She worked as an ambulance driver during the London Blitz and then helped achieve victory on D-Day in Normandy.

Before World War II, Kathleen McCarthy Summersby (Kay for short) was an Irish fashion model. When the Germans began bombing Britain, she showed resilience by driving an ambulance during the Blitz to collect bodies and deliver them to the morgue. She later became General Dwight D. Eisenhower's right-hand woman, helping ensure the success of the Normandy landings. Read also: "Pressure" - a film about the Normandy landings that is unlike any other. She was 33 and a civilian volunteer in the British Motor Transport Corps when she was assigned as Eisenhower's driver in London. Clearly, she made an impression. How could she not? As the bombs fell, she kept her cool—and lipstick—behind a gas mask. Ike called her "as stubborn as an Army mule," and soon she was attending top secret meetings, formal dinners with Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and troop morale-boosting events. Eisenhower secured Kay a lieutenant commission in the Women's Army Corps (WAC). Soon she was promoted to captain, and the respect and confidence of the Supreme Allied Commander. Then came D-Day. Let's quickly recap what happened, shall we? D-Day was a monumental military campaign. We're talking about 130,000–160,000 troops and 17,000 landing vehicles in the first 48 hours alone, and by July, over a million troops, 1,900,000 tons of transatlantic supplies, and 23,400 paratroopers from 822 aircraft and gliders—not to mention a sophisticated disinformation campaign designed to reinforce the German belief that the Allied landings would take place in Pas-de-Calais, not Normandy. It was a massive military operation with everything at stake. Planning for the cross-Channel operation began several years before President Franklin D. Roosevelt finally appointed Ike to command Operation Overlord in December 1943. It was the largest amphibious operation in history and a crusade that allowed the Allies to gain a foothold on continental Europe and launch the offensive against Germany that ultimately led to victory in the war against Hitler and his Nazi regime. And in the final hours, everything nearly collapsed due to unpredictable weather in Northern Europe.

Adam Scott and Kerry Condon as Captain Kay Summersby in "Pressure." (Focus Features)

Seventy-two hours before the Normandy landings, Eisenhower began receiving conflicting weather forecasts from his top meteorologists. American meteorologist Colonel Irving P. Crick, using analog weather forecasting methods, insisted on clear skies. However, Scottish Meteorological Office meteorologist Group Captain James Stagg insisted all signs pointed to an impending storm that would capsize every landing craft and blind every aircraft. The 2026 film Pressure depicts these events, as well as the enormous decision Eisenhower had to make: land on June 5, 1944, as planned, risking the storm forecast being correct… or miss the window of opportunity and, most likely, the element of surprise—and maybe even the war. Imagine all the high-ranking Allied officers in that room making those decisions. People under enormous pressure. Inflated egos. Incredibly high costs. And right in the middle... Kay Summersby. History gives us conflicting accounts of her contribution. Even her own autobiographies tell two different stories. Ike was her boss... and Ike was her romantic love affair, marked by the dangers of war and stolen kisses. Ike's political opponents fueled rumors; Eisenhower, after all, was married. But ultimately, the romantic connection between them is irrelevant. In fact, it would be understandable, because one thing is certain: he trusted Kay. She was smart, brave, organized, competent, and steadfast during the most terrible war in the history of the world. As his driver and secretary, she ensured he got where he needed to go with everything he needed to complete his mission.

In the film "Pressure » Kerry Condon (Banshee of Inisherin) portrays Kay, who, with her calm presence in a room full of screaming men, wields incredible power. I spoke with Condon, who described Kay as Eisenhower's "gatekeeper." "I was struck by how close she was to someone who had such power and control over the situation," she shared. Wars cannot be won without such support, and yet it's easy to downplay their contribution. Kay Summersby became an American citizen after the war, but was largely rejected by Eisenhower, men, and the country she served. Like many women in history, she is defined by a patriarchal role: a beautiful girl who, perhaps scandalously, had a deep affair with the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force. But I think if someone had taken the time to write down her story, we would have discovered that there was so much more to this woman who drove in the dark as the bodies piled up and the Luftwaffe's bombs fell, and used her gas mask as a cheeky purse for her red lipstick that read "Fuck you, Hitler!".

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