Susan Travers and the French Foreign Legion

Susan Travers was an inspirational part to world War Two and fought for what she wanted. She supported the army and became the first women in the French Forgeign Legion. She played a large part and effectively assisted the people in war.

Susan Travers, who was born in England, was the only woman to join the French Foreign legion. Like a family, she admired the legion and played a key part in the breakout by its troops from Rommel’s siege of the desert fortress of Bir Hakeim in 1942. When war came in 1939, Susan Travers was living in the South of France, where she had grown up, and she joined the croix Rouge, the French Red Cross. Hitherto she had led the rather inconsequential life of a socialite, but the challenges that now faced her gave her a purpose for the first time. Althought her dislike of blood and illness made her a less than ideal nurse. She was nicknamed “La Miss” For her part. With Koenig’s career in the ascendant, Colonial marie-Pierre Koenig ended an affair with Susan afterwards, much to her grief. By May 1945 “I had become the person I’d always wanted to be” and, not wanting any other life, applied to join the legion officially. Susan Travers was born in London on September 23 1909. Her father, a naval officer had married her mother for her money and the union was not an especially happy one. Susan;s childhood was comfortable but over-strict, and she had her most enjoyable times away from her parents with her grandmother in Devon. She was sent to school at St Mary’s, Wantage- an experience which she did not remember fondly- but during the First World War her father had been put in charge of marine transport at Marseilles (where his own father had once been British Consul), and in 1921 he decid...

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...d the Ordre du Corps d’Arme for her feat. She ended her affair with the married man but Nevertheless, she remained with the Legion through the fighting in Italy and France until the end of the war, acting as both a driver and a nurse to the wounded and the dying. She took care to omit her sex from the form, and her application was accepted. She was appointed an officer in the logistics division, and so became the only woman ever to serve with the Legion.

Works Cited

“Susan Travers.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.

"Susan Travers." Telegraph Media Group. The Telegraph Media Group Limited 2014. 23 Dec. 2003. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

Riding, Alan. "Susan Travers, She Was Never Timid in Armour or War." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 21 Apr. 2001. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.