A veteran of the Women's Royal Naval Service who was employed as a ‘secret listener’ during the Second World War has died ahead of her 101st birthday.
The linguistic talents of Pakefield’s Anne Day meant she was enlisted during the war to listen to and translate radio messages from ships amid fears that Germany would invade by sea.
Her love of languages predated 1939, when she was sent to France and Germany to improve her skills.
But with the start of the Second World War imminent, she was soon brought back to England and employed at the Foreign Office.
Here she worked for Anthony Eden, who later became the Prime Minister, before joining the Women's Royal Naval Service (the Wrens) as a Chief Petty Officer.
And while serving as a Wren in the Intelligence Service, she was posted to Sheringham on the north Norfolk coast.
Due to her ability with languages, she was given the job of ‘secret listener’ and it was a role she remained proud of throughout her life.
Mrs Day was born in Altrincham in Cheshire on April 12, 1922, and went to school in Yorkshire where her father was a professor of medicine at Leeds University.
During the Second World War, she met her future husband John Patrick de Cormelie Day - known by all as Patrick – whom she married after the war.
READ MORE: Bereaved mum, Christine Turner, of Pakefield, dies aged 63 after cancer diagnosis
READ MORE: Tributes to 'full of life' nan, who picked cheese on toast over Christmas dinner
The couple moved to Oxford where Mrs Day became an assistant editor at Oxford University Press working on the junior encyclopaedia. They had three children; Paul, Patricia and Susan.
The family moved to Canada and America for five years before returning to the UK, but, following a divorce, Mrs Day returned to Oxford.
When all of the children left home, she fulfilled her dream of attending university as a mature student to study languages, where she majored in French. She was aged 51 at the time.
She later found a teaching job at Wymondham College.
During retirement, she moved to the Suffolk coast to Pakefield, near Lowestoft, after visiting a friend there.
So moved by how pleasant she thought the area was, she relocated and had remained there ever since.
Speaking at her 100th birthday last year, her daughter, Sue Day, said: “Mum became a keen member of the local University of the Third Age and taught foreign languages, mainly French and Spanish, and ran classes for a small group of members.
"She enjoyed taking part in outdoor activities, in particular sailing on Oulton Broad and bowls.
“Mum became very good at cryptic crosswords and was teaching people the skills in her 90s.
"It is possibly the secret to her long life in that she was active in every way both physically and mentally.”
Mrs Day died on Wednesday, March 8, and her funeral took place on what would have been her 101st birthday, on Wednesday, April 12.
A horse-drawn carriage took her to a celebration of life service at the war memorial near All Saints' and St Margaret's Church, which is the Pakefield parish church on the cliff.
- To read all of the EDP obituaries and tributes click here.
- To pay tribute to a loved one, email norfolkobituaries@newsquest.co.uk
- To read all obituaries and tributes join the Facebook group Norfolk's Loved & Lost.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here