Nancy Wake, WW II resistance fighter, who inspired the book and movie, Charlotte Gray, has died

Tue, 08/09/2011 - 1:31pm by sernabad

Nancy Wake, a highly decorated special agent for Winston Churchill during World War II, died two days ago.

The Nazis fast-tracked White Mouse, as they named Wake, to the top of their most-wanted list. She was a fearless resistance fighter in France and a deadly agent who reportedly once killed an SS guard with her bare hands. In another famous incident, she bicycled 500 km (310 miles) in 3 days (remember, this was pre-multi-speed race-quality cycles) to deliver crucial codes to a wireless operator responsible for coordinating supplies and weapons drops.

Sebastian Faulks based his 1999 novel Charlotte Gray on Wake's heroic actions. Two years later, Cate Blanchett starred in a movie by the same name.

Ms. Wake died 23 days short of her 99th birthday.