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Susan Travers
Susan Travers
Susan Travers
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Susan Mary Gillian Travers (23 September 1909 – 18 December 2003) was a British nurse and ambulance driver who served in the French Red Cross during the Second World War.[1] She later became the only woman to be enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, having also served in French Indochina, during the First Indochina War.

Key Information

Early life

[edit]

Travers was born in Kensington and spent her early years in England, the daughter of Francis Eaton Travers, a Royal Navy Admiral,[2] and his wife Eleanor Catherine (née Turnbull).[3]

World War II

[edit]

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Travers joined the French Red Cross as a nurse. Later, she became an ambulance driver with the French Expeditionary Force in Finland in 1940.[2] After the fall of France, she went to London and joined the Free French under Charles 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.[citation needed] She served in the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion as a driver for the medical officer, where she gained the nickname "La Miss".[2]

The 13th Demi-Brigade was incorporated into the 1st Brigade of the 1st Free French Division, commanded by Colonel Marie-Pierre Kœnig. Travers was assigned as the driver to Kœnig. They became lovers.[2]

In May 1942, the 1st Free French Brigade was posted at Bir Hakeim, the southern end of the British Eighth Army's line at Gazala in Libya. As the Panzer Army Africa prepared to attack the British line, Kœnig 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 Kœnig allowed her to return to Bir Hakeim, as it seemed the Axis attack had failed.[citation needed] 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 Kœnig's car. Travers, aided by a Vietnamese driver, fixed it on the spot immediately.[citation needed]

During the night of 10–11 June, 1st FF Brigade evacuated Bir Hakeim, with Travers driving Kœnig's staff car. The column ran into minefields and German machine gun fire. Kœnig ordered Travers to drive at the front of the column.[2] 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.[2]

At 10:30 a.m. on 11 June, the column entered British lines. Travers' vehicle had eleven bullet holes,[2] with a shock absorber destroyed and the brakes unserviceable.[citation needed]

Kœnig 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 later served in the Italian Campaign and the Western Front (in France and Germany), during which she was wounded when she drove over a land mine.[2]

Post-war

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After the war, her military status was regularized. She applied to and was formally enrolled in the Légion Étrangère, as an adjudant-chef.[2]

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 is survived by two sons.[2]

She waited for all the other principals in her life story to die before writing her autobiography. 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).[2]

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Notes

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References

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Susan Travers

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Susan Mary Gillian Travers (23 September 1909 – 18 December 2003) was a British-born nurse, driver, and soldier renowned as the only woman ever officially enlisted in the . Born to a wealthy family in , the daughter of Admiral Francis Eaton Travers, she led an adventurous life marked by her service in multiple conflicts, including in and , and the in . Travers joined the at the outbreak of in 1939, trained as a nurse and ambulance driver, and was sent to for the against the , but arrived after its conclusion in March 1940. After the fall of in 1940, she escaped to and enlisted with the Free French Forces under General , where she was assigned as a driver to the French Expeditionary Force in . In 1941, she became the personal driver for Colonel Marie-Pierre Koenig, with whom she developed a romantic relationship, and served with the in and . Her most notable exploit occurred during the 1942 Siege of Bir Hakeim in , where she drove Koenig's command vehicle through a minefield and intense Axis fire to lead a breakout of encircled Free French forces, earning her the nickname "La Miss" among Legionnaires. For her bravery, she received the and was later awarded the in 1956, as well as the Légion d'honneur in 1996. In May 1945, Travers formally applied to join the without disclosing her and was accepted as its sole female member, serving until her discharge in 1950 in campaigns including Indochina. After the war, Travers married fellow Legionnaire Nicholas Schlegelmilch in 1947, with whom she had two sons, and they settled near . She co-authored a , Tomorrow to Be Brave, in 2000, detailing her extraordinary wartime experiences and her defiance of gender norms in . Travers died in Ballainvilliers, , at age 94, leaving a legacy as a pioneering in 20th-century warfare.

Early life

Family and childhood

Susan Mary Gillian Travers was born on 23 September 1909 in , , into a wealthy British family. Her father, Francis Eaton Travers, was a admiral who had married her mother, Eleanor Catherine Turnbull, primarily for her substantial inheritance and social position. The marriage proved unhappy, with Travers later recalling a childhood starved of affection due to her parents' strained relationship and her father's emotional distance, exacerbated by financial dependence on her mother's wealth. As a young girl, she experienced a privileged but strict upbringing in , supported by family resources that afforded comfort and travel. In around 1921, at the age of 12, the family relocated to the to accommodate her father's naval posting in , amid ongoing familial tensions from the discordant marriage. This move immersed Travers in southern French culture from an early age, fostering her fluency in the language and familiarity with the region's lifestyle.

Education and pre-war activities

Travers was born in in 1909 and moved with her family to on the in 1921, when she was 12 years old, due to her father's naval posting in . Following initial schooling at St Mary's, Wantage, in , which she disliked, she attended a in , , during her adolescence. Living in the Riviera region from a young age immersed her in French and , leading to full fluency in French. During her teenage years and early adulthood, Travers developed strong athletic interests, particularly in tennis, inspired by her neighbor, the renowned player Suzanne Lenglen. She became a skilled player, competing at a semi-professional level in local tournaments and even participating in the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. After completing her education in the late 1920s, Travers embraced the life of a debutante and socialite in Paris and the Côte d'Azur during the 1930s. She frequented lavish parties, danced the tango and Charleston, and enjoyed champagne-fueled social events amid the vibrant Riviera scene. Supported by a monthly allowance from an elderly aunt, she traveled extensively across Europe—to Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade—staying in châteaus and luxury hotels while cultivating relationships within affluent international circles. Her lifestyle was marked by adventure and romantic pursuits, often skiing or attending tennis parties with friends and admirers. An early indication of her adventurous spirit came in late 1939, when she joined the and served as an ambulance driver for the French expeditionary force supporting in the against the . At the outbreak of in September 1939, Travers was residing in the South of , leading a carefree existence of leisure and travel until the escalating conflict compelled her to seek greater purpose.

World War II service

Joining the Free French Forces

Following the fall of to in June 1940, Susan Travers rejected the Vichy government's collaboration with the Axis powers and traveled to to join General Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces, undergoing a rapid recruitment interview at his headquarters. In August 1940, she volunteered with the Free French as a nurse and driver attached to the 13th of the Foreign Legion. That same month, Travers departed from on a convoy bound for in (modern-day ) as part of Operation Menace, a joint Anglo-Free French effort to seize the Vichy-controlled through landings and negotiations. During the operation in September 1940, she provided essential medical support to wounded troops amid the failed landings, which were repelled by heavy shore bombardment from Vichy naval and coastal defenses. Travers endured severe tropical conditions in , including rampant diseases such as that afflicted many in the expeditionary force, while performing frontline duties exposed to fire and the chaos of the aborted assault. By early 1941, following the withdrawal from and relocation to other African postings, she was assigned to mobile medical units supporting Free French operations.

Service in Africa and the Middle East

In 1941, amid escalating conflicts between Vichy and Free French forces, Susan Travers was transferred from her posting in , , where she had served as a nurse with the Free French, to the , specifically and . During the Syria-Lebanon Campaign, known as Operation Exporter, she provided medical aid as an ambulance driver attached to the , transporting wounded personnel under Allied advances against -held territories. By late 1941, Travers was attached to the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) in , where she served in a non-combatant role as a driver and aide-de-camp, ferrying officers and supplies across desert terrains despite her official status limiting her to support duties. That year, she developed a personal romantic relationship with Pierre , the commander of the 13e DBLE, which positioned her closer to frontline operations and deepened her involvement in unit activities. Travers participated in several desert patrols and skirmishes in against Axis forces in early 1942, driving vehicles through mined and enemy-patrolled areas while under artillery and small-arms fire, and assisting in the evacuation of wounded soldiers from combat zones. In 1942, she was promoted to the rank of within the Free French structure, reflecting her demonstrated competence; however, as the sole among the Legionnaires, she endured social isolation due to barriers but gradually earned their through her reliability and bravery in high-risk assignments.

Battle of Bir Hakeim

The , fought from 26 May to 11 June 1942, served as a critical strategic stronghold for Allied forces in , where the Free French 1st Brigade, including elements of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion to which Travers was briefly attached, defended against Erwin Rommel's . This defense delayed the Axis advance on and the , providing vital time for British reinforcements ahead of the . As General Marie-Pierre Koenig's personal driver, Travers resided in his forward command post—a cramped amid the sands—where she coordinated , delivered dispatches, and supported operations under ceaseless German and Italian bombardment, including Stuka dive-bomber attacks and barrages. Enduring extreme conditions with temperatures exceeding 50°C (122°F) and acute shortages of water, food, and supplies, she refused multiple evacuation orders, becoming the sole woman among the approximately 3,700 defenders. Over the 16-day siege, Travers manned defensive positions alongside the troops, repelling waves of assaults from vastly superior Axis forces that included tanks, , and air strikes, contributing to the garrison's resilience despite mounting casualties and exhaustion. By early June, with ammunition nearly depleted and the perimeter breached, Koenig ordered a nighttime breakout to evade . On the night of 10–11 , Travers volunteered to drive the lead —a battered Ford —in the convoy's vanguard, navigating a perilous 40-mile gauntlet of Axis minefields, , anti-tank ditches, and intense and machine-gun fire to reach British lines at Acroma. Her absorbed at least 11 impacts and extensive shrapnel damage, while she sustained wounds to her jaw and arm from flying fragments yet continued driving without faltering, inspiring the column and clearing a path through the chaos. The operation enabled roughly 2,700 survivors from the original to escape, a testament to the Free French tenacity that inflicted disproportionate losses on the and forced Rommel to divert resources, thereby blunting his momentum in . In the immediate aftermath, Travers was evacuated to a in for treatment of her injuries, where Koenig commended her heroism, marking a pivotal moment in her wartime service.

Enlistment in the French Foreign Legion

Following the in June 1942, where she had served as a driver for General Marie-Pierre Koenig amid intense siege conditions, Susan Travers refused orders to evacuate with the other women attached to the Free French Forces. Her insistence on remaining with the 13th Demi-Brigade of the (13e DBLE) stemmed from a deep commitment to the unit and a desire to continue contributing to the , leading to her informal acceptance despite being the only woman; her gender was known to comrades, who affectionately nicknamed her "La Miss" while upholding her integration. In May 1945, shortly after Germany's surrender in , Travers formally applied for and was accepted into the as its sole female member, signing a five-year contract under the organization's anonymity provisions that permitted recruits to assume a new identity. Without disclosing her gender on the application, she bypassed traditional medical examinations and was enrolled directly, solidifying her status after years of de facto service. This official enlistment came after her wartime contributions with the 13e DBLE in during the 1943 campaign against Axis forces, followed by operations in from late 1943 to 1944, and the liberation of in 1944–1945. Throughout these campaigns, she performed essential roles as a driver for senior officers, conducted missions ahead of advances, and provided combat support, including operating vehicles under fire to transport wounded personnel and supplies. Travers was demobilized from active wartime duty in 1945 upon the end of hostilities in , having completed her service through the North African and European theaters without formal recognition of her gender until later in life. Her experiences during this period highlighted the Legion's tradition of overlooking personal backgrounds in favor of loyalty and performance, though she later reflected on the physical and emotional toll of maintaining her amid relentless .

Post-war life

Demobilization and marriage

Following the Allied victory in in 1945, Travers transitioned from active wartime duties, having served as a driver and nurse with the 13e de Légion Étrangère (13e DBLE) through campaigns in and . Rather than seeking immediate separation, she applied for official enlistment in the in May 1945, deliberately omitting mention of her gender on the form; her request was approved, granting her the unprecedented status as a full Legion member and an officer's commission in the division. This extension allowed her to continue serving in amid the emerging conflict there, amid the celebrations of victory but also the uncertainties of postwar reorganization. The period marked a profound adjustment for Travers, who grappled with the emotional aftermath of her experiences, including the lingering pain from shrapnel wounds sustained at in 1942 and a deep-seated yearning for stability after years of peril. Her romantic relationship with General Marie-Pierre Koenig, which had blossomed during the , had ended by late 1943 when he returned to his wife and family, leaving Travers to process the loss quietly as she focused on her duties. In 1947, while serving in Indochina, she married Nicolas Schlegelmilch, a and fellow 13e DBLE she had met during the war; the union represented a deliberate shift from the intensity of to domestic normalcy. By 1950, as her initial five-year enlistment term concluded amid these reflections, she received an honorable discharge from the Legion upon resigning her commission to pursue a . The couple honeymooned in before settling into early married life in a modest flat on the outskirts of the city, where Travers began adapting to civilian routines while managing the psychological echoes of combat, including a reluctance to discuss her past.

Family and later residence

After demobilization, Travers and her husband had two sons in modest circumstances centered on raising the while he continued his career, leading to several moves within . From the 1950s onward, the resided in a rural home near , where they embraced a quiet, low-profile existence away from public attention. In the 1950s and 1960s, Travers took on part-time work teaching and skills to recruits, drawing on her wartime medical experience. Schlegelmilch died in 1994, after 47 years of marriage. Travers's health declined in her later years, with lingering effects from wounds contributing to frailty, , and mobility issues that confined her to a near by the late 1990s. She died on 18 December 2003 at the age of 94 in Ballainvilliers, , (near ), from undisclosed causes, survived by her two sons.

Awards and legacy

Military decorations

Susan Travers received the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 with palm in October 1942, recognizing her exceptional bravery during the breakout from Bir Hakeim, where she drove a vehicle through intense enemy fire while transporting wounded personnel. This award included a citation at the order of the army corps (Ordre du Corps d'Armée), highlighting her courage under artillery barrages, multiple bullet impacts to her vehicle, and enemy assaults. In 1956, she was awarded the , France's highest distinction for enlisted personnel, for her actions at ; the medal was personally pinned on her by General Marie-Pierre Koenig, her former commander. Travers received the Chevalier class of the Légion d'Honneur in 1996, honoring her overall service with the Free French Forces and the during and after . She was also decorated with the Médaille coloniale (with clasps for Bir-Hakeim, , , and Extrême-Orient), Officier de l'Ordre du Nichan Iftikhar, Mérite syrien (4th class), and Croix de la Liberté finlandaise.

Memoir and posthumous recognition

In 2000, at the age of 91, Susan Travers published her , Tomorrow to Be Brave: A Memoir of the Only Woman Ever to Serve in the , co-authored with Wendy Holden. The book, released in hardback by Bantam Press in the and in the United States, details her privileged upbringing in , her pre-war life across , and her wartime service with the Free French Forces. It became an international , translated into eight languages, and inspired plans for a . The memoir recounts Travers' wartime experiences, including vivid anecdotes from the Siege of , where she drove General Marie-Pierre Koenig through enemy lines under intense fire. It offers personal reflections on her decision to disguise herself as a male Legionnaire to continue serving, her romantic relationship with Koenig, and the challenges of maintaining secrecy amid the Legion's strict code of . Travers delayed writing the book until late in life to honor that , ensuring that fellow Legionnaires and key figures from her past had passed away. Post-war sections describe her quiet domestic life in after , contrasting sharply with her earlier adventures. Following her death on December 18, 2003, in Ballainvilliers, , at age 94, Travers received widespread media coverage in obituaries that highlighted her as a pioneering figure for . Publications such as The Telegraph and the praised her as the only woman ever officially enlisted in the , emphasizing her bravery during . Her funeral included elements of military honors reflective of her Legion service, underscoring her unique status. Travers' legacy endures as an icon of gender barriers in , inspiring books, articles, and scholarly discussions on women's roles in . Known affectionately as "La Miss" by her Legionnaire comrades, her story has been featured in programs and continues to symbolize female resilience in male-dominated forces.

References

  1. https://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=524
  2. https://blog.togetherweserved.com/the-only-woman-ever-to-join-the-french-foreign-legion/
  3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8271773.stm
  4. https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/susan-travers-french-foreign-legion/
  5. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/21/books/a-legionnaire-she-was-never-timid-in-amour-or-war.html
  6. https://discover.hubpages.com/education/Susan-Travers-is-the-Only-Woman-to-Serve-in-the-French-Foreign-Legion
  7. https://wilderness-ventures-egypt.com/alamein-susan-travers/
  8. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1450081/Susan-Travers.html
  9. https://listverse.com/2016/04/17/10-incredible-stories-from-the-most-badass-woman-in-world-war-ii/
  10. https://www.smh.com.au/national/to-legion-men-she-was-la-miss-20040103-gdi39v.html
  11. https://www.independent.ie/news/susan-travers/26238397.html
  12. https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-Be-Brave-Memoir-Foreign/dp/0743200012
  13. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Tomorrow-to-Be-Brave/Susan-Travers/9780743200028
  14. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jan/04/books.booksnews
  15. https://wargamingraft.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/susan-travers-of-the-french-foreign-legion/
  16. https://harkaroundthegreats.wordpress.com/2019/09/16/tomorrow-be-brave-susan-travers/
  17. https://www.facebook.com/groups/754427714964136/posts/1890748021332094/
  18. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/free-french-bir-hacheim-1942
  19. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2504/battle-of-bir-hakeim/
  20. https://books.google.com/books/about/Tomorrow_to_be_Brave.html?id=x3zzAAAAMAAJ
  21. https://www.historynet.com/french-foreign-legions-13th-demi-brigade-fought-in-world-war-ii/
  22. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/susan-travers/26238397.html
  23. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tomorrow-be-Brave-Susan-Travers/dp/0593046854
  24. https://www.wendyholden.com/tomorrow-to-be-brave.php
  25. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/227810.Tomorrow_to_be_Brave
  26. https://doyleglass.com/2021/05/16/tomorrow-to-be-brave/
  27. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/266574036/susan-mary_gillian-travers
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