“Darling Betty”: a glimpse into love war-torn Britain
Letters sent to Betty
Betty Irene Smith was born in Coventry on the 18th of June 1927.
In her early teens, she experienced the horrors of WWII and the Coventry Blitz, before being evacuated to Yorkshire.
Betty lived through the worst of war and the Coventry Blitz. Despite this, her life was not defined by the horrors she and her partners witnessed, but rather by how love and human connection lasted through the war and rebuilding of Coventry. Letters found by her granddaughter, Sarah, show the love she experienced in her life.
“Always Yours, Love Fred”
The earliest letters document her first sweetheart, Fred. From the information in these letters, it appears Fred was sent away to join the war effort.
Much of his correspondence shows Betty was reluctant to contact him back. He sent Betty many long, personal letters, detailing his love for her and expressing his longing to hear from her.
“I was so pleased to hear from you after such a long time – please don’t keep me so long for a reply to this, will you?”
“I do think a great deal of you. So be good - keep smiling - and all the very best of good luck to you”
“Always Yours, Love Fred”
In the depths of the war, soldiers often were not permitted to send lengthy letters for fear of accidentally revealing classified information. Instead, they filled out prewritten cards with details about how they were feeling, whether they were sick or injured, and when they would correspond next.
Even with the rigid rules around correspondence, Fred still managed to add a personal touch to his letters to Betty, signing them from ‘Freddie’ with kisses, and highlighting how she had not written to him for a while.
When Fred was able to write longer letters, they were less focused on his experience of the war. Instead, he would enquire into how Betty was feeling experiencing the war on the Homefront. Having grown up in Coventry with the constant fear of another Blitz, Betty struggled with her mental health.
“Last time you wrote me - so long ago! - you were not too good. I think about you, dear sweet Betty, every day.”
“Be good now, may God bless you always and remember, I’m always ready to help you. Write soon, please.”
Even when Fred’s pen was broken, he still found a way to contact Betty from the frontlines. He became unsure of Betty’s true feelings for him, as she was still only replying occasionally.
(Betty’s Granddaughter believes this letter is from Fred, but could not find a name as it is part 4 of a longer, lost letter)
“You finish your letter with the words, ‘Love, Betty’. Do you really mean love, or is that a kindly, courteous method of finishing your letter to me?”
“I’ve told you, Betty, that I love you several times, but I really don’t think you believed me.”
“I love you very much. I have done since the first time I went out with you.”
Betty’s granddaughter is unsure what happened to Fred after these letters. She believes he may have passed away in the war, or Betty’s lack of response caused their love to eventually fizzle out. Regardless, Betty kept many of his letters safe and in good condition until she passed away.
The war may have taken a toll on Betty and Fred’s relationship, but in the rebuilding of the country, she found love again.
“All my love, Tony”
Betty’s second love was Tony. It seems as though the two got together shortly after the war, in the remnants of post-war Britain, but Tony remained in the army. Granddaughter recalls seeing photos of him in his uniform and letters sent from his base in Scotland.
The letters kept from when he was stationed in Scotland show Tony was just as besotted with Betty as her previous love, and even more protective.
“Now to start this letter, let’s get a bee out of your bonnet. You seem to think I want you to go out and about with other fellows, well I don’t!”
“I should hate to think of anyone else kissing you goodnight and taking you out.”
They eventually got engaged but never married.
When asked why they never married, her granddaughter said, “She overreacted when she went to his house one night, opened the front door, and saw a girl there in the hall. She drew the wrong conclusion that he was cheating on her when he wasn’t.” Tony tried to reason with Betty and reassure her, but she never took him back.
Mr and Mrs Sawford
Eventually, Betty married.
She met Ernest ‘Ron’ Sawford through his brother. The pair married on the 29th September 1951. Together, they had 4 children.
Ernest worked locally in Coventry building tractors.
The pair remained married until Ernest passed away on the 23rd of April 1989. She did not remarry and passed away 33 years later in 2022, a week before her 95th birthday.
In her elderly years, the impacts of the war and Blitz became more apparent in Betty’s life. She became more isolated and reluctant to leave the house. As she declined in her final years, she became afraid of thunderstorms and suffered from the trauma of the past.
Despite this, her long life was fruitful, with love and happiness, showing that even in the ruins of a war-torn country, the people of Coventry still went on.