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A Commando who quit the Royal Marines to join the fire brigade 20 years ago and then changed sex has been nominated for the service’s Woman of the Year.

Dad-of-two Peter Cornhill became Katie after gender reassignment surgery last November.

Less than 12 months later the 44-year-old has been nominated as Britain’s most influential fire woman.

Ms Cornhill said: “I would be delighted to win this award from the fire service because it would drive inclusiveness in the service, something I have worked so hard to do.”

She said she always knew she was a woman in a man’s body and after six years in the Royal Marines, left in 1996, preparing to seek a new life as a woman.

She said: “I first realised there was something very different about me when I was five years old.

“Throughout my childhood my parents were supportive of me experimenting.

“But when I got to the age of 10 they put up a protective barrier and decided I had to grow up as a boy.”

As a teenager, Ms Cornhill, of Southsea, in Portsmouth, Hants, joined the sea cadets and developed an interest in the forces.

It was there she also met her future wife, from whom she is now separated, but they remain close friends.

(Image: Solent)

Ms Cornhill joined the Royal Marines in 1990, aged 19, and served six years in the forces - spending time in Plymouth and Norway.

She also completed tours in Turkey and Iraq, although was never involved in conflict.

She said: “When we told my brother he was so supportive, but my sister-in-law was quite annoyed about my sexuality.

“My father was the person I feared telling the most about it, but he was actually so supportive of me.

“He really was amazing.”

In 1996, she joined the fire service but it was another 10 years before she first started to explore the idea of beginning the transition to becoming a woman.

Ms Cornhill discovered the Fire Brigade LGBT Union, who have supported her throughout her journey.

(Image: Solent)

“It was at that point I started to explore how I would do this.” Ms Cornhill said.

“For me it was a really challenging proposition. I had to think about my career in the fire service and whether the change was something I could do.”

In order to undergo the surgery required for the transition, she had to live for two years as a woman. She also took hormone tablets during this time to begin the process.

She finally underwent the gender reassignment surgery last November.

Ms Cornhill now works as a Fire Safety Inspector for the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and goes into schools to share her story and raise awareness of issues surrounding gender identity.