Suzy Henderson

  The Remarkable Life of Nancy Wake: From Adventurous  Youth to War Heroine Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Nancy Wake's story is one of extraordinary courage, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of freedom. Known as the "White Mouse" for her ability to evade capture, Nancy Wake's life before, during, and after World War II is a testament to the indomitable spirit of one of the most decorated women of the war. Early Life: An Adventurous Spirit Nancy Grace Augusta Wake was born on August 30, 1912, in Wellington, New Zealand. Her family moved to Sydney, Australia, when she was just two years old. Nancy's early years were marked by a strong sense of independence and adventure. As a teenager, she ran away from home, worked as a nurse, and eventually traveled to Europe, fueled by her desire to experience the world beyond the confines of her upbringing. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons In the 1930s, Nancy moved to Paris and worked as a journalist. Her assignment...

This is an interview with the youngest pilot to take part in the Battle of Britain, Geoff Wellum, filmed in 2014 at Mullion Cove, Cornwall by dai4films.com. Hope you enjoy. Lest we forget.

  Finding Nancy Wake by Suzy Henderson, Author of Madame Fiocca. I first read about Nancy Wake and her role in World War Two several years ago, while researching another story. I recall thinking how commendable, but I read on, discovering other heroines of SOE including the American, Virginia Hall, the first female operative in France. What is even more remarkable is that she had a prosthetic leg. While working with the Special Operations Executive in France, Virginia had to escape over the Pyrenees, quite literally at one-point crawling part of the way. It was an incredible achievement and so courageous. One day I came across an article about Nancy Wake, and it mentioned her husband. That caught my interest, so I bought a biography of Wake written by Russel Braddon. Suddenly, Nancy was on my mind and I wanted to know more, such as where she grew up, and her life before France. Braddon’s book was wonderful, but it didn’t cover much of Nancy’s life in Australia. I then bought Nancy’...

This sounds like a great new WW2 book & mystery. Worth checking out so do follow the link below: The Coffee Pot Book Club: We are so excited to be taking The Custard Corpses... : Publication Date: March 25th 2021 Publisher: M J Publishing Genre: Historical Mystery A delicious 1940s mystery. Birmingham, England, 1943. ...

I have loved reading about history for as long as I can remember. On more than one occasion, I was asked what class I was reading a book for and I had to admit that it was something I had selected to read for enjoyment. Yet, I was not familiar with the story of the “radium girls” until I listened to Kate Moore’s excellent book. It was one of those snippets of history that seems unbelievable. When you think things are changing for the better, something happens and everything gets worse. Then you realize that events just like it continue to occur to this very day. Called radium girls because of the luminescent paint they used to make watch and instrument dials glow in the dark, the young working-class women who were exposed to radium on a daily bases began sickening and dying in the years immediately following World War I. The companies they worked for denied liability, rejected the idea that radium was the cause of the women’s problems, and made any excuse at their disposa...