HISTORICAL CONTEXT

She was serving as a nurse with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. The unit staffed field hospitals, where they treated patients close to the frontline, and hospital ships.

She was serving on board Hospital Carrier Amsterdam and was treating patients on board when the ship struck a mine off Juno beach.

Rather than save herself, she and another nurse, made repeated trips below decks to rescue injured servicemen from the wards below. They were able to carry 75 men to safety but as they went back for another time the ship sank, taking her with it.

She was posthumously mentioned in despatches and was awarded the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct in December 1944.

She has no known place of burial and is commemorated on the Bayeux Memorial to the Missing, Calvados. She is one of two women commemorated on the British Normandy Memorial.