THE wartime experiences of a former headmistress at Malvern Girls' College are detailed in a new book about D-Day.

Veronica Owen, who died in 1999, was head of the college from 1968 to 1983.

In 1944 she was a 19-year-old Wren working in Portsmouth decoding messages to and from ships.

The book details, through letters and diaries, the hardships she faced, such as 13-hour shifts, and the way she survived.

Her story is told by historian David Stafford in his new book, Ten Days To D-Day, which weaves the major events of the time with the experiences of ten ordinary people.

Malvern resident Sue Dickin has also played a part in the production of the book.

Mrs Dickin, a member of the Malvern Family History Group, had been researching her family tree and came across information about a relative, Glenn Dickin, who was a 22-year-old infantryman from the Canadian prairies during the Second World War, and one of the people featured in the book.

By using her research, the author managed to identify the people Glenn referred to in his letters.

Mr Stafford is the project director of the Centre for Second World War Studies at the University of Edinburgh and has written a number of books, including Churchill and Secret Service.

The book was published by Little Brown, priced £20, in hardback in September and will come out in paperback next year, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of D-Day.