February 2004
	United Kingdom	George Medal	17 July 1945
	Commonwealth of Nations	1939–1945 Star
	Commonwealth of Nations	France and Germany Star
	United Kingdom	Defence Medal
	United Kingdom	War Medal 1939–1945
	French Republic	Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur	1970
	French Republic	Officier de la Légion d'Honneur	1988
	French Republic	Croix de Guerre
	United States of America	Medal of Freedom
	French Republic	Médaille de la Résistance

Sources

1. ↑ History Learning Site - The French Resistance played a vital part in aiding the Allies to success in Western Europe - especially leading up to D-Day in June 1944.
2. ↑ The Australian - The heroics of Nancy Wake saved thousands of lives and played a crucial role in the outcome of the war
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Visit Australian War Memorial Collection/Heraldry/Timeline - Nancy Grace Augusta 'The White Mouse' Wake
4. ↑ IMDB.com - Nancy Wake : Quotes
5. ↑ New Zealand Edge - Nancy Wake the White Mouse
6. ↑ Passenger List: "UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960," The National Archives in Washington, DC, London, England, UK, Board of Trade Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors Inwards Passenger Lists, Class Bt26, Piece 1008, Item 13, Ancestry Sharing Link - (Ancestry Record 1518 #5976498 : accessed 10 December 2023), Name Nancy G Wake, Arrival Age 21, Birth Date abt 1912, Port of Departure New York, New York, USA, Arrival Date 16 Jan 1933, Port of Arrival Liverpool, England, Ports of Voyage New York and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Ship Name Lancastria, Shipping Line Cunard White Star, Official Number 145943.
7. ↑ Archive.org - The White Mouse - Nancy Grace Augusta Wake
8. ↑ Convict Creations - Nancy Wake - The White Mouse
9. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald.com -The White Mouse that Roared
10. ↑ Imperial War Museum - Special Operations Executive
11. ↑ Independent.co.uk - Resistance heroine who led 7,000 men against the Nazis
12. ↑ The Guardian.com - A belated salute for war heroine
13. ↑ BBC.co.uk - Philippe Pétain (1856 - 1951)
14. ↑ Wikipedia - Vichy France
15. ↑ Jewish Virtual Library - The Holocaust:The French Vichy Regime
16. ↑ Orders and Medals Society of America - Medal of Freedom with Gold Palm - During WWII this was issued primarily to those who assisted allied soldiers in escaping or avoiding capture by the enemy and for underground operations.
17. ↑ Wiki News - Allied WWII spy Nancy Wake dies aged 98
18. ↑ Daily Telegraph - War heroine Nancy Wake dies
19. ↑ Find a Grave - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74617823/nancy-wake: accessed 10 December 2023), memorial page for Nancy Wake (30 Aug 1912–7 Aug 2011), Find A Grave: Memorial #74617823; Cremated, Ashes scattered, Ashes scattered at Montlucon, France.; Maintained by Find a Grave.
20. ↑ ABC News - War hero Nancy Wake's ashes scattered in France
21. ↑ Its an Honour - Name: Wake, Nancy - Award: Companion of the Order of Australia - Citation: The award recognises the significant contribution and commitment of Nancy Wake, stemming from her outstanding actions in wartime, in encouraging community appreciation and understanding of the past sacrifices made by Australian men and women in times of conflict, and to a lasting legacy of peace.

• 1949 Electoral Roll: "Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980," Australian Electoral Commission, Canberra, Australia, Electoral Rolls, Ancestry Sharing Link - (Ancestry Record 1207 #25460216 : accessed 10 December 2023), Name Nancy Grace Augusta Wake, Gender Female, Electoral Date 1949, Electoral Place Darling Harbour, West Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Residence Address 43 York street.
• Marriage: "England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005," General Register Office, United Kingdom, Volume 5c, Page 607, Ancestry Sharing Link - (Ancestry Record 8753 #30644098 : accessed 10 December 2023), Nancy G A Fiocca marriage to John M P Forward registered Oct-Nov-Dec 1957 in Westminster.
• Marriage: "Search," Free UK Genealogy, FreeBMD (https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl : accessed 12 August 2023), marriage entry for John M P Forward and Nancy G A Fiocca; citing district of Westminster, December 1957, vol 5c: 607.
• Death: "England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2022," Greypower Deceased Data, Compiled By Wilmington Millennium, West Yorkshire, England, England and Wales Death Indexes, (Ancestry Record 60630 #810666 : accessed 10 December 2023), Nancy Grace Augusta Wake death 8 Jul 2011 (age 98) residing in Richmond, Surrey, England.
• Death: "GRO Online Indexes," General Register Office (England and Wales) (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp : accessed 10 December 2023), death entry for Nancy Wake, year of birth 1911, reference DOR 2011 September quarter in Kingston upon Thames (240-1C), entry number 505345038.

See also:

• HerStory : Known as White Mouse. Heroine of World War II.
• United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKGN-WFWV : accessed 8 June 2019), Nancy Wake, Florida, United States, 21 Aug 2011; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing St. Petersburg Times, born-digital text.
• The Guardian.com - Nancy Wake obituary SOE agent during the second world war nicknamed the White Mouse by the Gestapo
• Mick Joffe.com - Interview with Nancy Wake 30 August 1912 - 7 August 2011 The White Mouse
• Wikipedia:Nancy_Wake
• Family Search - "New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973," index and images, FamilySearch,Nancy Wake, 1934; citing Ship, Arrival Port London (other ports also listed), National Archives, Wellington; FHL microfilm 004480603.
• Family Search - New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973," index and images, FamilySearch ,Wake, 1957; citing , Ship, Arrival Port Wellington, National Archives, Wellington; FHL microfilm 004479675.
• New Zealand Herald - The 50 coolest Kiwis ever +photos Listed as number 4 in the The 50 coolest Kiwis ever