Susan Travers

Susan Mary Gillian Travers (23 September 1909 – 18 December 2003) was an Englishwoman who served in the French Red Cross as a nurse and ambulance driver during the Second World War. She later became the only woman to be matriculated in the French Foreign Legion, having also served in Vietnam, during the First Indochina War.

Travers was born in London and spent her early years in England, the daughter of Francis Eaton Travers, a Royal Navy Admiral, and his wife Eleanor Catherine (née Turnbull).

At the outbreak of World War II, Travers joined the French Red Cross as a nurse. Later, she became an ambulance driver with the French Expeditionary Force to Finland in 1940. After the fall of France, she went to London and joined the Free French under de Gaulle. In 1941, she drove a medical doctor of the 1st Free French Division during Operation Exporter in Syria and Lebanon, during which the Allied forces invaded and seized Syria and Lebanon from the Vichy French. She served in the 13e demi-brigade de Légion étrangère as a driver for the medical officer, where she gained the nickname "La Miss".

The 13e Demi-Brigade was incorporated into the 1st Brigade of the 1st Free French Division, commanded by Colonel Marie-Pierre Koenig. Travers was assigned as the driver to Koenig. They became lovers.

In May 1942, 1st Free French Brigade was posted at Bir Hakeim, the southern end of British Eighth Army's line at Gazala in Libya. As the Panzer Army Afrika prepared to attack the British line, Koenig ordered all women out of the area. The Axis forces attacked on 26 May, initiating the battle of Gazala. Four German and Italian divisions attacked Bir Hakeim. Not long after, Travers joined a convoy into the rear area, and Koenig allowed her to return to Bir Hakeim, as it seemed the Axis attack had failed. During the next two weeks, the Axis continued to attack, heavily shelling and bombing Bir Hakeim. During the bombardment, a shell tore off the roof of Koenig's car. Travers, aided by a Vietnamese driver, fixed it on the spot immediately.

During the night of 10-11 June, 1st FF Brigade evacuated Bir Hakeim, with Travers driving Koenig's staff car. The column ran into minefields and German machine gun fire. Koenig ordered Travers to drive at the front of the column. Travers stated:

He said, "We have to get in front. If we go the rest will follow." It is a delightful feeling, going as fast as you can in the dark. My main concern was that the engine would stall.

At 10:30 a.m. on 11 June, the column entered British lines. Travers' vehicle had eleven bullet holes, with a shock absorber destroyed and the brakes unserviceable.

Koening was promoted to general, and left the North African theatre for higher command and a reunion with his wife. Travers, driving a self-propelled anti-tank gun, remained with the French Foreign Legion. She laterserved in the Italian Campaign and the Western Front (in France and Germany), during which she was wounded when she drove over a land mine.

After the war, her military status was regularized. She applied to and was formally enrolled in the Légion Étrangère, as an Adjudant-chef.

Travers served in Indochina. She married Legion Adjudant-chef Nicolas Schlegelmilch, who had fought at Bir Hakeim with the 13th Demi-Brigade. In retirement, they lived on the outskirts of Paris. The couple are survived by two sons.

She waited for all the other principals in her life story to die before writing it. Then in 2000, aged 91, assisted by Wendy Holden, she wrote her autobiography, Tomorrow to Be Brave: A Memoir of the Only Woman Ever to Serve in the French Foreign Legion (ISBN 0552148148).

• Légion d'honneur
• Croix de Guerre
• Médaille commémorative 1939-1945 with clasp - "Afrique" - "Italie"- "Libération"
• Médaille Coloniale, du mérite syrien de 4e classe
• Croix de libération finlandaise
• Officier de l'Ordre du Nichan Iftikhar
• Médaille Militaire