Woman saves 1,000 during WWII
The story of Nancy Wake, war heroine
The White Mouseby Peter Gouldthorpe
written for ages 9-12 | highly recommended
published in 2015 (1987) | Omnibus, Scholastic Australia
written for ages 9-12 | highly recommended
published in 2015 (1987) | Omnibus, Scholastic Australia
Nancy Wake was an heroic figure who worked for the French underground resistance movement during World War Two. This story highlights her fearless resistance and the bold risks she took when rescuing people from Hitler's Nazi regime. It will not only be useful for students studying the world wars, but also for those interested in real life heroines.
Nancy's personal life is briefly described including her beginnings in New South Wales, Australia, her marriage to Henri Fiocca and her pet dog, "Picon" which will appeal to children. We read about the beginnings of Nancy's anti-Hitler role when she disliked seeing the Brown Shirts of Hitler beating Jewish people in the streets, and that ‘right then and there’ she made up her mind to do everything she could to damage and hurt the Nazis. So ‘might is right’ is shown as a negative human trait.
The true story goes as follows : After the invasion of France by Germany, Nancy actively sought out people who were against Hitler's ‘new order.’ Her role in providing help to allied airmen, British soldiers in hiding, and Jewish refugees fleeing persecution was successful, and soon she helped over 1,000 people escape Hitler's regime. This got her nicknamed ‘the white mouse’ and she became the most wanted woman in Germany by the Gestapo.
Illustrations by author Peter Gouldthorpe bring the story to life with thin-lined etchings in stark black and white interspersed with color, giving a feeling of the very real brutality of war. Children will learn about how the Gestapo tracked Nancy down by tapping her phone and her subsequent interrogation and being put in a stinking, open-pit toilet for four days.
Later, as the story progresses, we witness her self-defence training in weaponry and her time in the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in which she learned how to blow up trains, make explosives, and other methods of self-defence including how to attack with her bare hands.
Read on to find out about why she rode single-handedly across France over 500 kilometres, whether she reunited with her husband and Picon, and how she fared by the end of the war.
A former children's librarian, Jane Fagan is currently a full-time wife and mother of two.
There's plenty of good reading today. James Burfitt reviews a savage critique of the way the war on terror in the Middle East has been handled by a leading counter-insurgency expert. Jane Fagan reviews a children's book about an extraordinary Australian woman who worked with the French Resistance and rescued a thousand people from the Gestapo. And Mary Cooney gives some sound advice about dealing with warring siblings. And that's just for starters. See the full list below.
Michael Cook
Editor
MERCATORNET
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The BBC lazily recycles hoary canards about indifference to the Holocaust
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Distinguishing differences in the notion of ‘transgenderism’
Bernadette Tobin | CONJUGALITY | 4 August 2016
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Surviving sibling squabbling
Mary Cooney | FAMILY EDGE | 4 August 2016
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Woman saves 1,000 during WWII
Jane Fagan | READING MATTERS | 4 August 2016
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Key points from World Youth Day in Poland
Michael Cook | ABOVE | 4 August 2016
What impact will the presence of 2.5 million young people have on the future of Christianity?
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