Normandy, France Marie Scott pushes a second world war veteran in a wheelchair before a ceremony at the Pegasus Bridge memorial in Benouville. In 1944, 17-year-old Marie Scott worked on the switchboard in Fort Southwick and transmitted messages to and from the beaches. Dozens of second world war veterans travelled to Normandy this week to mark the 79th anniversary of D-Day, the decisive but deadly assault that led to the liberation of France and western Europe from Nazi control Photograph: Thomas Padilla/AP