Women who changed the course of history at D-Day

As we mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, Guy Walters explains the success of the crucial amphibious invasion was contingent on some almost-forgotten heroes

- Guy Walters

It is still the biggest seaborne invasion in history, when around 156,000 Allied troops landed on beaches along Normandy to fight their way into Nazi-occupied France thus setting the path to victory. As the living memory of that day fades, King Charles noted in his moving address at the 80th-anniversary commemorations: “It is our duty to ensure that we and future generations do not forget their service and their sacrifice in replacing tyranny with freedom.”

While we rightly commemorate those who served and the armed forces on all sides of the conflict who died on D-Day, it is important to remember that it was not just men who played a role during the invasion or indeed paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Tens of thousands of women contributed to the greatest amphibious invasion ever mounted, in a huge variety of roles – from secret agents to switchboard operators, and from nurses to mapmakers and the only woman to land on Normandy that day. For too long, these stories have been rather hidden, and it seems fitting that on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, we finally bring them to light.

The radio operator: Marie Scott

On 6 June 1944, a 17-year-old Marie Scott found herself in a deep tunnel below Fort Southwick near Portsmouth, the subterranean communications hub for Shaef – the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. A member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, or Wrens, for just three months, the young Marie had originally been trained as a switchboard operator, but during the build-up to the big day, she had been tasked with sending and receiving messages on what she had been told was a “VHF set”.