www.voicesofwar.co.uk
they said: ‘How are you?’ I cried. I couldn’t stand up, I couldn’t sit down.
I couldn’t do anything. I just cried,”.
4
Meanwhile, in the days following D-Day, the Maquis carried out raids
and sabotage attacks on Nancy’s target list - German installations, rail
lines, telephone communications and any other targets they could nd in
order to hamper the German response. By now they had also recruited
Spanish resistance troops who had a good knowledge of explosives
so they assisted them in effectively taking out bridges across the main
rivers.
One of the chosen targets was the local Gestapo headquarters at
Montlucon and Nancy was apparently instrumental in the planning of
this raid. She chose 1225hrs as the time for the raid, knowing the
Gestapo would sit down for lunch at exactly 12.30hrs. At 1225 Nancy,
together with French and Spanish marquis, screeched up in four cars,
ran into the building and rapidly cleared each room with grenades and
machine-gun re. They were in out in under a minute, leaving heavy
German casualties.
By the end of September 1944, the war was effectively at an end for
Nancy and her men, with the Germans in retreat across Europe and
the liberation of France. Many of the men who fought under her were
offered the opportunity to join the army and ght in uniform.
Nancy, having learnt of the death of her husband by now, returned
to Marseilles to deal with the estate. Like many she found most of
her possessions had been stolen by the Gestapo including all of the
4 Obituary in the Guardian, 8th August 2011. Accessed 23rd February 2024.