The Key to Her Code

After the German Gestapo caught on to Nancy in France, she fled to England. There she trained as an agent in the British Operations Executive. This agency was formed to support resistance in German occupied Europe. Specifically for Nancy, that meant the French Resistance.

As an SOE agent, Nancy learned to identify German aircraft, military vehicles, the ranks of officers and even the divisional flashes on their uniforms. She learned how to use firearms and explosives, and trained in hand to hand combat.

She also learned to use code.

"We had certain codes to use, but we had to have the key to a code. And some people used a verse from the Bible or from Shakespeare, and I'm not a great authority on the Bible nor on Shakespeare. I thought well I'm going to have my own code which only SOE knew and myself, or the person decoding. Mine was very very simple. It was:

She stood right there in the moonlight fair

The moon shone through her nightie

It bit right on the nipple of her tit

Oh Jesus Christ almighty!

The man looked quite surprised when I gave him this. He didn't say a word but he was surprised. And I said 'Well I don't think the Germans will know that, do you?' and he said 'No, I don't think so.'"

Nancy was unafraid to ruffle feathers. She somehow knew what was expected of her and she did the exact opposite. It made for a few laughs, but it also saved her life.