A beautiful North-East blonde became the first entertainer to land on Normandy beaches after D-Day.

Christine Norden, who went on to become a British film and stage star, was only 19 when she put her life at risk for her country.

Her memoirs were discovered after she died, aged 63, in 1988 but were considered too racy to be published at the time.

But the story of how the singing and dancing daughter of a Sunderland bus driver landed on a Normandy beach only three days after D-Day have now been made public.

Her memoirs tell how she was plain Captain Molly Thornton, of the Entertainments National Service Association, when she was chosen by theatre producer Basil Dean to head the first post D-Day entertainment troop.

After the war, she went on to change her name to Christine Norden, have an affair with British actor Richard Burton and become the first star to go topless in a Broadway show.

But it was as a newlywed, scared teenager, keeping the secret of her two-month pregnancy, that she went to France.

She left from Weymouth under cover of darkness.

"To this day", she wrote, more than 30 years later, "I cannot recall that crossing without terror. A pitch black night, absolute silence, no smoking, not a breath could be heard. I can honestly say it's the longest time I've ever kept my mouth shut in my life".

Travelling with the First Canadian Army, Christine and her party entertained the troops close to the front line, immediately behind the retreating German forces.

They put on shows with shells whistling over their heads and Christine remembered horrific scenes, including a dead German soldier still clutching a letter to his girl. Christine took that letter and sent it to the soldier's sweetheart after the war.

She went on to marry five times and left her memoirs to her friend and royal biographer Michael Thornton, who has now made part of the story public.