A Second World War heroine who trained Britain’s fighting force is marking Remembrance Day with thoughts of lost friends and loved ones.
Dorothea Barron, 100, served as a visual signaller in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS, and known as the Wrens).
Lying about her height, she joined up with the Wrens in 1943 aged just 18 – and was posted in Scotland to teach men bound for Normandy how to use flags for communication, known as semaphore signalling.
Eight decades later, she will join millions more Britons in silence on Remembrance Sunday.
Barron joined up with the Wrens in 1943 aged just 18
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Barron has received a host of congratulatory cards – not least one from the King and Queen
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Alongside Barron, some 75,000 women joined the Wrens
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“I feel very proud that we’re still remembering those people that gave their youth for their country,” Barron told GB News.
“I always want to cry in remembering my youthful friends who were killed during the war.”
Some 75,000 women joined the Wrens, serving in the armed forces and freeing men up to fight in more dangerous front-line positions.
“I feel very proud that I did my bit for my country,” she added.
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Barron, 100, served as a visual signaller in the Women’s Royal Naval Service
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Dorothea will join millions of Britons in silence on Remembrance Sunday
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Around 450,000 Britons died during the Second World War, including 70,000 civilians.
Dorothea’s father, who was disabled and worked in a munitions factory, died during a German bombing raid.
She told The People’s Channel how he “felt compelled to go out and work at night” in the midst of the war.
Dorothea went on to marry her life-long husband Andrew, who had served in the Royal Air Force – having two children and eight grandchildren.
Now living in a small rural village in Hertfordshire, her latest milestone, turning 100 years old, has been an exciting achievement for the family.
Dorothea attributes her long life to practising yoga, eating lots of vegetables and having a glass of wine every day
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Pictured: Dorothea Barron and her daughter Kati – who has hailed her mother after reaching a century
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“I’ve become 100 and it doesn’t feel any different,” she said.
To this day, Dorothea attributes her long life to practising yoga, eating lots of vegetables and having a glass of wine every day.
As well as receiving a card from Their Majesties the King and Queen, Dorothea was treated to a trip in a Spitfire on becoming a centenarian.
Her daughter Kati has hailed her mother after reaching a century. She said: “I have huge respect and admiration for her.
“My breath is taken away by the fact she has reached 100 – that is no mean feat.”
