Tomorrow to be Brave by Susan Travers

This is a compelling autobiography of a remarkable, unsung heroine, who played a key role in campaigns of the Free French troops during the Second World War, particularly in North Africa. After the war she became a regular serving officer in the Foreign Legion – the only women ever to do this. Hers was a life of bravery, adventure, and passion. Her book will be greatly enjoyed by both readers who like biography and those interested in military history.

You’d think that we’d all know the name of the only woman ever to join the French Foreign Legion, who won medals for her heroism in the Africa Campaign during the Second World War, who had a passionate affair with the Commander of the Free French and the Foreign Legion in North Africa, General Koenig. But Susan Travers chose to wait until “everyone had gone and I was left alone with my medals” to tell of the role she played, and why.

Born in 1909 in London, Susan Travers moved to the south of France in her teens. When the Second World War broke out, she signed up with the French Red Cross as a nurse. She saw her first active service in Finland, then volunteered to join the Free French troops when they went to Africa. Determined not to be left on the sidelines of the war or stick to the expected roles a woman would play, she ended up as driver to General Koening, which saw her in the heat of battle.

Susan Travers was awarded the Military Medal and the Legion d’Honneur for leading a convey of men and vehicles breaking out from the siege by Rommel of Bir Hakeim, across the minefields of no-man’s-land and past Rommel’s Panzer tanks. After the war she became a regular serving officer in the Foreign Legion – the only women ever to do this.

Her writing is personal and intense, filled with details of events. Susan Travers may say her greatest regret was not to have been born a boy, but in her life she saw adventures and achieved things many a boy would never.