Helen Denton was born in 1921 of modest beginnings. The eighth of nine children, she and her siblings grew up on a homestead in Woonsocket, South Dakota. When she became of age, she moved to Minnesota to pursue a two-year course of secretarial studies, which would pay enormous personal dividends. More on that later.
In Minnesota, she and her group of secretary friends would watch literal busloads of servicemen being shipped out. The young girls were inspired by their patriotism but lamented the shrinking dating pool. The patriotic, dateless young Helen, who had lost a childhood friend in the bombing at Pearl Harbor, signed up for the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in January of 1943.
She became a recruiter for the WAC, enlisting women in Kansas and Missouri for the clerical jobs left empty by the men who were being transferred to combat positions. In a being-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time scenario, she was given the chance to work for General Eisenhower in London. Helen and 29 other young women, and thousands of men, boarded the Queen Mary and sailed across the Atlantic.
In London, she took dictation from five generals, faithfully transcribing and typing up the battle plans for the D-Day invasion. From February to April 1944, she typed eight hours a day, five days a week. The carbon paper she typed on and the typewriter ribbon she typed with were destroyed at the end of every workday.
Helen was instructed not to talk to anyone about what she was doing, and she would keep that promise for the next 50 years. Her daily, top-secret duties involved typing up battle orders that included troop movements, countries involved, supply routes, costs, and number of planes that would be involved in Operation Overlord.
The finished product was a four-inch book with the complete battle plans for D-Day. She met General Eisenhower after its completion, who informed her that she and her brother Jerry (who was also in England) both had three days passes. The General also informed her that her brother, as part of an armory division, would not be in the first wave of invasion. The young woman was surprised and touched by the General’s interest in her personal life.
With her duties complete, the young typist was free to sightsee around London. At Windsor Castle she ran into the King and Queen, and at 10 Downing Street she saw Winston Churchill. The humble farm girl from South Dakota was hobnobbing with the military and political leaders of the Allied forces.
After resettling back in the States, Mrs. Denton became a Red Cross Volunteer and Post Commander at the VFW 3650 in Riverdale, Georgia. In 2005 the Georgia House of Representatives recognized her military service, volunteer efforts, and outstanding citizenship with H.R. 593.
Mrs. Denton, now 88, continues to share her story with fellow veterans and schoolchildren. The full interview of Mrs. Helen Denton can be viewed online through the Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Oral History Project.
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D-Day Anniversary « SheSpoke. Find out what she said said:
[...] One woman in particular spent three months typing up the orders for D-Day. Check out her story here. [...]
June 5th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Rob said:
What a patriot!
August 19th, 2009 at 10:25 pm