- The "White Mouse": After witnessing Nazi brutality in Vienna, Wake joined the French Resistance, acting as a courier for the Pat O'Leary Line to smuggle soldiers out of occupied territory. The Gestapo nicknamed her "The White Mouse" because she repeatedly eluded their capture.
- Gestapo Target:She topped the Gestapo's most-wanted list, with a bounty of 5 million francs placed on her head.
- SOE Agent: After fleeing France in 1943, she trained with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and parachuted back into France in 1944.
- Resistance Leadership: She commanded over 7,000 Maquis resistance fighters, leading attacks on German installations before D-Day.
- Daring Feats: She famously cycled over 300 kilometers (around 400 km or 250 miles) through enemy territory to secure a new radio link.
- Decorations: By the end of the war, she was one of the most decorated Allied servicewomen, receiving the George Medal (UK), Médaille de la Résistance (France), and Medal of Freedom (USA).
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The official historian of the SOE, M. R. D. Foot, said that "her irrepressible, infectious, high spirits were a joy to everyone who worked with her." Many stories about her World War II activities come from her autobiography, The White Mouse, and are not verifiable from other sources.
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wake grew up in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. By the 1930s, Wake was living in Marseille with her French industrialist husband, Henri Fiocca, when the war broke out. After the fall of France to Nazi Germany in 1940, Wake became a courier for the Pat O'Leary escape network led by Ian Garrow and, later, Albert Guérisse. As a member of the escape network, she helped Allied airmen evade capture by the Germans and escape to neutral Spain. In 1943, when the Germans became aware of her, she escaped to Spain and then went to the United Kingdom. Her husband was captured and executed.
After reaching Britain, Wake joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) under the code name "Hélène". On 29–30 April 1944 as a member of a three-person SOE team code-named "Freelance", Wake parachuted into the Allier department of occupied France to liaise between the SOE and several Maquis groups in the Auvergne region, which were loosely overseen by Émile Coulaudon (code name "Gaspard"). She participated in a battle between the Maquis and a large German force in June 1944. In the aftermath of the battle, a defeat for the Maquis, she claimed to have bicycled 500 kilometers to send a situation report to SOE in London.
| Nicknames | Hélène (SOE) Andrée (French Resistance/SOE Identity) White Mouse (Gestapo in France) |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 August 1912 Roseneath, Wellington, New Zealand |
| Died | 7 August 2011 (aged 98) London, England |
| Allegiance |  France United Kingdom |
| Branch | Special Operations Executive First Aid Nursing Yeomanry |
| Service years | 1943–1945 (SOE) |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Freelance |
| Conflicts | Second World War |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of Australia George Medal Officer of the Legion of Honour (France) Croix de guerre (France) Médaille de la Résistance (France) Medal of Freedom (United States) RSA Badge in Gold (New Zealand) |
| Spouses | Henri Fiocca (d. 1943) John Forward |
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