4. The Cutty Wren

As the Allied forces broke out of the Normandy beachhead and fought eastwards during the summer of 1944, so ANCXF moved in October to a new location on the outskirts of Paris, at St. Germain-en-Laye, where they occupied the Château d’Hennemont, recently vacated by officers of the Wehrmacht. While the Wrens contingent supported the Navy’s work in repairing recaptured channel ports and mounting the amphibious landings of the Walcheren campaign which opened the sea route to Antwerp, their days off presented frequent opportunities to visit Paris, for shopping and entertainment. Joan Prior’s letters home, the memoirs of Elspeth Shuter and the vivid memories of other Wrens contribute to the picture of a proud city rising above the clouds of occupation with rousing Armistice Day commemorations, impromptu sporting encounters, colourful autumn fashions, and cinema and theatre visits contributing to a resurgent nightlife. Despite the onset of freezing temperatures and the first falls of snow, Christmas spirits at Château d’Hennemont ran high and full Naval festivities ensued. Yet, as the new year that would bring eventual peace dawned, with it came personal tragedy: an aircraft crash which claimed the lives of Admiral Ramsay and his closest staff officers. It was a catastrophe for those Wrens and officers who had worked so tirelessly for their leader to achieve the triumph of D-Day, and for whom ultimate victory was so nearly within reach.