French honour for woman who operated D-day switchboard

A FORMER switchboard operator at the communications headquarters for the D-day landings is being awarded the highest French decoration.

Marie Scott was 17 years old when she was involved in listening to and collating messages for Operation Overlord – the Allied invasion of Europe – at Fort Southwick, Portsmouth, Hants.

Now, the 92-year-old, from New Malden, south-west London, is being presented with the Légion d’honneur for her role in the 1944 invasion to liberate western Europe from the Nazis.

As part of events to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-day landings in June, Ms Scott will travel with the Taxi Charity to Normandy with a group of 30 Second World War veterans.

She will be officially presented with the Légion d’honneur by a French general at the Memorial Pegasus museum in Normandy on June 5.

She said: “I am truly overwhelmed to receive the Legion of Honour for the part we played in the D-day landings.

“Very few women have received this medal and it is a true honour.

“Being officially presented with the medal at the Pegasus Museum on June 5, surrounded by a group of World War Two veterans, will be a very moving experience.”

The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans was formed in Fulham in 1948 and arranges trips for veterans from all conflicts.

A spokesman for the charity said: “Working on the switchboard in Fort Southwick, Marie would pass messages from the continent to the leaders of Operation Overlord – Gen [Dwight] Eisenhower and Field Marshall [Bernard] Montgomery.

“One of her most vivid memories is that when the beaches transmitted she could hear the gunfire.”