Nancy Wake Memorial Plaque, Port Macquarie

About

The memorial is a plaque dedicated to Nancy Wake, nicknamed “the White Mouse”, a prominent figure in the French Resistance during the Second World War. The plaque is located within a small historical museum at the Rydges Hotel, Port Macquarie. At the top of the plaque is a photograph of Nancy in uniform.  The plaque was unveiled at the Rydges Hotel on 16 November 2013 by Allan Miles, President of the Airborne and Special Forces Association Australia, with many dignitaries, including the French Ambassador, attending. The unveiling was the fourth memorial dedicated to Nancy Wake - the other locations included the Stafford Hotel in London, a plaque at Saint-Charles Railway Station in Marseilles, France, and another at the Rydges Hotel in Wellington, New Zealand. Born in New Zealand on 30 August 1912, Nancy and her family moved to Sydney in 1914. At age 20, in 1932, she left Australia, trained as a journalist, and began working in Paris. She married Henri Fiocca in 1939, moving to Marseilles. In 1940 Nancy became involved in the fledgling French Resistance. She helped maintain escape routes through France, saving the lives of hundreds of Allied troops. In 1944 she took charge of 7,000 resistance fighters, prior to D-Day.  Returning to Australia in 1959, Nancy lived in Port Macquarie from 1985-2001 with her second husband, until his death in 1997. In 2001 she returned to the United Kingdom, where she died on 7 August 2011. Nancy was awarded numerous bravery medals, including the George Medal, the Congressional Medal of Freedom by the United States, the Legion d’Honneur, the Médaille de la Résistance, and the Croix de Guerre by the French Government. She was awarded the Order of Australia in 2004. Nancy was Patron of Airborne and Special Forces Association of Australia for many years. The Australian War Memorial has published a detailed account of Nancy Wake's life and service in the French Resistance during the Second World War https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P332.