England is a land long known for its eccentricities. From their love of pigs blood-laden black pudding for breakfast to the judicial system which insists on using syphilis-masking wigs, cheese rolling, and pope effigy burning; the English have a long and proud tradition of kookiness. Here are some of the finest oddballs England has ever produced.

Top 10 Innocuous Things Created By Eccentric Mad Men

10 John Ruskin—The Coy Wonder

All good stories of English peculiarities should begin in the same way the story of John Ruskin begins here—Notable art critic and writer John Ruskin married his cousin in 1848. (That explains A LOT in this list’s wider context, does it not?)

Ruskin’s genius is undoubted but this did not translate into charisma with the ladies. In fact, he was downright disgusted by the fairer sex. His unhappy marriage to Effie Gray was never consummated, Ruskin flat out refused to do so as well as treating her in an unfair and cruel fashion. So profound was his distaste with the female form that, when he founded the Ruskin School of Art in 1871, students were not allowed to sketch, paint or sculpt depictions of nude females…in an art school.^[1]

9 William Beckford—Lord of ‘(fall)Downton Abbey’

This bloke was a real-life ‘Ritchie Rich’, the comic book boy billionaire. Beckford inherited a stupendous £1 million in 1770 at the age of 10, (adjusted for inflation, that’s around a gazillion and a half US Dollars and 43 cents) along with a few sugar plantations in Jamaica and 1,600 African slaves. Given his newfound wealth, the young Beckford grew to enjoy and expect the finer things in life. He was an art collector, great literary mind and collector of harems of young boys to cavort with. But he had a particular penchant for gothic architecture and, like any decent, god-fearing insane millionaire novelist, decided to build himself an abbey to live in and carry on his love affair with William Courtenay, his 11 year old cousin.

After employing 500 local men for a period of six years, the brand spanking new home was completed on his sprawling Wiltshire estate. ‘Fonthill Abbey’ was put in place by builders who were liberally plied with beer in order to keep them working on the strange project; nobody could have been very surprised when the 300ft spire snapped in half. Seven years later and the tower was back up, allowing Beckford to live in peace . . . with his sole servant, a Spanish dwarf.^[2]

8 Mary Amelia ‘Emily Mary’ Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury—Mistress of the Hunt who was Gone in a Flash

When people get to the age of, say, around 70, a most curious metamorphosis occurs; the once fashionable begin to choose comfier and comfier apparel until they are little more than shrunken heaps of woolly sweaters, deck shoes and bulky cataract glasses. Imagine seeing a 90-year-old punk rocker? The first Marchioness of Salisbury, on the other hand, refused to go gentle into that loungewear-draped night.

She was quite the sportswoman, loving a good fox hunt like many of her fellow countryside-dwelling, upper class lords and ladies. Lady Cecil continued with this hobby well into her seventies and, due to her failing eyesight and poor balance, had to be tied to her horse whilst leading the hunt. She was most notable for her fashion sense, however, continuing to don the fashionable highly decorated wigs once popular when she was young. This nostalgic predilection caused her horrible death when, whilst sitting at her writing desk in the west wing of her country manor, her huge wig caught fire from one of the candelabras, causing severe damage to the house as well as taking her life. Some charred bones and a set of dentures was all that could be found of the eccentric octogenarian.^[3]

7 Henry Cavendish—Make it Rain-man

“The richest of all the savants and the most knowledgeable of all the rich” was how famed French scientist Jean Baptiste Biot described the ‘The Honourable Henry Cavendish’, a man perhaps best known as one of the most important and influential experimental chemists of the eighteenth century.

Among his most important discoveries and inventions are numerous astrological instruments, discovered the chemical composition of both air and water, worked out the properties of electrical resistance 50 years before Georg Ohm and calculated the effects of gravity on light rays over a century before Einstein and, most incredibly of all, calculated the mass of the Earth as so accurately that his conclusion has only been fine tuned, barely changing at all. He was also very reclusive and had no idea what the worth of money was. When one of the staff at his home fell ill, colleagues organised a whip around for the man and asked Cavendish to chip in. A couple of pounds would have been most generous but Cavendish, without knowing what he was doing, pledged £10,000—an amount that would be incredible today!^[4]

6 Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, Lord Berners—Typifier of the Bizarre

How’s this for logic? If you throw a cute little spaniel into water it is commonly held that it will instinctively swim, therefore, if one were to throw a cute little spaniel out of a window…that is exactly what a young Lord Berners did at his family estate. Results of the test are unavailable.

Tyrwhitt-Wilson, a strange and eccentric child, grew up to be a strange and eccentric adult. His meals were planned and served according to which colour he was in the mood for on any given day (green, one assumes, would be asparagus soup, mixed leaves, peas and a kiwi fruit fool). He built a folly tower on his estate, Faringdon in Oxfordshire, England, in 1935, despite the protestations of local planners. A sign near the completed tower read: ‘Members of the public committing suicide from this tower do so at their own risk’.

Lord Berners was a sprite, ready to play tricks and practical jokes on his friends and acquaintances. Like most of us who use trains, he loved having his own space, so he’d dress in the strangest garb possible, leaning out the window at stations to invite strangers to sit with him. Few did. Those brave enough to join the strange Lord Berners would soon leave, given his need to check his own temperature every few minutes…with a rectal thermometer.^[5]

“Here lies Lord Berners
One of the learners
His great love of learning
May earn him a burning
But, Praise the Lord!
He seldom was bored.”
– Epitaph on gravestone of Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners

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5 David James, MP for Brighton Kemptown—In Search of Nessie…and his Seat in Parliament

I reeeeeeallly want the Loch Ness Monster to be real, (along with UFOs, Bigfoot and guardian angels…the magical kind, not the vigilante guys on the streets of New York—they’re real, I think). Another person who wanted to find Nessie was the David James. The difference between he and I? I don’t actually believe that Nessie exists and I’m not the Member of Parliment for Brighton Kemptown on the south coast of England.

During the general election of 1964, James lost his seat to a challenger from the rival Labour Party, the first time they had won the seat. Despite the conventional wisdom dictating one should knock on a few doors, attend debates and kiss a few babies in your district if you want to win an election, David James had far more important plans—he was on a three-week hunt for the Scottish cryptid. Needless to say he had no luck finding his elusive aquatic dino-pal but you must admit, this was a man with a plan. A really stupid plan.^[6]

4 Admiral Algernon Charles Fieschi Henage—Cleanliness is next to Godliness, Sloppiness gets you Punished

Admiral Henage was revered, honoured with a knighthood in the Order of Bath after his retirement along with many other venerated admirals from the world’s most powerful Navy. Given that England had, perhaps, the world’s most powerful fleet ever, perhaps we should consider the practices and behaviours that allowed this dominance.

Was it daily gun drills to ensure optimal firepower at the highest possible rate? Was it an insurance that supply lines are seamless so that the men of the fleet are well fed, well watered, healthy and ready to engage? No. A clean ship was the real weapon in Admiral Henage’s view. How did he ensure this? Henage would tour his ship with a pair of white kid gloves on, a coxswain in tow with a mound of fresh gloves carried upon a silver platter, and run his finger along every possible surface in search of schmutz. Any dirt of grime found could well spell an ignominious end to an officers’ time in the Navy. And that is how Britannia ruled the waves.^[7]

3 Lady Diana Cooper—Beyond Leisure

One could write an article, (or ten articles, or a book), on the life and times of Lady Diana Cooper, the leisure-loving socialite, muse for Evelyn Waugh, and the “most beautiful girl in the world”. Let’s just focus on a couple of elements and hope that will suffice to highlight this High Priestess of English eccentricity. During the Second World War, Lady Cooper had an amazing brain wave, a way to save London from the dreadful nightly bombings the city suffered through. It was a simple idea, quite elegant in its simplicity; place giant magnets in London’s parks…the War Office didn’t adopt the plan.

The other stand-out story amongst the myriad of droll tales about Lady Cooper occurred at a reception for the 100th birthday of musician Sir Robert Mayer. Lady Cooper was schmoozing with all the well-to-do party guests and found herself chatting to a very well-dressed lady. She gabbed away in her usual, effervescent, bizarre way until she realised that the fancy lady she was blathering at was the Queen. She quickly curtseyed and offered a quintessentially Cooperian apology for her informality: “I’m terribly sorry ma’am. I didn’t recognise you without your crown on”.^[8]

2 Justice Sir Melford Stevenson—A Terrifying Wit

We’ve read about at a lot of kooky, odd folks in this article thus far and it’s fun and whimsical but imagine one of their oddballs had your life in their hands. Terrified yet? This was the case for many defendants facing a trial presided over by Justice Sir Melford Stevenson. Know for making inflammatory comments during the many trials he presided over; he called bookmakers a “bunch of crooks”, called the city of Birmingham in the Midlands of England a “municipal Gomorrah” and, during a divorce hearing, described the fact that the husband lived in Manchester as a “wholly incomprehensible choice for any free man to make”. He decided to run for parliament in 1945 and, on claiming to want a clean, smear-free campaign against his opponent Tom Driberg, promised not to mention Driberg’s “alleged homosexuality”. This non-PC judge holds the dubious record of having the most decisions overturned by the Court of Appeal in a single day, 3, to which he commented “a lot of my colleagues are just constipated Methodists”.^[9]

1 Kenneth Cecil Gandar-Dower—Not quite the Sport of Kings

England has a long tradition of multi-sports practitioners, men and women who have excelled in many sports. Nobody exemplifies this more than Kenneth Cecil Gandar-Dower who was an excellent cricketer, master of both Eton and Rugby versions of the game ‘fives’, tennis, squash, billiards—the list goes on. Kenneth Gandar-Dower was also a prolific traveller and adventurer, a pioneering aviator, discoverer of parts unknown on behalf of the Empire. He was also the inventor of the stupidest spectator sport in history.

Greyhounds are quick but they aren’t as fast as cheetahs. We make greyhounds race…catch my drift? Gandar-Dower certainly had that ‘drift’. It didn’t work. Because, as I’m sure we all know, Cheetahs are not Greyhounds. Locals became quite afraid at the notion of marauding bands of hungry cheetahs looking for a meal in West London, (the big cats didn’t really want to race, they simply wandered around searching for food). Despite the waning interest in Gandar-Dower’s weird idea, we can all salute the craziness of the man, as well as all these supreme oddballs in this list.^[10]

Top 10 Incredibly Eccentric People

About The Author: CJ Phillips is a writer and actor living in rural West Wales. He is a little obsessed with lists.

The role of the First Lady is a unique position. Each woman who has occupied the unofficial office has made it their own, taking on everything from hosting guests, holding press conferences, tackling social issues, or influencing leaders behind the scenes. But there may be some strange facts you haven’t heard about some of America’s most prominent women. Whether it’s joining an armed patrol during a Chinese rebellion, contacting spirits in the White House, or being accused of murdering the president, these are some of their most shocking stories.

10 Presidential Conspiracy Theories

10 Dolley Madison Had An Honorary Seat In Congress

Dolley Madison helped define what a first lady would be, hosting guests and addressing social problems. She campaigned for her husband, hosted events with single President Thomas Jefferon, raised funds for Lewis and Clark, and famously saved the famous portrait of George Washington from the White House when the British burned D.C. in the War of 1812. She was even the first citizen to send a message by telegraph.

In 1844, before women were even allowed to vote, Dolley Madison had a seat on the floor of the House of Representatives whenever she wanted. The former first lady enjoyed listening to the elected officials debate each other over the latest policy. Today only Members of Congress, their staff former members, and the President and Vice President are allowed on the House floor. Congress actually had the fourth first lady’s back a few other times as well. After the president died in 1836, the House paid her to publish books of James Madison’s papers. Then when she fell into poverty twelve years later, so much so that her former slave Paul Jennings was giving her money when he saw her, Congress paid her today’s equivalent of over $700,000 to buy more of the papers from her. When President Zachary Taylor gave her eulogy, he may have originated the term by referring to her as America’s “First Lady”. The alternate term of “Presidentresss” was also used by some, but it didn’t stick.^[1]

9 Lou Hoover Patrolled Her Home In China During The Boxer Rebellion

Lou Hoover was a horse-riding, roller-skating, architecture and nature buff fluent in five languages. She married her geology classmate and future president Herbert Hoover in 1899 and the newlyweds took off for China. Mrs. Hoover quickly learned Chinese, a language the couple would use when they wanted to communicate privately in front of guests at the White House. Then in 1900, the Boxer Rebellion began, a conflict in which many Chinese violently attacked foreigners because of tensions over increasing Western influence on the country.

Mrs. Hoover treated gunshot wounds, built barricades, and rode through the area on her bicycle with a pistol patrolling with Western troops. She would have to help out once again when her family was in London during the start of World War I, and she was asked by the U.S. Ambassador to organize aid for the displaced. She became a champion for Belgium while they were occupied. In the U.S., she helped organize the American Red Cross’ Canteen Escort Service to bring home wounded American soldiers. Later in her life, she helped with the founding of the Girl Scouts. During the Great Depression, which her husband struggled to control, she made regular radio broadcasts to the American people. It was a life full of outdoorsmanship and humanitarianism for the wife of one America’s least effective presidents.^[2]

8 Mary Todd Lincoln Held Seances In The White House

In the aftermath of the civil war, when 750,000 American lives were lost, there were many families across the country desperate to connect with the Great Beyond. There was a boom of “spiritualism”, or the idea that one can communicate with the dead, especially popular with the upper class. Mary Todd Lincoln had lost her mother, three of her children, and her husband, killed in front of her. But it was her son Willie’s death in 1862 that seemed to take the deepest toll on her. He was eleven when he died from typhoid fever, which sent both his parents into a deep despair and time of isolation and mourning. The demands of the civil war eventually drew out the President, who tied a black ribbon around his hat in remembrance of his son, which remained there until his own untimely demise.

Mrs. Lincoln began to visit with a group of mediums called the Lauries in order to try and reach him. She even hosted seances in the Red Room of the White House, with President Lincoln in attendance for several of them. She seemed to take deep comfort in them, writing to a relative, “Willie Lives. He comes to me every night and stands at the foot of the bed with the same sweet adorable smile that he always has had…. You cannot dream of the comfort this gives me”. Mrs. Lincoln even visited a spiritual photographer who took a photo that supposedly showed the ghostly silhouette of the late president standing over her. Even today, there are rumors that the ghost of Willie, his brother Eddie, and their father still haunt the White House today.^[3]

7 Lucretia Garfield Nursed Her Husband Back to Health After An Assassination Attempt

The love story of Lucretia and James Garfield is not the smoothest or most romantic one in the history of U.S. presidents and first ladies. He wrote in his diaries that she bored him. She was deeply upset at his adultery, and distrusted his motives for marrying her, saying that she believed it was more out of duty than love. They were apart for the early part of the marriage as he traveled in the Union army and for the state legislature. But hardship would bring them closer.

In 1881 though, Mrs. Garfield was struck with severe malaria and almost died. President Garfield was overwhelmed with this, and took over more of the childcare and education of their children. When she recovered slightly, she decided to travel to the Jersey shore to hopefully heal in the fresh air. What they didn’t know was that an attempted assassin, Charles Guiteau, was waiting at the train station to kill the President when he took her to the train. But when he saw the frail state of the first lady, he held off, worried about how witnessing the murder would effect her. On July 2nd, Guiteau did shoot James Garfield, and Mrs. Garfield rushed back to Washington to care from him, only barely healed herself. The country took great comfort in the brave face that she showed, and her calm bravery when the President did die in September, with his wife by his side. After his passing, Congress tried to pay his male doctor double the salary of his female doctor, but Mrs. Garfield stepped in and ensured that both doctors received an equal payment of $1,000.^[4]

6 Florence Harding was Accused of Murder

The death of President Warren Harding came as a shock to the nation. He was only 58 years old, well-traveled, seemingly strong and healthy. It was halfway through his term, and he was a popular president. His wife Florence had always been working behind the scenes to support his career, since his start as newspaper editor. She even once told reporters, “I have only one real hobby—my husband.” But then, President Harding embarked on a speaking tour across the country called “The Voyage of Understanding”. On a visit to Alaska, President Harding became extremely tired and confused. He passed out several times on the way back to Washington. Three days later on August 2nd 1923, he died at a hotel in San Francisco while his wife was reading to him. She told doctors he had a convulsion and then passed.

It was originally proposed that he may have been poisoned from bad crab meat. Doctors then believed he had severe pneumonia, and eventually ruled it as a stroke. But Mrs. Harding started to act suspiciously, embalming him immediately, refusing an autopsy, and destroying a number of his papers. Mrs. Harding died only a year after her husband. After her death, retired FBI agent Gaston Means published a book in 1930 accusing her of murdering Harding to protect his legacy from scandals of affairs and bribery. Later it was revealed the book was mostly fabricated. It is now believed that the President died of a heart attack.^[5]

Top 10 Faux Pas Committed By US Presidents

5 Eleanor Roosevelt Forced Newspapers to Hire Female Reporters (And May Have Had An Affair With One)

Eleanor Roosevelt is one of the country’s most famous First Ladies, and has long been regarded as a women’s rights icon. One lesser known aspect of her activism is how she insisted that only female reporters would be allowed at her press conferences. This ensured that any newspaper who wanted access to her would have to have a woman on staff. Over her husband’s twelve year term, she hosted 348 conferences, first discussing household issues, and then later on expanding to deeper political issues and bringing in special guests. This included female members of President Roosevelt’s administration and foreign dignitaries like Soong Mei-ling, wife of Chinese president Chiang Kai-Shek.

One of the female journalists, Lorena Hickok, may have been closer than just a colleague to the First Lady, or closer than even a good friend. Hickok was assigned to cover Mrs. Roosevelt in 1932, and she eventually gave up her position to move into the White House in the room next door to the First Lady. The two exchanged thousands of letters, sometimes even two a day, with one quote from Hickok reading “I want to put my arms around you and kiss you at the corner of your mouth” and another from Roosevelt “I ache to hold you close. Your ring is of great comfort. I look at it and think she does love me, or I wouldn’t be wearing it.” The women remained close their entire lives.^[6]

4 Elizabeth Monroe saved Lafeyette’s Wife From Execution

Elizabeth Monroe married future President James Monroe when she was only seventeen in 1786. The couple first lived in Virginia, but traveled as the future president began his political career. In 1794, President Washington sent them to Paris during the French revolution, as James was appointed U.S. Minister to France. There they became well-liked. Mrs. Monroe took on European fashion and social customs, and earned herself the romantic nickname of la belle Americaine. The Monroes helped to build social networks for their young country in European circles and their elegant attitudes helped warm up foreign acceptance of the United States and its new form of democracy.

Marquis de Lafayette was an American hero, one of only eight people in history to be granted honorary citizenship of the United States. His work in the Revolutionary War was instrumental in ensuring victory against Britain. The Monroes would get the chance to help repay the favor during the heat of the conflict in France, when Lafayette’s wife Adrienne de Noiolles de Lafayette was being held in prison awaiting execution by guillotine. Mrs. Monroe insisted on visiting her in prison, and this “unofficial” intervention made it clear that the Americans would not be pleased if any harm were to come to her. After this visit, Adrienne was released.^[7]

3 Edith Bolling Wilson Ran The Country and Was Descended From Pocahontas

Edith Wilson was a unique first lady in more ways than one. For one, she was the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Pocahontas, making her one four-hundred-eightieth Native American. But she made sure people knew about that connection. Despite coming from one of the oldest English families in Virginia, the Bolling family had fallen into poverty after the Civil War freed their slaves. Throughout her youth, Edith was excluded from high society. Her key to notoriety before becoming first lady was by claiming this heritage. After widow Edith married widower Woodrow Wilson in 1915, this fact was an interesting conversation starter at events.

But Edith’s more important legacy was as the unofficial first woman president of the United States. From the moment she married the incumbent President, she got to work helping him as the US entered World War I. He gave her access to classified war documents and she sat in as an advisor in meetings. Then in 1919, President Wilson had a stroke that incapacitated him. The First Lady assured everyone that he simply needed rest. She took any memos or papers for him into his room to be “reviewed” and returned them with notes. She fired the Secretary of State who held a cabinet meeting without the president. She even sent the British ambassador packing after he refused to fire an aid who had made a vulgar joke about her. She carried on like this for seventeen months, although publicly she insisted she never made any presidential decisions.^[8]

2 Anna Harrison’s Packed Bags Never Made It

When young Anna Symmes met soldier William Henry Harrison on a visit to her sister in Kentucky, there was an instant connection. Anna’s father objected to their relationship because William was not skilled in any trade other than war, despite the fact that he had been a soldier himself, but the two married secretly in 1795. After seeing the happy couple, her father eventually changed his mind. She quickly had ten children and educated them on the Indiana frontier, despite her childhood upbringing being that of a coastal elite.

In 1840, William won the presidency, but Anna had to stay at home as she recovered from an illness. Their daughter-in-law, widow Jane Harrison, took on the First Lady hosting duties temporarily until Mrs. Harrison could make the long journey safely. But before Anna had even finished packing her bags, she received devastating news. In April of 1841, President Harrison died after a single month in office from pneumonia. Congress agreed to offer Mrs. Harrison a pension equivalent to the president’s salary, and she lived until the age of 88. President Harrison was the first U.S. President to die in office, and the one with the briefest term.^[9]

1 Mary Arthur McElroy was an Anti-Suffragette

Chester Arthur went into his sudden presidency after the assassination of President Garfield as a widower. His beloved wife Ellen died of pneumonia in 1880, and the grieving president would gaze at a stained glass window that he donated in her honor at a church he could see from the White House. The president’s younger sister, Mary Arthur McElroy, would come to D.C. during the “busy season” to act as the official hostess. Although President Arthur never officially granted her the title of First Lady, she was well-liked during her events.

However, when Mrs. McElroy returned to her family home in Albany, New York during the “off-season”, she acted as a member of the Albany Association Opposed to Women’s Suffrage. In fact, Albany was a particular strong-hold for the anti-suffrage movement. The group first met in 1894, and again in 1915 and 1917. They sent A quote from one of their pamphlets read “There are still women enough left outside of the clique of female agitators, who believe that woman can always do her best work at home”, to which a suffragette publication responded “If a woman can always do her best work at home, why does the AntiSuffrage Association send Mrs. CranneI to conduct a political campaign hundreds of miles away from Albany?” Of course, the anti-suffrage movement ended in 1920, when the 19th amendment was passed giving American women the right to vote.^[10]

Top 10 Costly US Presidential Campaign Blunders

Imagine living in a time where bombs and missiles are always falling from the sky. The sounds of machine guns are heard every day plus explosions light up the night. You are in a war zone where every man and nation from all over the world is involved. These World War 2 women experienced this in the battlefields of Europe.

They were the pioneers of women being involved actively in the armies of the 20th century. These ladies were heroes in their own right some died in active duty leaving a celebrated legacy.

They took a weapon and went to the battlefield. These World War 2 women were brave and pioneer that cemented their legacy in history. They were heroes to their people and country. So let’s check out these women heroes of WWII, one by one. Because when you know them, you can know the impact they made on history.

10. Hannie Schaft

A Dutch resistance fighter commonly referred as the girl with the red hair that rebelled against the German occupation of her country, the Netherlands.

She was born in 16th September 1920; she was interested in politics from a young age. Therefore for her to pursue studies in law at the University of Amsterdam was the most logical thing to do.

In 1940 the Germans invaded forcing the Netherlands to surrender. But the Germans had a condition for all university students, that they sign an allegiance form to the Germans. Hannie Schaft and almost 80% of all the university students’ refused therefore they were not allowed to continue their studies.

When the Germans started targeting Dutch Jews, she sought to help them by giving them fake identities to have free movement. She mostly did courier work like transporting weapons and documents.

As she became more involved in the Dutch resistance the missions become more risky like assassinations and blowing up German positions. In one such assassination mission, she was with a fellow resistance fighter; they shot at their target when the Germans spotted them. They couldn’t make out who Hannie was but her red hair was visible. This was where the name, the girl with the red hair became her main characterization.

This eventually led for her to become a wanted person by the Germans.

To ensure that she doesn’t get caught she dyed her hair black and wore glasses. This disguise worked for a while but when she was caught in 1945 at a German checkpoint. She had a pistol and a banned socialist paper.

Schaft was later identified as the girl with the red hair. She was interrogated and tortured but didn’t provide any information to the Germans.

Eventually the Germans set out to execute her and on 17th April 1945 Dutch Nazi officials murdered her. Two men were assigned that task. One shot her only wounding her. She told him, “I shoot better!” this is where the other man delivered the final shot.

She was a great resistance figure to the Dutch that she is even commemorated to this day. A statue was erected in her honor. She’s among the iconic World War 2 women in the Netherlands.

9. Mariya Oktyabrskaya

Hell has no fury than a scorned woman. This best describes Mariya and how she found herself in the battlefields of the Second World War.

She was born in 16th August 1905 in Ukraine during the Soviet era. In 1925 at the age of 20 years she got married to a Soviet soldier Ilya Oktyabrskaya. When Germany invaded in 1941 her husband went to serve in the frontline.

Unfortunately she got news that her husband llya died in August 1941 fighting the Nazis. This angered her greatly that she took an action that would alter her life and be forever remembered in history. She sold all of her possessions and decided to purchase a tank (T-34) that she would use to personally fight the Nazis.

She personally wrote a letter to the Soviet leader Stalin to be allowed to drive the tank and name it the Fighting Girlfriend. Stalin offered approval and she underwent 5 months of tank training. Most male soldiers thought this was a publicity stunt.

The training was over and the Fighting Girlfriend saw action in 1943 with the 16th Guards Tank Brigade. Her courage was evidenced here as the Fighting Girlfriend was able to breach German lines earning admiration from her male counterparts.

In another battle she risked her life to continue fighting. Her T-34 tank was hit and the tread damaged, instead of waiting for help she got out of the tank and repaired it herself. She managed to do this and continued fighting. This move on her part was insane, risky and crazy because bullets and missiles were still flying around, it’s a war.

Sadly the 17th of January 1944 would be last time the Fighting Girlfriend would terrorize the Germans. It was during a night attack on a heavily fortified German position. Her T-34 was spearheading the assault and German fire was focused on her. They managed to destroy the treads stalling the tank, as usual Mariya got out of the tank to repair it.

This is where she was wounded badly, shrapnel managed to hit her head rendering her unconscious. She was rushed to a medical facility where she was in a coma for two months but eventually succumbed. Mariya died on 15th March 1944 at just 38 years old. She was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union for her bravery and heroism.

8. Nancy Wake

A World War 2 veteran that was an active French resistance fighter, this former journalist replaced her camera for the gun.

She was actually born in New Zealand on 30th August 1912 but the family didn’t settle there, they moved to Australia. Her rebellious nature and desire to be free from parents was evidenced when she ran away from home at just the age of 16 years. She got a job as a nurse and by 1932 she left Australia to explore Europe.

She landed in Paris, France and got a job as a journalist on the Hearst newspaper. This was at the time Hitler and the Nazi party popularity was rising in Germany.

Her assignments included reporting on the rise of the Nazi party and Hitler in 1935 Germany. Her visits to Vienna showed the scale of brutality of the Nazi gangs. They would beat up Jewish men and women and this act left a lasting impression on Nancy Wake.

She was angry and vowed to resist this new rising power in Germany. This beautiful woman eventually got married to a wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca in 1939. They were both pivotal in the coming resistance.

In 1940 the war started with Germany invading Belgium, Netherlands and France who were forced to surrender. France was now controlled by the Germans, Nancy Wake was first an ambulance driver that she used to ferry Allied soldiers and Jews out of France to Spain.

The couple, Henri and Nancy, became part of the French resistance. But the Gestapo uncovered her and put a price tag of 5 million francs for her capture. Her husband persuaded her go to England to evade capture.

In England she worked in the French Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in 1943. What she learned was pivotal to the success of D-Day and liberation of France. In 1944 she was parachuted to France to meet the French Resistance fighters to organize/prepare them for France liberation. She was also a liaison between the fighters and the British. She did this although she was the most wanted person by the Germans.

Nancy and the fighters became involved in the destruction and blowing up of German posts, convoys, bridges and supply lines. In one such mission she had to fight a German soldier in hand combat where she killed him using a judo-chop technique. She also travelled for 300 kilometers on a bike for a 72 hour period to deliver a message to London passing through German checkpoints. Her radio had been damaged by German fire.

She was nicknamed by the Germans as the White Mouse because she evaded capture. She utilized bribes, her feminine/flirtatious nature and her ability to create a convincing story to avoid capture. Unfortunately after the war she was told news that her husband was executed by the Germans because he wouldn’t betray her.

The story of Nancy Wake is that of courage, love, determination and doing the right thing. She had awards/ medals from various countries such as the Officer of the Legion of Honor from France and the Medal of Freedom from the United States.

Nancy Wake died at the age of 98 on 7th August 2011. She showed how World War 2 women were central in the war effort and victory.

7. Marina Raskova

She was the architect of the all-female military aviation unit of the Soviet Air Force that ran successful missions against Hitler’s Germany.

She was born in 28th March 1912 to middle class parents who wanted her to become a musician. Unlike most Soviet aviators she never showed interest in flying at a young age and it wasn’t her goal. She eventually quit on her music ambitions and started studying chemistry.

By 1931 she had graduated and was working with the Soviet Air Force in the Aero Navigation Laboratory. By 1933 aged 19 she became the first female navigator in the Soviet Air Force.

She therefore had a pilot’s license and became a teacher or instructor at the Zhukovskii Air academy. Before the war Marina Raskova was a Soviet heroine due to her record breaking flights. One such flight was the Flight of Rodina from Moscow to Komsomolsk. She did it with other two female aviators and was the first women to receive the Hero of the Soviet Union medal.

Then the invasion of the Soviet Union happened in 1941 where Raskova role was pivotal. Due to her influence she managed to persuade Soviets Joseph Stalin to form an all-female flying regiment. She divided these aviators into three regiments: 586 Fighter Regiment, 587 Bomber Regiment, and 588 Night Bomber Regiment.

Their mark on the war was made with female regiment aviators like 21 year old Lilya Litvak (White Rose of Stalingrad) causing havoc in the skies.

Although they had planes that were slow and less advanced than the German fighter planes. They mostly conducted their missions or bombing raids at night, and the Germans nicknamed them as the Night Witches.

Marina Raskova was not only the architect or commander but was actively involved in the war or missions. On one mission she was on the frontline and was leading two damaged planes back to safety. Her plane was hit therefore she was forced to make a forced landing in banks of River Volga.

She died on the 4th of January 1943, she received a state funeral and buried in the Kremlin. As part of remembering or commemorating her, streets are named after her and postage stamps have her portrait.

6. Lilya Litvyak

A Russian female fighter pilot that served in the Second World War and credited with the record of most kills by a fighter pilot. She was part of the soviet air force and heeded the call to serve when the Germans invaded in 1941.

Lilya was born in 18th August 1921 where by the age of 15 she performed her first solo flight and graduated from the Kherson military flying school. She became a flight instructor at Kalinin Air club.

When the invasion happened, she volunteered to join the aviation unit but her lack of experience was a hindrance. She therefore exaggerated her experience as a pilot to serve in the Soviet Air Force. She was part of a female regiment of fighter pilots in the 586 Fighter Regiment.

Her first mission was over the Port City Saratov where she flew defensive missions. Her first kill came about when her unit was transferred to the battle of the city of Stalingrad. On 13th September 1942 she had her first two kills becoming the first woman to shoot down an enemy plane.

As she began to rack up more kills and missions her fame rose throughout Europe. She was mostly referred to as the White Rose of Stalingrad because of how she used to pick roses and place them in the cockpit before any mission.

Unfortunately 1st August 1943 was her last mission, in the Battle of Kurskshe she came under attack in Ukraine. She was pursued by as many as eight (8) German fighter planes where they all disappeared in the clouds. It’s most likely she was hit and crashed although controversy still exists concerning her death.

She was 21 years old by this time and had achieved 12 solo victories over the German Air Force. She was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. There is a museum dedicated for her with all her achievements in war.

5. Major Lyudmila Pavlichenko

She was the most famous and successful female sniper of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. In 1941 this young woman that joined to fight Hitler’s army when they invaded the Soviet Union.

Born in 1916 in modern day Ukraine, from a young age she was an amateur sharpshooter and was in the OSOAVIAKhIM shooting club. Before the invasion started, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a history student at Kiev University.

When the invasion started, she halted her studies to join military service but the recruiter wanted her to be a nurse. Her refusal of this request managed her to be part of a unit to fight the Germans. She was part of the Red Army and was involved in battles of Greece and Moldova.

In her first 75 days as a Red Army soldier she had managed to kill 187 Germans. She was such a feared sniper that the Germans actually nicknamed her ‘Lady Death.’

But in 1942 she was wounded taking shrapnel to the face. She was retired from active service having 309 kills including 29 German snipers.

Lyudmila = was widely publicized as a hero as postage stamps had her portrait. She eventually toured Canada and the USA, meeting President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She was well received in both countries with crowds gathering to see and listen to her.

She cemented herself as one of best World War 2 women snipers that terrorized the Nazis.

Lyudmila eventually went back to Kiev University to finish her history studies. By this time she had already been awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. She died at the age of 58 on 10th October 1974.

4. Mariana Dragescu

She was a Romanian military pilot who was part of the White Squadron which was an all-female medical evacuation unit. This unit was involved in the 2nd World War and the planes were piloted by women.

She was born in Southern Romania on 7th September 1912. By 1935 at the age of 23 she graduated from aviation school becoming among the first Romanian women to have a pilot license. By 1938 she joined the Royal Aero Club and by 1940 she was part of the White Squadron.

When the war started Romania was allied with Germany and by 1941 Mariana Dragescu and the White Squadron were involved in the invasion of the Soviet Union. They were involved in transportation, rescue missions and especially evacuating the wounded.

The war wasn’t going as planned as Germany was in retreat mode from the Allies. This is where Romanian officials staged a coup in 1944 and joined the allies. Under this new alliance she continued her role in the Romanian Air Force.

As the war was coming to an end Mariana Dragescu had successfully managed to fly more than 15,000 soldiers to safety. She was able to fly them from the battlefields of Europe to medical facilities.

Unfortunately under the Romanian Communist regime her role and the White Squadron contribution were mostly ignored. When the Communist regime fell in 1989 their story became widely recognized and honored.

In 2003 she was awarded the Order of the Star of Romania. She actually served on both sides of the warring factions. Mariana was the longest living member of the White Squadron, but on 24th March 2013 she died at the age of 100 years. She was a pioneer among World War 2 women that took to the skies.

3. Yevdokiya Zavaliy

She was a 16 year old girl that lied about her age so that she can take part in World War 2. She was born in 28th may 1926 in Ukraine during the Soviet era in the Nikolayev Region. Her first introduction to the reality of war came about when her village was bombed by German warplanes and seeing soldiers injured lying in pools of blood. Zavaliy didn’t just stand by but immediately helped the injured soldiers by bandaging their wounds with bed sheets.

This is where she met the commander of the unit and persuaded him to take her, but lied that she was 18 years old for the officer to agree. Her first role was to be a nurse as women were not allowed to serve in the battles. During her role as a nurse she managed to teach herself on the use of guns.

Her drive to be an active soldier was so strong that she shaved her head and wore men’s military uniform. This was enough for most soldiers to mistake her to be a man.

Her disguise managed Zavaliy to be sent to the frontline. Senior Sergeant Yevdokim Zavaliy with the 6th Airborne Brigade was sent to battle near Goryachy Kluch. She took part in other battles under this new male identity.

In one such battle (Mozdok late 1942); her troops were starving due to lack of food and limited ammunition supplies making them vulnerable. This is where Zavaliy showed her heroism and leadership as she mounted a night raid across a river to a German camp, where she stole ammunition and provisions before sailing away.

Zavaliy lie was eventually exposed when in the battle at Kuban Region she was injured seriously. During treatment doctors discovered that she was a woman but due to her many successes she wasn’t court martialed or ordered to be a nurse. She was okay to continue her military service and was also promoted to commander.

A 17 year old Yevdokiya Zavaliy became commander of a submachine gunner platoon in 1943. Under her command this platoon achieved success in the Battle of Crimea and they were always on the forefront. The German feared her so much that they nicknamed her ‘Frau Black Death.’

Eventually at just 21 years old Zavaliy retired from active service in 1947. She settled in Kiev with 40 medals such as the Medal “For Courage”. She died on 5th May 2010 as a World War hero.

2. Hazel Ying Lee

The first Chinese-American military pilot that was central in the Second World War. Born in 1912 in Portland, Oregon to Chinese immigrants at a time where discrimination for the Chinese was rampant. After her high school education she got a job as an elevator operator because it was the only job available to Chinese-Americans.

At age 19 she joined the Chinese Flying Club of Portland and later earned her pilot license. This motivated her to fly professionally but opportunities were few in America for her. This is where she moved to china hoping to join the Chinese Air Force and help in fighting the invading Japanese. But she was turned down because she was a woman; instead she was given a desk job in Canton.

As the Japanese moved through China taking over territories, Canton fell and Hazel Ying Lee fled to Hong Kong. She later moved back to the US where the Women Air force Service Pilots (WASPs) program was introduced in 1943. This is where World War 2 women like Hazel made their mark.

Their role was to deliver military aircraft to ships and docks where they would be used in the warzones of Europe. Although she did these flights at night and during the winter with open cockpits, she didn’t stop flying.

She was such a skilled pilot that in 1944 she was one of the 130 women selected to fly the faster and advanced pursuit airplanes. They were to deliver these warplanes to assigned points in the US. At one such mission Hazel Ying Lee faced her death.

She was on assignment to deliver a warplane but bad weather had delayed her. When the weather cleared, the flight controllers told her to take off but other warplanes were coming in to land. This led to Hazel Ying Lee colliding with the other plane bursting into flames. Hazel Ying Lee was pulled out from the plane with severe injuries and 3 days later she was dead.

Hazel Ying Lee and the WASPs were recognized for their role and service to America.

1. Roza Shanina

A 19 year old young woman who was a Soviet sniper that served during the Second World War. She was born on 3rd April 1924 in Russia to Anna (mother) and Yegor (father). Her father had served in the First World War. She had other siblings that served in the Second World War but unfortunately three of her brothers were killed in action.

On 22nd June 1941 Nazi forces invaded the western border of the Soviet Union. By the end of the year (1941) Nazi forces began bombing Arkhangelsk where Roza was studying. This is where she joined the Soviet army as a volunteer for air raid duty. But when her brother died in the Siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in December 1941 she had the desire to go to the frontline.

But women were not allowed to join and serve but due to the high losses the Soviet army suffered, women were allowed to serve. She joined the women sniper unit created and excelled as she became a skilled sniper. By 1944 she had graduated and given a job as a sniper instructor but she wanted to go and serve in the frontline. She declined the job and opted to be in active duty.

This was the beginning of her fame and legendary nature where she had 59 confirmed kills. At just the age of 20 this young woman was an elite sniper. Although being a legend she wasn’t invincible, at one instance she was shot by enemy fire on her right shoulder.

Her braver and courage led her to become the first woman to be awarded the Order of Glory because she killed 13 enemy soldiers while subjected to artillery and machine gun fire.

She was also referred to as the Unseen Terror of East Prussia by a Canadian newspaper and also soviet newspaper featured her in their stories. On 27th January 1945 during the East Prussian Offensive her platoon was under constant German fire. She was severely wounded when shielding an artillery commander, shrapnel hit her chest.

Sadly Roza Shanina was dead therefore was killed in action. She was honored by streets being named after her and a museum in her village (Yedma) dedicated to her. She was one of the famous World War 2 women in Europe.

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