Tharratt, Betty

Betty Tharratt was born on September 21, 1921 in Liverpool, England, and she and her older brother grew up in the nearby town of Wallasey. Her father, a Great War veteran, worked on the Liverpool docks, where his horses transported goods to the different warehouses in the city.  Betty recalls that her early life was good – but all that changed dramatically when she and her family heard the news on the radio in September 1939:  England was at war.  She lived through the Liverpool Blitz in that early part of the war, while her brother was called up for duty.  Betty decided to join the navy in her own right, and she became a WREN.  She spent most of her war at Derby House in Liverpool, where the plotters were at work managing the Battle of the Atlantic: Betty worked at the front desk, and she was able to meet the likes of Churchill and the king. She also met her future husband there, and Betty received some attention in the papers for a cloth she was working on, where she gathered the signatures of many of wartime co-workers.  During the war Betty and her generation experienced many highs and lows:  the evacuation at Dunkirk, rationing, the wartime dances, Victory Day – and the loss of family, friends and neighbours. Betty and Leonard married near the end of the war, and she chose to accompany him on his return to Canada, making her one of the thousands of Canadian war brides who came across the Atlantic to make a home in Canada.  The two of them built their lives and family in Betty’s new country, finding their way in the rhythms of postwar life. Betty Tharratt was interviewed by Scott Masters and Zach Dunn of Global Veterans’ Stories in February 2026.