Nancy Wake - The Gestapo's Most Wanted

Good afternoon, this is the story of Nancy Wake.  This is told through a docudrama and her biographers.  She was a journalist, spy, and revolutionary.  She was a woman who was born lucky.  The run time for this documentary is 1:07:47.

Nancy Wake was the Allied Forces’ most daring spy.  She was the Gestapo’s most wanted woman in World War II and was codenamed “The White Mouse.”  She came from New Zealand and was a drop-dead gorgeous woman.  She traveled to France and became a journalist.  Nancy struck up many friendships with journalists who protected her as she reported.  She enjoyed life in Paris and the Rivera.  Nancy was a woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it.

Nancy Wake’s story kicks off in Paris, where she meets the man who would become the love of her life, Henri.  She had left New Zealand, taught herself French, and became a journalist.  She would travel to Austria and Berlin to get the story of Adolph Hitler.  She wanted to get the story firsthand and she felt sick to her stomach with what she witnessed.  What she saw with Nazism, reviled her.  Then she goes to Austria and sees how the Jews are being treated.

Eventually, she returned to France and married Henri.  The next section of this docudrama talks about that marriage to Henri.  Henri’s father did not approve of the marriage.  The pair made the best of her father’s disapproval.  Her marriage to Henri catapulted her into a higher social status.  She could have milk baths and had a household staff of five people.  Life was good for Nancy in France, at least until Germany invaded France.

Nancy threw herself into the war effort and started driving ambulances.  She had the means to support the war, but she wanted more action.  Driving ambulances provided that action for her.  Eventually, France surrendered to the Germans.  Only one man refused to consent to surrender and he fled to England.  General Charles de Gaulle gave a rousing speech against the Nazi occupiers.   Nancy soon became involved with the French Resistance.  Slowly but surely, she became more involved in the French Resistance.  Henri did not like her becoming involved with the French Resistance.  He worried about her safety and he did not want to lose her.

She was not fearful of being caught.  She was a beautiful woman who could be a distraction for the German soldiers.  She never thought about the consequences of her actions.  She helped soldiers escape from France.  She felt that every soldier smuggled out was a thorn in the flesh to Hitler.  The French Resistance had a high degree of organization.

There were times that she was the Nazis came close to catching her.  However every time she was corner she escaped.  Her instincts were going off.  Henri encouraged her to escape, but she did not want to escape without him.  He insisted and she went to left France.  Escaping France was a challenge and it took her three months to leave France.  She eventually made her way to England.  Once in England, she started training for Special Operations.  The training proved to be a challenge and Nancy came through training well.  She would go back to France after she was trained.

Once back in France she would sabotage German forces and their French Allies.  She parachuted into France as part of Special Operations and met up with the French Resistance.  The first order of business was to get in touch with the radio operator.  The radio operator was late.  The second order of business was getting in touch with the resistance leader: Gaspar.  Gaspar would come to her.  Eventually, she would meet up with Gaspar.  What would happen during this first meeting?  How would these efforts at sabotage help with the D-Day Invasion?  What would happen to Henri after she left?  How would the Nazis take their revenge against the Resistance fighters?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out.

This is a cool documentary about the French Resistance and Nancy Wake.  Even though it is a long docudrama this would be one drama I would consider showing to a history class during the World War II section.