D-Day 80 The Last Veterans: Maisie Smith

Maisie Smith, Age 104, Musician and office worker 

Interviewed 29 May 2024

A Portsmouth native who was a shorthand typist in the Lord Mayor’s office, Maisie Smith watched the buildup of troops and vehicles in the run-up to the landings.

She said: "The night before you could hear all the tanks along the top of the hill. All night long. One tank after another.

"We didn’t know why."

Mrs Smith’s husband Ronald Bartlett of the Royal Engineers was one of the many who crossed the Channel on 6 June.

She said he was a part of the team  putting up Bailey Bridges - the brainchild of English engineer Sir Donald Bailey.

These were lightweight, prefabricated bridges that could be rapidly assembled to cross rivers and canals.

On its website the Historical Marker Database says: "Thirty Bailey Bridges were built across the Caen Canal, River Orne and River Dives during the Battle of Normandy.

"The 6th Airborne Division also used them during the breakout in August 1944.

"These bridges replaced those destroyed and were used in conjunction with local bridges, most of these being unable to support the weight of heavy military vehicles."

Mrs Smith said her father was very upset when he heard his son-in-law was part of the invasion force.

"I tell you I came home from work," she said.

"And my Dad was standing there waiting for me. And he said to me ‘Oh that poor boy.’ That’s all he said and that’s all I knew about it."

Mrs Smith was an accomplished accordion player and would play for troops in barracks, military sites and in places around Portsmouth.

Something she hoped raised morale among those who knew they were soon to be part of a major military operation.

She said: "It had to be weekends because I was working during the week. Just me playing, you know.

"It was more to comfort them if you know what I mean when they were going away. They were going into something horrible. That’s why. But everybody did something."

Mr Bartlett survived the war.

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