Naina Cox (nee Beaven) was aged 16 when she volunteered for the British Red Cross as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse at Portsmouth, the headquarters for the military units destined for Normandy’s Sword Beach. Now the British Red Cross has shared a letter Ms Cox wrote to the charity in 2005 – the same year as she is understood to have died – describing her time looking after the returning soldiers. In her letter, which is a part of the charity’s museum archives, she wrote: “My memories of D-Day are very clear.
“I was 16 years and eight months old. I joined our local Red Cross division when I was 15, Hans 28 its title.” She adds: “As far as I can be known, I was the youngest nurse in the country to be on official duty and active duty on D-Day.
” She wrote that she had no idea what was unfolding on the shores of Normandy as D-Day arrived, saying: “Not surprisingly a war-weary people did not live with their ears glued to the radio. “It was after midday when the full story emerged. My commandant burst into the office and said ‘Beaven, you must get permission to go home at once, put on your Red Cross uniform and report to the matron at Queen Alexandra’s Hospital.
” She continues: “On the walk there an unending stream of big army lorries passed me. “I soon found out they contained either four or six soldiers lying on stretchers in shelf-like fashion. These were the first exhaustion cases back from the French beaches.
” She adds: “Under orders .
