'People Were Shocked' - British Army's Highest Ranked Transgender Soldier

Newcastle Uni graduate underwent gender reassignment when she returned to North Yorkshire from a tour at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, now the highest ranking trans-soldier in the army.

Published 19th Jan 2015

The highest ranked transgender officer in the British Army - who's based at Catterick Garrison - says they have been fully supportive of her decision to live as a woman.

27-year-old Newcastle University graduate, Hannah Winterbourne, was born a boy but decided to go through a sex change whilst on a tour of duty at Camp Bastion.

She was selected for officer training aged 15 and rose through the ranks of the Army.

You can hear more of Hannah's story in this video from MyGenderation, a documentary series exploring gender variance:

Hannah came out as a trans-soldier more than a year and a half ago and is now the highest ranking transgender soldier in the British Army.

She says people were shocked when she first told them but they soon realised it didn't make a difference in who she was or how she worked.

The last 18 months have been full of positivity, she says, and has praised the Army for their response and support.