A PROJECT to honour World War 2 heroine Nancy Wake that has taken organisers around the world, will be ceremoniously completed this Saturday, November 16 in Port Macquarie.
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The Airborne and Special Forces Association (ASF) of Australia will unveil the fourth and final memorial plaque in honour of Nancy Wake, having placed them in France, the UK and New Zealand during 2013.
Nancy Grace Augusta Wake was the Patron of Airborne and Special Forces Association Australia for many years and a true heroine of WW2.
Port Macquarie and the Hastings district was her home from 1985 to 2001, where she lived with her second husband John Forward until his death in 1997.
A New Zealander by birth, an Australian by choice, French because of love and English by experience, Nancy influenced so many and was an example of the spirit of freedom with her service and sacrifice during WW2.
Allan Miles, President of the Airborne and Special Forces Association, will host dignitaries from embassies and high commissions along with high ranking military officers and civilian leaders at Rydges Hotel in completing the tribute to Nancy Wake at 3.30pm this Saturday.
One of the event organisers, Operation Pilgrimage public relations officer Reg Pierce said the plaque's unveiling gave the ASF a great sense of achievement.
"To honour this woman in this community is a huge deal," he said.
"She fought alongside men in a male dominated war, she was in command of over 700 resistance fighters and she showed unique courage," said Reg Pierce.
Called the White Mouse by the Germans because of her ability to evade capture, her life has been chronicled in three books, one an autobiography, and inspired Australian actor Cate Blanchett's role in the film Charlotte Gray.
She was also portayed by Noni Hazelhurst in the 1987 TV movie 'Nancy Wake'.
Born in New Zealand, Wake ran away from home when she was 16.
For two years she worked as a nurse near Mudgee until she turned 18 and moved to Sydney, where she got a job with a shipping firm and lived independently of her family.
She travelled to London in 1932 and began a course in journalism, a career that had her living in Paris a little over a year later, reporting events in Europe for the readers of the Hearst newspaper chain, including the violent rise of Nazism.
In 1936, she met a Marseilles millionaire by the name of Henri Fiocca, married him just after World War 2 began and settled into his Marseilles mansion, leaving journalism behind.
As Hitler's army crossed the French border, she became a courier for the local Resistance movement, carrying everything from simple messages to high-tech radio parts for well-secreted cells of partisans.
Peter FitzSimons' biography of Nancy Wake alludes to her wily nature -" She used her native cunning and beauty - being openly flirtatious - to overcome the suspicions of German guards to get through checkpoints."
In 1943, Nancy was top of the Gestapo's most wanted list.
When D-Day came, on June 6, 1944, her life became a blur of ambushing Germans, narrow escapes, full-blown attacks, bridge-blowing, train-wrecking and all the rest as she helped co-ordinate her bands to thwart all attempts to bring German battalions through her region to reinforce their forces at Normandy.
She was awarded numerous bravery medals, including the Congressional Medal of Freedom by the US, the George Medal from Britain and three top French honours: the Legion d'Honneur, the Croix de Guerre, and the Medaille de la Resistance. Finally after much controversy she was honoured with the Order of Australia in 2004.
The community will now have the chance to permanently honour her incredible, indelible spirit.
