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World War II ‘white angel’ French nun dies aged 103

A French nun who was called "the white angel" by Canadian soldiers she saved during one of the worst single disasters to befall Allied armies during World War II has died aged 103, authorities said Saturday.

Published: 21 April 2018 15:17 CEST

World War II 'white angel' French nun dies aged 103

Sister and former nurse Marie-Agnes Valois lays down flowers in front of a memorial near Dieppe in 2012. Photo: AFP

Sister Agnes-Marie Valois died on Thursday in a monastery, officials in the northern town of Dieppe said.

She tended to wounded soldiers in the Dieppe Raid of August 19th, 1942, when a 6,000-strong force of Canadian and British troops lost 4,131 men — they were killed, wounded or captured in just six hours while briefly seizing a Channel port held by the Germans.

Valois saved several lives by persuading German officials to tend to some of the wounded and also stole German rations to feed the injured.

The raid, codenamed Operation Jubilee, was the first time the Canadian army had engaged in the European theatre of the war.

Her father was an industrialist in the French city of Rouen. Born in 1914, Agnes Valois trained as a nurse with the Red Cross before joining the Augustine order in 1936.

READ ALSO: Preserved in time: WWII bunker hidden under Paris train station

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How France will mark VE day on May 8th

French President Emmanuel Macron and some military will be attending this year's commemoration in Paris, as they did here, in 2019. Photo: Martin BUREAU / various sources / AFP

Why do we mark May 8th?

First a brief history. May 8th marks the formal acceptance by the Allies of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces in 1945.

Popularly known as VE Day (Victory in Europe Day), it marks the date when World War II ended in Europe.

Some fighting continued around the world, however. The United States dropped its atomic bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki months later, in August, and all hostilities officially ceased on September 2nd 1945.

But in Europe, May 8th brought the end of the Nazi threat and a promise of brighter times ahead.

How is May 8th commemorated in France?

France is one of the few European countries that have made May 8th a public holiday and most people get the day off work when it falls on a weekday (this year it will be on a Saturday, so unfortunately no extra day off).

READ ALSO The French holiday calendar for 2021

In normal times, without Covid-19, May 8th is majestically marked with a large ceremony in Paris and smaller celebrations in towns and cities across the country.

Last year’s event, although it marked the 75-year-anniversary, was a small-scale one compared to other years, as France was still under its first nationwide, strict lockdown.

President Emmanuel Macron did go ahead with the wreath-laying ceremony at the Champs-Elysées, keeping with the tradition for French heads of state.

What’s on this year?

The 2021 commemorations will also be less grand than other years as several Covid-19 restrictions remain in place in France.

IN DETAIL: France’s new calendar for reopening after Covid restrictions

As last year, Macron will lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe, which stands at the top of the Champs Elysées, in the presence of “a restricted number of public officials and military,” the French Defence Ministry said a press statement.

The ceremony will be closed to the public, though it will be possible to watch it live on television.

Regional authorities – the préfets – have permission to organise ceremonies in their areas, though “in a restricted format and while strictly respecting social distancing measures,” the statement read. These ceremonies will also be closed to the public.

Mayors can also lay wreath at war memorials in their communes, in ceremonies that, again, have to be in line with health rules and be closed to the public.

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