Nancy Wake, a World War 2 hero known as the "White Mouse" for evading capture by Germans, passed away in a nursing home in England. She worked as a British agent during the war and is one of Australia's most decorated servicewomen. Darcy Hassett, who runs the Uralla Military Museum, was friends with Nancy Wake and had invited her to speak at events in Uralla, where she stayed for several days on two occasions. Hassett recalls their friendship fondly.

1. BRINDABELLA AIRLINES
CLEARED FOR LIFT-OFF
FOOTBALL STAR
HEADS TO STATES
$1.40
155years
1856-2011
Page 48
Page 14-15
Friday, August 12, 2011
AUSTRALIA lost one of its true
heroes this week; Uralla’s Darcy
Hassett lost a friend.
World War II hero Nancy Wake,
who came to be known as the
White Mouse, passed away in a
nursing home in England. And she
will be remembered by more than a
thankful nation.
Wake, who worked as a British
agent during the war, was nick-
named the White Mouse by the
Germans for her elusiveness in
evading capture. She is one of the
most decorated servicewomen in
Australia’s history.
Mr Hassett, who runs the Uralla
Military Musuem, first met Wake at
a formal dinner hosted by the
Australian Army and he told The
Express they quickly became firm
friends.
“WemetananArmysitdowndin-
ner and we started talking, I men-
tioned to her that I had been to
France and we got to be mates,” he
said.
“I asked her if she would like to
be a guest speaker at an event in
Uralla and she said yes, so we
drove to get her from Port
Macquarie where she was living at
the time and she came and stayed
for about four days.
“We also brought her here for a
ball and introduced all the debu-
tants to her which was great - she
stayed for a couple of days then as
well.”
MORE, page 3
Darcy Hassett with NancyWake
in April 2010
staff
writer
Josh Paterson
TThhee WWhhiittee MMoouussee aanndd II
NE3107812
Enrolling
Now