Nancy Wake became the Gestapo's most wanted person in occupied France, with a 5-million-franc bounty on her head. Born in New Zealand, raised in Australia, she was living in Marseille when the war began and quickly joined the Resistance, helping Allied servicemen escape through the Pat O'Leary network.
After her network was betrayed, Wake escaped over the Pyrenees on foot—a six-day trek through mountain snow. Recruited by SOE, she parachuted back into France in 1944 to lead Maquis resistance fighters in the Auvergne region. She commanded 7,000 men, organized weapons drops, oversaw guerrilla attacks, and personally killed an SS sentry with a single karate chop to the throat during a raid.
When her radio codes were destroyed, she cycled 500 km over 72 hours through German checkpoints to reach another SOE team. She became the most decorated servicewoman of the war, receiving the George Medal, the Croix de Guerre (three times), the MĂ©daille de la RĂ©sistance, and the U.S. Medal of Freedom, among others.