Europe

Wren, 103, given France’s highest honour by Macron

A British naval officer who helped draw up maps for the D-Day invasion has been awarded France’s highest honour by President Macron.

Christian Lamb, who is 103 and lives in London, was given the Legion d’honneur at the commemoration event in Ver-sur-Mer, Normandy.

The gathering marks the 80th anniversary of the landings.

Mrs Lamb told the BBC: “I’m very proud of it, it’s a very unusual, unexpected treat.”

Christian Lamb
She was posted in secret to Whitehall at the start of 1944 to work on plotting the D-Day landing maps

Christian Lamb came from a naval background, and her father was an admiral.

Just before the beginning of World War Two, she had intended to go to university in Oxford, but when war broke out she changed her plans and joined the Wrens – the Women’s Royal Naval Service.

By the age of 20 she had been promoted to “leading wren” and soon became involved in plotting maps for ships involved in the war effort.

She was posted to Belfast when HMS Oribi came into port for repairs.

On board she met Lt John Lamb, and they became engaged to be married after just 10 days.

2:59
Christian Lamb speaks about meeting her husband, Lt John Lamb

‘You had no idea’

Mrs Lamb recalled how she would be concerned when plotting maps for his ship, worried about his fate at sea.

“You couldn’t look far into the future; he might only have had a fortnight’s leave and then be killed at the end of it,” she explained.

“You had no idea what was going to happen – so if something was there, present, it was there, you did it, whatever.”

Her husband survived the war and the couple went on to have a family. Mrs Lamb had to keep her mapping work secret even from him until 40 years later.

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Christian Lamb
Mrs Lamb has written five books about the war and her passion for botany

As part of the planning for Operation Overlord, Mrs Lamb was stationed in Whitehall, working alone in a basement room.

There she created maps for the landing craft that were central to the amphibious attack.

She worked from large Ordnance Survey maps and captured photos to plot every point, to enable approaching craft to know they were at the correct part of the beach.

She told the BBC: “This was going to be the most amazing, extraordinary, enormous invasion that had ever been in history.”

“I had an office just to me, entirely, alone,” she said.

“There was an admiral who was giving me orders, and he ordered me to make some maps.

“We had chosen five different places, and each of them was a landing position.”

She added: “It was a very exciting job really, as not many people knew where they were going to land, so I was very glad I did.”

Legion d'honneur
The Legion d’honneur is France’s highest order of merit

Looking back, Mrs Lamb said the work was vital to the war – and to changing perceptions about the role women had in society.

“I was very glad to be able to do something useful. It helped a whole generation of people my age. From that moment on, we chose what we did, we didn’t have to do what our mothers said.”

When asked about the maps she drew more than 80 years ago, Mrs Lamb said: “There will be so many lives lost, but perhaps one or two saved.”

Source: bbc

Ogyem Solomon

Solomon Ogyem – Media Entrepreneur | Journalist | Brand Ambassador Solomon Ogyem is a dynamic Ghanaian journalist and media entrepreneur currently based in South Africa. With a solid foundation in journalism, Solomon is a graduate of the OTEC School of Journalism and Communication Studies in Ghana and Oxbridge Academy in South Africa. He began his career as a reporter at OTEC 102.9 MHz in Kumasi, where he honed his skills in news reporting, community storytelling, and radio broadcasting. His passion for storytelling and dedication to the media industry led him to establish Press MltiMedia Company in South Africa—a growing platform committed to authentic African narratives and multimedia journalism. Solomon is the founder and owner of Thepressradio.com, a news portal focused on delivering credible, timely, and engaging stories across Ghana and Africa. He also owns Press Global Tickets, a service-driven venture in the travel and logistics space, providing reliable ticketing services. In addition to his media ventures, Solomon serves as a Brand Ambassador for Alabuga, a prominent Russian industrial company, representing their interests and expansion across Africa. He previously owned two notable websites—Ghanaweb.mobi and ShowbizAfrica.net—both of which contributed to entertainment and socio-political discussions within Ghana’s digital space. With a diverse background in media, digital journalism, and business, Solomon Ogyem is dedicated to telling impactful African stories, empowering youth through media, and building cross-continental media partnerships.

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