Betty was 16 years old and living in Plymouth, Devon, England when World War II broke out. The possibility of further education at Oxford University had to be put on hold, as she joined the war effort.
Having passed the Civil Service exam Betty worked for the Admiralty at HMS Drake, one of the three main naval bases in England.
Social dances allowed the teenager to have fun. At one of those dances she met a handsome young sergeant in the Australian Air Force, Con Gehrig, from Cootamundra in country NSW.
In six weeks they were married and heading off to live in Australia. Betty was just 18 years old. Such was life during war time. Her parents had to accept the situation as life was lived in the moment and the situation in England seemed precarious.
The newly-weds travelled across the Atlantic in wintry November, in the last convoy to pass through the Panama Canal at that time. Two of the ships in the convoy were attacked and sunk by U-boats and the remaining ships narrowly missed being in Pearl Harbour when it was bombed.
And so began the 45 year marriage that produced 4 children, 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Life in Australia suited Betty, and with Con, they enjoyed many activities - tennis, golf, lawn bowls.
Betty's love of the sea, perhaps inherited from her merchant seaman grandfather and Royal Naval father, enticed her to swim regularly in Botany Bay.
Con died in 1986, and in 1988 Betty's adventuring spirit led her to join the First Fleet Re-enactment, sailing from Perth to Sydney on the Amorina, a replica small wooden sailing ship, that was tossed by a severe storm as they left Perth.
Unfazed, Betty worked 4 hour shifts around the clock, with the rest of the crew and arrived in Botany Bay a month later, looking fit and tanned and totally adjusted to life at sea.
These days Betty continues to work for charities, produce beautiful watercolour paintings, play Mahjong twice a week with friends, work in her garden, take daily walks for exercise and remain close and connected with family and friends.
"Life in Australia has been good to me", says Betty. Her indomitable spirit inspires all who know her.
