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It was 70 years ago today

Talk about the scoop of a lifetime! It never occurred to me that a journalist broke the story of World War II, or that it was a young female reporter who's still around in 2009 to talk about it.

Seventy years ago, a sleek limousine crossed the border of Poland and Germany and sped along the autobahn between Beuthen and Gleiwitz. Inside was a 26-year-old reporter on her first assignment for The Daily Telegraph, who was about to break the scoop of the century.

Once past Gleiwitz, the road began to climb a hill. Clare Hollingworth, now nearly 98 years old, suddenly caught sight of 65 German motorcycle dispatch riders, who overtook her car and sped away with a roar. As she looked to the side, a gust of wind lifted up the hessian sheets that had been strung alongside the road.

(Photo by Stephen Lock/The Telegraph)