Tomorrow to Be Brave: A Memoir of the Only Woman Ever to Serve in the French Foreign Legion

I'm a student of military history. I read a good deal of stuff on the Second World War, studying various battles and campaigns. A few months ago I read John Bierman and Colin Smith's book on the battle of Alamein, and it included information about a woman who'd been in the French Foreign Legion, and served during the battle of Gazala as General Pierre Koenig's driver, enduring the bombardment and siege of Bir Hakeim. I was interested in this, and obtained a copy of the book. Whoa! Susan Travers, now in her 90's, has a story to tell.The daughter of well-to-do English parents who lived in France for most of her adolesence, Travers spent most of the thirties on the continent, playing tennis, gambling, and cavorting with a series of lovers who were all uninterested in settling down with her. When World War II began, she decided to turn her independant streak (which had led to her learning to drive a car) into an asset, and join the armed forces, fighting for the Allies somehow. She wound up in the French army, trained as a nurse, drove an ambulance briefly in Finland, and then wound up in Africa.There she served briefly in the campaign in Ethiopia, then was moved to Syria. Here, the doctor that she usually drove for was greviously wounded, and his replacement couldn't stand the thought of a female driver. He complained to his superior, and the next thing Travers knew she was driving for Pierre Koenig, who at the time was a colonel in the Free French army fighting in Syria. Soon the campaign was over, and Travers could set up house with the married Koenig for several months, because the colonel's wife was conveniently absent.Their affair, however, had to remain secret for the most part. She stayed his driver when the unit he commanded was transferred to the Western Desert in Libya. Soon, the British ordered all women out of the Front lines, but she contrived to make her way back, and was at the post the Free French brigade held for most of the battle. This was Bir Hakeim, a crossroads in the desert that had been fortified with trenches and bunkers dug in the desert floor. Bir Hakeim was the southernmost part of the Allied position at the Battle of Gazala, and it was an important one. After initially attempting to take it quickly by storm, the Germans bypassed it and left its capture to the Italians, who repeatedly failed. The Germans then returned and also failed, and when the post was finally worn down to the point defense was no longer an option, the garrison surprised everyone by breaking out and escaping in their vehicles.The Bir Hakeim battle makes up the middle quarter or so of the book, and it's a marvelous story. Travers was Koenig's driver for the whole battle, which means that when the breakout occurred, she drove the general's car. The car was hit by numerous bullets, but she and her passengers survived without being harmed.After the battle, she and the general had to separate (the German propaganda machine made a thing of their affair) and she spent most of the rest of the war driving an ambulance or doctors. When the war ended she managed to enlist in the Foreign Legion, and served several years in overseas posts. Eventually she married a legionnaire, had children, and left the legion herself. When her husband finally passed away, she decided it was time to tell her story. I'm very glad she did.

Since this is a memoir and a tell-all version, the author chose to keep her notes until after certain people named in her book had passed. Starting out as a nurse as the only way an upper crust English girl could join the war effort, she signed on with French forces because she was residing in France living the good life at the time. She found inursing a boring job since the nurses were not in the heat of action and recruited herself as an ambulance drive, which she found more to her likeing. Later, she was requisitioned to be a personal driver for top brass. Being well-liked and a free spirit got her far in certain circles and got her where she wanted to go--into the thick of things in Africa. A great read without so much technical jargon to bog it down but enough that you know she knows. Very eye-opening as to the life she led from balls and soirees to the heat of battle.

This is the memoirs of the only woman to have ever served in the French Foreign Legion and oww boy is it a good read!Her story takes her from socialite to the front lines and then to the legion where she met the man she loved and won 3 of Frances highest medals in 4 hours. Her story will give you such great insight into the French mindset during the 2nd World War and into how something as complicated as the Foreign Legion fighting itselfs could happen.Her story was well written, a pleasure to read and deserves to be remembered!Legio, Patria, Nostra

My favorite reading subj is WWI and WWII and most books will entertain me for 2-3 days. I finished this one in 1 day.

This autobiography reads like a novel: 276 pages consumed in just a few days. What a remarkable life she had, particularly during the war years. Her account of the Battle of Bir Hakeim is both riveting and informative. As for her personal life . . . let's just say that she was quite frank and honest. It's such a cliché to say this, but I am surprised that no-one, to my knowledge, has made a move out of this woman's experiences. It has all the makings: adventure, bravery, romance, hope, triumph, and bittersweet disappointment.

A great read, almost as much about love as about war. The book does illuminate a few things that I had not grasped before. That bad feelings between the Free French and Vichy forces lasted so long and were so strong, most of what I read just glossed over the issue after the Syrian campaign. That her eventual marriage to a NCO when she was a Warrant Officer so completely alienated from both groups, even from her friends was a surprising since most members of both groups were happy or at least willing to accept her before. As whole the book comes across as authentic and moving.

I found this book to be very interesting to read through all her trials and tribulations she came out on top, not a quitter.

This is a great story. The narrative and first hand accounts are amazing. Well worth the reading.

Bien recu de livre

a gripping riviting ta;e!

Very good read.Totally enjoyable memoirs.I didn't know about Susan Travers before reading this book, even though I have read many books about the French Foreign Legions.What a broad!She led a wicked life, as she herself said and managed to gather quite a fruit salad along the way as well as a nice little family.From a loveless childhood in England to an adolescence in France and a privileged life all over Europe as a semi-professional tennis players to volunteering to serve for France in WW II, then motherhood, retirement and at he sunset of her life, writing her memoirs so that her grandchildren "can read what a wicked lady her grandma was".Sure some would claim that she was the "mistress" but if not one legionary questions your status about being a legionary (and she is to date, the only woman legionary in the French foreign legion), it is because they know that first and foremost, she was one them, sharing the hardships, the dangers, not firing a shot in anger and yet driving fearlessly towards the enemy to get the wounded to the hospitals or leading the break-out from Bir-Hakeim with legion legend Colonel Prince Amilakvari at her side and her general (Pierre Koenig, hero of Bir-Hakeim) behind her!This woman led a free life, ahead of her time in many ways and deserves only our respect!Read her story, enjoy it and cherish it!

The only women in the foreign legion.....driver/lover of a French general...present at the siege of Bir Hakim...joined the Free French in Africa from there to Syria, the Western Desert and Vietnam. What we have here is a redacted (and I suspect) sanitized version as Ms.Travers reedited her diaries...nevertheless a remarkable lady with an gripping life...easy to read, informative ......thoroughly recommended

From the moment I started the first page I did not sleep until I had finished it. I felt it my duty to be exhausted in order to pay the tiniest of homage to one of the most incredible human beings I have ever had the privilege of reading about.Were war to break out today I wonder wether the spirit, bravery and downright cheekiness of this amazing woman could ever be matched by either a male or female.This book is written in such a way that you are transported so vividly into battle that you can almost hear, see, feel and experience what is happening on every page. It is brutally forthcoming in every aspect and takes you on a roller coaster of laughter and absolute despair.As is the way of all true heroes, their legacy is often only recognised long after it is due and usually at the skill of an incredible writer.Thank you Wendy Holden for allowing me the honor of a simple glimpse into what can only be described as a remarkable life of a lady I truly regret not ever being able to meet.