For Marie Scott, the seventy fifth anniversary of D-Day has become an even more special year as she has been awarded the highest French decoration, The Legion Of Honour, for the part she played in listening and collating the Operation Overlord messages…
In 1944, seventeen year old Marie worked on the switchboard in Fort Southwick, Portsmouth and listened to the messages coordinating and updating Operation Neptune and the events unfolding on Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword – the code names for the beaches on D-Day.
This summer Marie will travel with the Taxi Charity to Normandy with a group of WWII veterans to remember the events of D-Day and the comrades they lost. The Legion of Honour will be officially presented to Marie at the Memorial Pegasus Museum. As part of the celebrations, on 11th April Marie will visit Southwick House with the Taxi Charity and a group of veterans.
Working on the switchboard in Fort Southwick, Marie would pass messages from the continent to the leaders of Operation Overlord, General Eisenhower and Field Marshall Montgomery. One of her most vivid memories is that when the beaches transmitted she could hear the gunfire.
92 year old Marie 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 surrounded by a group of WWII veterans will be a very moving experience.”
