Heroines of World War II

The story of the World War II is the story of ordinary men and women performing extraordinary feats. Women played a part in the Allied conflict as spies, as ATS soldiers, as Waafs and Wrens, but their contribution has not been fully recognised. In this study, the author records the experience of many valiant women including Joanna Stavridi, "the Nightingale of Crete", Claire Phillips, the American "Mata Hari of the South Pacific", nurse Margot Turner who survived a Japanese POW camp, and Squadron Leader Diana Rowden who served as an SOE agent in Nazi-occupied France and was executed at Natzweiler. Drawing on first-hand accounts and dozens of face-to-face interviews, the author explores the heroism and motives of women at war.