Editing Susan Travers

{{Short description|British nurse and ambulance driver}}
{{For|the actress|Susan Travers (actress)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Susan Travers
| image         = Susan travers tisk.jpg
| image_size    = 250px
| caption       = 
| birth_date    = 23 September 1909
| death_date    = {{death date and age|df=y|2003|12|18|1909|9|23}}
| birth_place   = [[Kensington]], [[London]], England
| death_place   = [[Ballainvilliers]], [[Île-de-France]], France
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = France
| branch        = [[French Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1940–1948
| rank          = ''[[Chief warrant officer|Adjudant-chef]]''
| unit          = [[French Foreign Legion]]
| battles       = [[World War II]]
*[[Battle of Bir Hakeim]]
[[First Indochina War]]
| awards        = [[Légion d'honneur|Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur]]<br/>[[Croix de guerre 1939-1945]]<br/>[[Médaille coloniale]]<br/>[[Order of Glory (Tunisia)|Officier de l'Ordre du Nichan Iftikhar]]<br/>[[Médaille militaire]]
| spouse        = Nicolas Schlegelmilch
| children      = 2
}}
'''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]].{{sfn|Travers|Holden|2001|p=249}} 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]].

==Early life==
Travers was born in [[Kensington]] and spent her early years in England, the daughter of Francis Eaton Travers, a [[Royal Navy]] [[Admiral]],{{sfn|Holden|2009}} and his wife Eleanor Catherine ({{née|Turnbull}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=7cfS%2Fd6cWWgOxtUVkjxsmg&scan=1|title=Index entry|accessdate=13 June 2022|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}</ref>

==World War II==
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.{{sfn|Holden|2009}} After the [[Battle of France|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|date=April 2018}} 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".{{sfn|Holden|2009}}

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.{{sfn|Holden|2009}}

In May 1942, the 1st Free French Brigade was posted at [[Bir Hakeim]], the southern end of the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|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]]. [[Battle of Bir Hakeim|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|date=April 2018|reason=The BBC article states she remained with Kœnig throughout the battle}} 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|date=April 2018|reason=all since the last citation but specifically the sentence about the car}}

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.{{sfn|Holden|2009}} Travers stated:

{{blockquote|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.{{sfn|Holden|2009}} }}

At 10:30&nbsp;a.m. on 11 June, the column entered British lines. Travers' vehicle had eleven bullet holes,{{sfn|Holden|2009}} with a shock absorber destroyed and the brakes unserviceable.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

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 (World War II)|Italian Campaign]] and the [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]] (in France and Germany), during which she was wounded when she drove over a land mine.{{sfn|Holden|2009}}

==Post-war==
After the war, her military status was regularized. She applied to and was formally enrolled in the ''Légion Étrangère'', as an ''[[Chief warrant officer|adjudant-chef]]''.{{sfn|Holden|2009}}

Travers served in Indochina. She married Legion ''[[Chief warrant officer|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.{{sfn|Holden|2009}}

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 (born 1961)|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}}).{{sfn|Holden|2009}}

== Decorations ==
* [[Légion d'honneur]]
* [[Croix de guerre 1939–1945|Croix de Guerre]]
* [[1939–1945 Commemorative war medal (France)|Médaille commémorative 1939–1945]] with clasp – "Afrique" – "Italie" – "Libération"
* [[Colonial Medal|Médaille Coloniale]], du mérite syrien de 4e classe
*  Croix de libération finlandaise
* [[Order of Glory (Tunisia)|Officier de l'Ordre du Nichan Iftikhar]] 
* [[Médaille militaire]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{citation |last=Holden|first=Wendy| title=The only woman in the French Foreign Legion | website=BBC News | date=24 September 2009 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8271773.stm}}
*{{citation |last=Travers |first=Susan |last2=Holden |first2=Wendy |year=2001 |title=Tomorrow to be Brave|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x3zzAAAAMAAJ |location=New York |publisher=Free Press |isbn=0-7432-0001-2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-19915939.html (German) ''La Miss und die Legionäre'', Der Spiegel, 34/2001]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Travers, Susan}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France)]]
[[Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:French military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the First Indochina War]]
[[Category:Women in war in France]]
[[Category:People educated at Heathfield School, Ascot]]
[[Category:British women memoirists]]
[[Category:French women in World War II]]
[[Category:Female recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France)]]
[[Category:20th-century British memoirists]]
[[Category:20th-century French women]]