Beryl Howe, famous as “Betty the Barmaid” in a Daily Mirror report in 1945. She was 28 in 1945 and described as blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Her family lived in Beeches Avenue, Carshalton Beeches, Surrey. They had some idea she had some involvement in military activities but did not know what.
According to one tale, she had to climb down the drainpipe having been locked inside the hotel at night, in order to meet a transmission schedule!
Her husband, Malcolm S. Howe, was a Corporal in the Royal Armoured Corps at Bovington. The couple married in 1940 which explained why she was working in St Leonards. She left the area after the Special Duties stand down as her father, William Spence, became ill and went home to nurse him, her mother having died some years earlier.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Moors Outstation | Operator | Unknown | 20 Jul 1944 |
Barmaid
The accompanying photo of Betty the Barmaid, pictured with Pilot Officer Dickie Lynch and Pilot Officer Philip Stanbury in 1941 was provided via John Hawlins, having been taken by Wing Commander C Currant and first published in “So Much Sadness, So Much Fun – RAF Ibsley 1941-1952” by Vera Smith in 2002.
In 1939 she was working as a secretary.
Arthur Gabbitas
The Daily Mirror June 9th 1945
Daily Mail, April 14th 1945
The Last Ditch, David Lampe
John Hawkins, historian for St Leonards