Monday, August 8, 2011

WWII heroine Nancy Wake, 98, dies

LONDON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Nancy Wake, a World War II resistance fighter nicknamed "The White Mouse" for her ability to elude the German Nazis, has died at age 98, a friend said Monday.

The friend said Wake died at a London hospital where she was being treated for a chest infection, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The New Zealand native who grew up in Sydney was bestowed the Companion of the Order of Australia for her efforts with the French Resistance during the war. She also received the French Legion d'Honneur and three Croix de Guerre, a French Resistance Medal, Britain's George Medal and the U.S. Medal of Freedom

Wake was working as a journalist in France when the war started. She and her husband Henri Fiocca became active in the resistance movement in 1940. She spent three years helping Allied soldiers and airmen reach safety before having to flee to Spain and eventually England in 1943.

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