Mona Parsons was born in 1901 in Middleton, Nova Scotia. 

Through her marriage to a Dutch businessman, she settled in the Netherlands in 1937.  In May 1940, Germany occupied the Netherlands and it was then that Parsons joined a resistance unit.  She sheltered and helped downed Allied airmen to escape back to Britain.  She was eventually reported and arrested by the Germans.  Initially sentenced to be executed, her sentence was reduced to hard labour as the judge was impressed with the dignity she demonstrated during the trial and urged her to appeal.  She spent nearly four years in various German labour camp until she escaped in March 1945 and she walked her way back to Holland.

Mona Parsons is thought to be the only female Canadian civilian who was sentenced to the German labour camps during the Second World War. 

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Credit:  Veteran Affairs Canada