Women who kicked Nazi ass- Nancy Wake (aka: “The White Mouse”)
I’m currently editing our next podcast episode, which is about women during World War II that worked to help defeat Nazis and fascism. 🤔 Why might we be doing a podcast about fascism? Huh! What a mystery. 🤷🏻♀️ But we hope that you’ll find inspiration in this for… Whatever you might need inspiration for here in the year 2025. 🟠🚮💀
For this episode, we’ve only picked a handful of women, but there are countless women that we’ve never heard of THE did some of the most remarkable things during World War II. So no doubt will be covering more of these women in another episode. It seems that one of our favorite topics is women who were spies and a lot of these women did spy work, but many of them did a variety of other kinds of work from office work to complex mathematical stuff to code breaking to hand hand combat.
During World War II, women across Europe and beyond played vital roles in the fight against Nazi tyranny. They worked as couriers, spies, saboteurs, nurses, codebreakers, and resistance fighters—often at great personal risk. Some smuggled Allied soldiers and Jewish families to safety, others carried messages or weapons under the noses of German patrols, and many stood shoulder to shoulder with male counterparts in acts of sabotage and guerrilla warfare.
These women challenged not only the power of fascism but also the era’s expectations of gender. Their courage and determination remind us that the fight against oppression was not confined to the battlefield; it was carried out in homes, forests, cities, and safe houses, wherever ordinary people found extraordinary strength to resist. Among these women, one figure stands out for her audacity, resilience, and legendary reputation: Nancy Wake, the woman the Gestapo came to call “The White Mouse.”
Nancy Grace Augusta Wake (1912–2011) was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and grew up in Sydney, Australia . A nurse turned journalist, she worked in Paris during the 1930s and witnessed firsthand the brutal rise of Nazism—a moment that sparked her commitment to resist.
Following France’s fall, Wake became a courier and ambulance driver in Marseille, working with the Pat O’Leary escape line that helped Allied airmen and Jews flee to safety . Her high-risk contributions earned her the nickname “The White Mouse” by the Gestapo—and ultimately a 5 million franc bounty on her head . She helped roughly 1,000 to 2,000 people escape through the Pyrenees into Spain over two and a half years.
In 1943, after the escape network was compromised, Wake fled to Britain. There, she trained with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE)—learning sabotage, silent killing, explosives, parachuting, codes, and weapons handling.
By April 1944, she parachuted back into occupied France, working under the codename “Hélène” to coordinate with the Maquis (rural guerrilla fighters), manage parachute supply drops, and organize resistance efforts leading up to D-Day.
A few astounding accomplishments
- During a critical setback, Wake bicycled 500 km over 72 hours through German checkpoints to restore radio contact with London and secure vital codes—an act considered one of her most heroic .
- Her leadership saw 7,000 Maquis fighters hold off 22,000 German troops, inflicting around 1,400 German casualties while sustaining only 100 losses .
- She reportedly killed an SS guard with a karate chop to prevent an alarm during a raid—a testament to her resolve and lethal skills .
- Wake also spearheaded a daring assault on Gestapo headquarters in Montluçon, throwing grenades into the building and fleeing to safety .
For her extraordinary service, Wake received numerous decorations:
- United Kingdom: George Medal
- France: Médaille de la Résistance, Croix de Guerre (with Palms), Chevalier of the Legion of Honour
- United States: Medal of Freedom
- Australia: Companion of the Order of Australia (2004), RSA Badge in Gold (NZ) .
Postwar, she continued work with British intelligence, lived quietly in Australia, ran (unsuccessfully) for parliament, remarried in 1957, and later returned to London, where she lived until her death in 2011 at age 98.
Nancy Wake wasn’t just an operative or a courier—she was a strategist, symbol, and survivor. From leading high-stakes resistance operations to executing impossible feats like her marathon bike mission, she embodied the power of determination and daring. As one of the most decorated Allied servicewomen, her legacy continues to inspire and remind us of the vital roles women played in defeating fascism.