Female guard of honour for D-Day hero Rose, 107

A D-DAY heroine was given an all-female RAF guard of honour at her funeral in a mark of respect for the key role she played in the war.

- Giles Sheldrick

Rose Davies worked as a radar operator and was a critical part of the covert nerve centre that launched the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944, controlling the flotilla as it crossed the Channel.

Rose, part of a dwindling band of Second World War veterans, was 107 when she died.

Personnel from RAF Shawbury, Shropshire, which trains UK and international flying aces, flanked her coffin as it was carried into St Chad's Church in her home town of Shrewsbury.

The Rev Chris Walker, a close friend who led the service, said Rose had enjoyed a "most remarkable human life" and, lost for words, simply added: "Golly, what a woman."