The death in England of Nancy Wake, 98, has given rise to hundreds of obituaries that chronicle the spectacular spy career of a feisty, lovely young Australian woman who saved hundreds of allied soldiers and airmen from the Nazis in World War II. Dubbed the "White Mouse" by the Gestapo, Wake's life is a brilliant saga of wartime derring-do.
Wake was charmingly feminine in style, up to the point where she went into spy action, when she could strangle a man with her bare hands.
I had never heard of Nancy Wake. Apparently, there were biographies of her, a memoir in 1985 and a TV miniseries Wake scorned for its inaccuracies. Wake was proud that she had run a network of spies herself, as well as being a spy herself.
"'For goodness sake, did the allies parachute me into France to fry eggs and bacon for the men?,' she asked. ''There wasn't an egg to be had for love nor money, and even if there had been, why would I be frying it when I had men to do that sort of thing?'"
For goodness sake, make a high quality movie of this amazing woman's life!
News Ltd
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