SULTRY WWII SPY, "THE WHITE MOUSE", NANCY GRACE WAKE DEFTLY ELUDED GERMAN TRAPS,

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VERY UNIQUE COVER - CACHED BOTH SIDES -
SULTRY WWII SPY, NANCY GRACE AUGUSTA WAKE, WHO WAS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND CUNNING BRITISH AGENTS WORKING IN GERMAN-OCCUPIED FRANCE DURING WORLD WAR TWO. SHE IS CREDITED WITH SAVING 100's, PERHAPS 1,000's, OF LIVES OF DOWNED ALLIED AIRMEN, RESISTANCE FIGHTERS, ETAL.  SHE WAS A "WARTIME SERVICE AND SPECIAL OPERATIONS
EXECUTIVE", MOST DECORATED SERVICEWOMAN OF WORLD WAR TWO IN EUROPE. HER GERMAN CODE-NAME,
"
THE WHITE MOUSE
"
, WAS DUE TO HER ABILITY TO ELUDE CAPTURE BY THE GESTAPO. THE RESISTANCE HAD TO BE VERY CAREFUL WITH HER MISSIONS AS SHE WAS IN CONSTANT DANGER, WITH THE GESTAPO TAPPING HER PHONE AND INTERCEPTING HER MAIL. BY 1943, SHE WAS THE GESTAPO'S MOST WANTED PERSON WITH A
5 MILLION-FRANC PRICE ON HER HEAD.
THUS, SHE FLED MARSEILLES, FRANCE, BUT HER HUSBAND, HENRI FIOCCA REMAINED BEHIND, WAS LATER CAPTURED, TORTURED, AND EXECUTED BY THE GESTAPO. SHE WASN'T AWARE OF HIS DEATH UNTIL THE WAR ENDED. SHE WAS REFERRED TO AS,
"A REAL AUSTRALIAN 'BOMBSHELL', WITH TREMENDOUS VITALITY, FLASHING EYES, AND EVERYTHING SHE DID, SHE DID WELL. SHE WAS A, "VERY GOOD, AND FAST SHOT", AND, "PUT THE MEN TO SHAME BY HER CHEERFUL SPIRIT AND STRENGTH OF CHARACTER."
SHE ALSO COULD OUT-DRINK THEM.
ON THE NIGHT OF 29-30 APRIL 1944, WAKE PARACHUTED INTO THE AUVERGNE, BECOMING A LIAISON BETWEEN LONDON AND THE LOCAL RESISTANCE GROUP.  HER DUTIES INCLUDED ALLOCATING ARMS AND EQUIPMENT THAT WERE PARACHUTED IN, AND MINDING THE GROUP'S FINANCES.
SHE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN MAKING THE MAQUIS GROUPS INTO A MORE FORMIDABLE FORCE OF 7,500 STRONG. AT ONE POINT, SHE KILLED A GERMAN SS SENTRY WITH HER BARE HAN
DS TO PREVENT HIM FROM RAISING AN ALARM DURING A RAID.  FROM APRIL 1944, UNTIL THE LIBERATION OF FRANCE, HER GROUP FOUGHT 22,000 GERMAN SS SOLDIERS, CAUSING 1,400 CASUALTIES, WHILE TAKING ONLY 100 THEMSELVES.
OF THE 39 FEMALE AGENTS, ONLY 26 MADE IT HOME ALIVE AFTER THE WAR.  FRONT CACHET; WAKE'S PHOTO, FIVE NATIONAL FLAGS REPRESENTATIVE OF COUNTRIES SERVED, ALL WITH PERTINENT TEXT. ALSO, 2 ADDITIONAL SMALL PHOTOS OF WAKE.
FRANKED WITH "THE RAT" STAMP, AND
CANCELLED, "MAR. 25, 2020, WASHINGTON D.C.".
REVERSE CACHET IS A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOME OF HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
NICE, INEXPENSIVE
ITEM OF WWII MILITARY MEMORABILIA.
USCS MEMBER # 11835.  COVER # 2 OF 10. "TOP SARGE" CACHET.