Free Republic

Helene Deschamps Adams, a hero of the French Resistance who saved American fliers from capture and Jews from execution by the Nazis, and played a role in secret preparations for Allied invasions of France, died in Manhattan Saturday of heart failure.

AFTER witnessing Hitler's early atrocities, Nancy Wake vowed to fight him any way she could. She fought so well, she ended up on top of the Gestapo's wanted list, saved thousands of Allied lives, played a crucial role in D-Day and received France's highest military honour. "Nobody can beat you Nancy, nobody," Sonya d'Artois told her old Resistance comrade when Wake was awarded Australia's highest civilian honour in 2004, six decades after the French recognised her. She was resourceful, cunning, feisty, brave and tough, once killing a German sentry with her bare hands. "She is the most feminine woman I...

THE most decorated woman of World War II, Nancy Wake had a five-million-franc price put on her head by the feared German secret police, the Gestapo, for helping the French Resistance. Branded the White Mouse by her hunters, she became the most wanted resistance fighter in France. ..... By 1940, Wake was running messages and smuggling food for the French resistance, the Maquis. She branched out into helping downed Allied airmen escape capture and returning them to Britain. It has been estimated that she helped more than 1000 airmen escape. ..... But in 1943, Gestapo agents were closing in. One...