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Medals and Awards:
Nancy Wake was one of, if not the most, highly
decorated woman on the Allied side in the Second
World War, certainly of the Commonwealth.
Following D-Day and the actions in the Auvergne
she was promoted to Ensign, and she would
later be promoted to the ranks of Lieutenant and
Captain.
She received the George Medal from the United
Kingdom in 1945 (citation below), the Medal of
Freedom from the United States
(with bronze palm), the Légion
d’Honneur (Knight and then Ofcer),
the Croix de Guerre (3 times) and
the Medaille de la Resistance from
France, the Companion of the Order
of Australia from Australia and the
Badge in Gold from New Zealand.
Shortly after the war, she was
recommended for decorations in
Australia but was turned down. Years
later, the Australian government
offered her the medals but she
refused in her typical style, saying:
“The last time there was a
suggestion of that I told the government they could stick their medals
where the monkey stuck his nuts. The thing is if they gave me a
George Medal Citation:
During the attack following ALONCE’s
and SAMSON’s arrival, HELENE
behaved in a most outstanding manner.
She herself led a section of 10 men, after
their leader had lost his head, resulting
in the death of 4 of them. Under her
command were ALONCE and SAMSON.
She led the section to within face of the
enemy, ordered the re, and withdrew
them in good order, which showed an
exceptional courage and coolness in
face of enemy re. Her action denitely
contributed to the safety of these two
American ofcers, who were very new
to the work, and rather “lost”.