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Witness History: The woman whose weather report changed the date of D-Day

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The woman whose weather report changed the date of D-Day

05/06/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, The woman whose weather report changed the date of D-Day

Maureen Flavin’s weather report forecast a storm and changed the course of WW2 history

Maureen Flavin’s weather report predicted a storm that changed the course of WW2 history. Her forecast was the first indication of bad weather and led the Allies to delay D-Day.

In 1944, a young Irishwoman called Maureen Flavin drew up a weather report that helped change the course of World War Two. 

Maureen was working at a post office in Blacksod on the far west coast of Ireland. Her duties included recording rainfall, wind speeds, temperature and air pressure.

On 3 June, she sent one of her hourly reports to Dublin, unaware that the figures were being passed on to the Allied headquarters in England. It was the first indication of bad weather heading towards the coast of France - and it was a huge blow.

Hundreds of thousands of British, American and Canadian servicemen had already gathered for the most ambitious operation of the war, the assault of the Normandy beaches on 5 June.

But after reading Maureen’s report, chief meteorologist Group Captain James Stagg advised a delay of 24 hours. 

US General, Dwight Eisenhower, gave the order, and D-Day was finally launched on 6 June, 1944. A date that went down in history.

Maureen's son Edward Sweeney tells Jane Wilkinson about the family's pride in their mother.

(Photo: Maureen Sweeney. Credit: Sweeney family photo)

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