The Prime Minister today paid tribute to war heroine Nancy Wake, who passed away in London yesterday aged 98.
New Zealand-born Ms Wake grew up in Sydney and after a brief stint as a nurse, worked as a journalist in Europe, where she married a French businessman in 1939.
Trapped in France when the Nazis invaded, Ms Wake worked with the Resistance as a courier and later as a devastatingly effective saboteur and spy.
She became the Gestapo's most wanted person, receiving the enduring nickname “The White Mouse”.
Nancy Wake was a woman of exceptional courage and resourcefulness whose daring exploits saved the lives of hundreds of Allied personnel and helped bring the Nazi occupation of France to an end.
Today our nation honours a truly remarkable individual whose selfless valour and tenacity will never be forgotten. Nancy Wake will remain an abiding inspiration to generations of Australians.