UNDERGROUND WREN

Deep in the bowels of Fort Southwick, radio operator Marie Scott was one of the first to hear reports as Operation Overlord got underway, passing critical communications between the men on the beaches and high command

- LOUIS HARDIMAN

Marie Scott was just 13 at the outbreak of the Second World War, and four years later she decided it was time to play her part on the home front. However, dreading the prospect of toiling in the fields with the Women’s Land Army, she utilised her switchboard operating skills, which made her an excellent candidate for the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens). After a short time training at Mill Hill, Scott was transferred to Fort Southwick, Portsmouth. There, she was placed on the communications frontline. Little could the teenager have known, she would be taking part in one of the most important operations in world history. Working deep in the tunnels on the switchboard before becoming a VHF (Very High Frequency) radio operator, she was about to play a vital role in Operation Overlord.

Aged 97, Scott is now a retiree living in New Malden, South London. She spoke to History of War about growing up in London during the war, her time serving with the Wrens and her thoughts on remembrance as D-Day reaches its 80th anniversary.

A teenager at war

When Britain declared war on Nazi Germany, Scott was living with her family in London. Though the conflict precipitated the mass evacuation of children from the capital, her parents hated the idea of the family being separated, so they remained in London, despite the relentless bombing. The constant danger terrified Scott. “I remember one time when the Luftwaffe bombed the docks for two or three nights in succession,” she recalls. “They obliterated the docks, and the sky was red all over London. After that, we had the V-1s and V-2s. There’s nothing worse than knowing that when you hear the engine cut out, there’s going to be an explosion.”