Leading Wren Lola Seton Marsden named Inspirational Women in Defence 2024

To celebrate the incredible achievements and dedication of women working in the armed forces community, and for the fourth year running, we opened votes earlier this year on International Women’s Day on the search for this year’s Inspirational Woman in Defence.  

With an exceptional service record and an incredible story to tell, we are honoured to crown Leading Wren Lola-Seton Marsden as the winner of this year’s award.  

Turning 100 on 19th July, Lola has lived a life of incredible sacrifice and remains one of the very last of the ‘Greatest Generation’. 

Attending The Royal School of Daughters of Officers of the Army, Lola left school aged just 16, abandoning her Highers (A-Level equivalent) to enlist and join the war effort. 

She was recruited by MI6 as a member of Y-station to train in intercepting German Enigma Morse code and was based at GCHQ Scarborough. Lola then volunteered for an overseas posting in the Far East Combined Bureau – an outstation for the government code and cypher school - where she retrained in Japanese Morse code encryption.  

She departed for the Far East on the first WW2 troop convoy to travel the Mediterranean and Suez Canal - until then all troop convoys bound for the Far East were routed via Cape Hope. This resulted in the convoy being heavily torpedoed in both the Mediterranean and Indian ocean by Japanese submarines, resulting in many ships lost and a significant loss of life including many of Lola’s Wren colleagues. 

After the war, Lola witnessed first-hand the final surrender of Japan following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and volunteered to stay abroad to nurse and companion British and Commonwealth prisoners of war from Burma.   

When she returned home, she retrained as a photographer, working for the BBC and British Travel Association for several years before marrying and having two children.   

Her insight and personal perspective on the war allowed her to write a book of her experiences which she hopes to release later this year. 

Commenting on this year's winner, Alidad Moghaddam, CEO of Defence Discount Service, said: 

"There were countless stories in our search for this year’s Inspirational Woman in Defence, and it has been truly humbling reading each and every one.  

Lola’s personal sacrifice and commitment during the Second World War was incredibly inspiring to read, and we’re extremely proud to honour her as this year’s winner.  

We would like to express our deepest gratitude for her dedication, efforts and selflessness to secure a better future for us all, and admire her courage in the face of adversity”.