A memorial for Nancy Wake
August 30th, 2012 at 12:00 pm by David FarrarStuff reports:
The life of the woman who became the White Mouse will be remembered in Wellington today at a special service on what would have been her 100th birthday.
Wellington-born World War II heroine Nancy Wake will be honoured at a remembrance service at Old St Paul’s Church in Thorndon.
Organiser Trevor Morley said it was a chance to honour the French Resistance fighter – who died last year – for her bravery and heroism.
Ms Wake, who was born in Roseneath, left New Zealand with her family for Australia when she was 2.
As an adult, she was living in France when the war began. She became a prominent figure in the French Resistance and was nicknamed the White Mouse by the Gestapo for her ability to evade capture.
Her work earned her France’s highest military honour, the Legion d’honneur, as well as three Croix de Guerre medals and a French Resistance medal.
She also received Britain’s George Medal and the US Medal of Freedom, and was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2004.
In 2006, she was the first woman to receive the New Zealand Returned and Services Association’s highest honour, the RSA Badge in Gold. She died last year, weeks before she would have turned 99.
A woman who gave up a life of luxury and privilege to battle the Nazis at huge risk to her life. We owe her a lot.
Tags: nancy wake
August 30th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
When I was a child I was taught in all seriousness that, if the Nazis were ever to come to your house and ask straight-up: “Are you hiding Jews in your attic”? (And you would be, because that’s, like, the holiest thing possible.) The correct response was to say: “Yes, we are”, then to hold your breath and clench while you waited for God to swoop in and Jedi-mind-wipe the Nazis into thinking you’d said: “No”. (And of course because God put the words there the Nazis would believe it and just go away.)
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Good to see New Zealand remembering real heroes like Nancy Wake, instead of spending so much time pampering nancy boys.
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
At an airport some time back, I purchased a book about Nancy Wake – it was penned by ex Wallaby lock and now SMH columnist and author, Peter FitzSimons. It was an excellent read about a clearly remarkable woman and the book recounted her ‘work’ in occupied France.
FitzSimons described her as ‘Australia’s Greatest War Heroine’…
He wasn’t wrong…
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
The French owe her a lot.
I don’t know if we really owe her a lot, but we can certainly admire her courage. Astonishing…
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Will any neurotic femmo film directors be in attendance?
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Has anyone made a movie of Nancy Wake’s life?
If not, we could get Babs to do it!
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Remind me of the name of that silly hyphenated Canadian bint who denigrated a NZDF nurse killed while on active duty.
By her (the hyphenated one’s) silly (nice terminology) definition, Wake was “invading” Vichy France and ergo deserved what she received.
It is only when the bravery, devotion to duty and beneficial outcomes of Wake’s activities are examined that the idiotic Canadian is placed in perspective. It would be nice to see one of those so called TV doco shows compare Wake et al to the bursting brain “film maker”.
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
certainly a better remembrance than this ANZAC proposal to spend 90 mill on a park. The RSA has about 20,000 returned service men and women on their books,i.e actual members-no statistic since the late 1970′s on how many total ex returned service men and women there are=probably another 15,000 left. You’d think the Govt could at least bury these blokes with a bit of dignity than to spend money on urban designers,arborists and landscape architects and some canadian film maker…
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Does anyone know the “real reason” – if indeed there was one – for successive New Zealand governments’ refusal to formally honour her?
Her life story would make a superb movie…probably not the sort of thing Jane Campion or the other New Zealand luvvies would be into though…
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
David – possibly because she left New Zealand when she was a tiny little two-year-old girl, and never returned? She’s more an Australian war heroine than a New Zealand one.
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Many people did things in war time and were never recognised. There has been recent discussion in the UK House of Lords about the rather niggardly allocation of awards to the women who were considered. “The fact that its (the SOE) work was shrouded in mystery, combined with the fact that General de Gaulle was absolutely determined not to recognise its significance, led the Government at that time almost to ignore the amazing work that it did.”
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
RRM: Yes, I knew she left here as a child…but as I understand it, she always maintained her NZ citizenship…it wouldnt have hurt us to give her another honour to add to those from France and Australia…
PaulD: Yes, De Gaulle was pretty good at rewriting history from his own and the French perspective…turning a blind eye to the fact that the majority of his countrymen became Nazi lackeys at best, and active collaborators at worst…those SOE women such as Odette were truly awesome people….
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 5:25 pm
I remember seeing a doco on Nancy Wake…there was a bit where she talked about the marquis group she was with having uncovered an female traitor in their midst…Because she was a woman there was much humming and and harring about whether they should execute her,…Wake said “Oh for Gods sake…if you won’t shoot her I will shoot her…” A formidable woman…
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
A true hero, and IIRC she always preferred to be known as a New Zealander rather than an Australian. All the more reason that our government should be ashamed that it has “dragged the chain” on honouring her.
Vote:They should have done so while she was still alive. So much for that.
August 30th, 2012 at 7:50 pm
Thor; educate an old chap here…what does IIRC mean? Cant figure it…
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
I read Ian Ousby’s substantial tome called Occupation. It details the ordeal of France 1940 – 1944.
Vote:There is absolutely no mention whatsoever of Nancy Wake nor the White Mouse.
New Zealanders seem to get an exaggerated opinion of their heroines and others. In the wide world of resistance to the Krauts she was merely one amongst many.
Interestingly, I had thought that New Zealanders were overstating the importance of last year’s rugby world cup. Then I caught an item on channel 96, Russian television. It was that piece that proved to me the huge importance of that event.
It seems that the likes of National Socialist Radio parrot the attributes of a non entity like Nancy Wake, mainly I think because she did not have a penis, but down played the importance of rugby union to New Zealand.
August 30th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
David G
“If I Recall Correctly”.
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 8:37 pm
I fully expect Winston Peters to step in and demand a memorial for Colonel Hogan at this point!
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 9:07 pm
There must be more to the Nancy Wake story than we are being told. I well remember Judith Collins when in opposition getting stuck into the Labour government of the day for not recognising her. When Collins and the Nat’s took office they did nothing about it either.
Can David Garrett shed any light on this?
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Nasska: thanks for that…all these acronyms…
BB: No, I have no idea…but I have always felt in my waters that there was some reason why the NZ govt did not want to honour her…and no, I am not a conspiracy theorist….
Tauhei: Go and get a big black dog up ya…Nancy Wake’s achievements are very well documented…for those of us who read history…
Vote:August 30th, 2012 at 9:40 pm
BB: No, I have no idea…but I have always felt in my waters that there was some reason why the NZ govt did not want to honour her…and no, I am not a conspiracy theorist….
She moved to Oz when she was two years old David. Hardly the sort of hero our current, or previous, bunch of pollies would want to seriously acclaim!
Everything is simple if you look carefully!
Vote:August 31st, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Hat off to Trevor Morley for reminding us about Nancy and doing the right thing. Something successive NZ Govts have failed to do.
Thanks Trev. Nice one !!!!
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