Clare Hollingworth, the journalist who broke the news of the Second World War, has died at 105.
The former Daily Telegraph correspondent crossed the Polish-German frontier in 1939 and witnessed thousands of German tanks lined up to invade Poland during her first week at the paper.
The Foreign Correspondent's Club paid tribute to the veteran journalist's enduring legacy.
“The FCC is very sad to announce the passing of its much beloved member Clare Hollingworth at age 105,” the club said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Clare had a remarkable career as a foreign correspondent, beginning with the scoop of the century when she reported the start of World War II.”
Tara Joseph, the FCC president, added: “We are very sad to hear about Clare’s passing. She was a tremendous inspiration to us all and a treasured member of our club.
“We were so pleased that we could celebrate her 105th birthday with her this past year.”
Hollingworth’s family released a short statement on the Facebook page “Celebrate Clare Hollingworth” and said they would release a longer statement later in the day.
“We are sad to announce that after an illustrious career spanning a century of news, celebrated war correspondent Clare Hollingworth died this evening in Hong Kong,” it read.
But it was not just the Second World War which Hollingworth reported on. She also witnessed the atrocities of war in Vietnam, the Middle East, Algeria, India and Pakistan, and Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China. The journalist once told a radio interviewer: “I enjoy action. I enjoy being in a plane when they’re bombing something.”
Speaking to The Independent in an interview last year, Hollingworth explained why she thought the Nazi’s would lose the war when she sat in a British diplomat’s car watching Von Runstedt’s legions preparing to invade Poland.
“I thought they’d lose the war,” she said. “Because they didn’t care about people.”
The FCC said details of the funeral arrangements and a wake at the club would be announced later. In October she celebrated her 105th birthday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong where she was a regular patron.
