#OTD 1944, this woman was at the centre of the most famous attempt to kill Hitler, the 20 July 1944 #Valkyrie bomb plot... but who was she & why is her name not better-known? Born Melitta Schiller, soon a brilliant pilot, she became one of only 2 women to serve the Nazi Third Reich as test pilots. This bust, reportedly of her, shows her bobbed hair melding into her flying hat - almost part-machine; one of the new super-humans... but...

Wonderful talking with some of the veterans at today’s #dday80 commemoration at Portsmouth.
Pic 1) This is Christian Lamb, the Wren who worked in a tiny office under the stairs in Whitehall, creating the detailed maps that would guide the landing craft to shore. 1/3 2) Hazel Picking, wearing her signals on her sleeve. Based in Portsmouth she told me that before DDay you could have walked from boat to boat, all the way to the Isle of Wight, without getting your feet wet… 2/3

I’m absolutely thrilled to be sitting in the new ‘Granville Suite’ in London’s brand new #Raffles hotel in the renovated #OldWarOffice.
It is named in honour of the first woman to serve Britain as a special agent in #WW2… 1/9 #krystynaskarbek aka #christinegranville was born a Polish countess. She was the longest-serving agent, male or female, & among the highest achieving…
In 1941, after her latest remarkable mission, #winstonchurchill called Granville his ‘favourite spy’. 2/9