Betty's Wartime Diary 1939-1945

by Betty Armitage, Nicholas Webley (Editor)

"Betty Armitage, a seamstress and theatrical costumer who settled in Norfolk before the advent of World War II, kept a diary in which she described both the great and small events of living through a time that would forever change modern history. This unique record offers a woman's perspective on the crisis, and details the impact of the war on life in rural England. The Battle of Britain, the Blitz, and the arrival of the American forces are recorded against a backdrop of Armitage's country lifeùhunting pheasant for Christmas dinner, tending the garden, and expressing her colorful opinions of the Germans, Churchill, and the Yanks. This is a vivid, sometimes humorous, sometimes grim record of a unique time in British history, illustrated by photos, posters, and ephemera from the period."

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir

242 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Eden]

2020 bk 145. I only wish more of the diary had been preserved. A delightful look at how a small rural community survived World War II by helping each other out. Betty retired to the country well before world war II. Living on her small savings, she supplemented her income by cooking for the local pub and several individuals, helped with the cleaning of the pub's 'rooms to let', and various other activities. In addition, she kept hens, ducks, and a vegetable garden. What makes this even more interesting, one of my friend's father was stationed near Betty's home during the later part of the war. He may have been one of the Americans who visited the pub or at least knew the neighborhood.

[Penny]

With Libraries and bookshops closed I've been reading books that have been lurking on my own bookshelves.
According to the receipt, I bought Betty's Wartime Diaries 12 years ago.
Wasn't expecting anything much from a few excerpts from a WW2 diary written by a retired lady living in rural Norfolk.
But the whole book was fascinating, and I couldn't help comparing Betty's life with my current one.
She talks about panic buying of sugar (toilet rolls and flour in this part of the country!), people making journeys that are non essential, but most of all the help given to friends and neighbours within the small village she resides in.
The constant noise of planes in the skies above her (lots of airfields in the Norfolk area) is the background to her life for years.
Definitely a 4 star read.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)]

An interesting read, and I enjoyed the reproductions of wartime posters etc. However, the pompous tone of the editor's remarks, added to his obvious modern political agenda ("politicians today would do well to...") detracted significantly. Dude, anyone in the English-speaking world who can read knows about what the Nazis did and how horrible it was, enough with the dramatic language!! He was also so coy about what he left out, it made me wonder if he was a reliable editor.

Though not as well written or engaging as, say, Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of Housewife, 49, the reader must bear in mind the differences in intention. Nella was writing for Mass Observation, she knew her output would be read by an educated audience with an end in view of gathering information about how the war affected the populace, and their reactions. She also found journaling a valuable outlet for her thoughts and feelings, and an arena for her own philosophical musings. Betty, on the other hand, was a product of the music-hall circuit who was merely scribbling on any scrap of paper for her own private use. There is no mention of her having children to "leave it to", so she probably thought she would eventually use her scribbles as fire-lighters or something. The quality of Betty's writing is not as high as Nella's, though neither was an educated woman--apparently Betty enjoyed the wireless for its entertainment value, but reading or "serious" programmes weren't for her. This is bourne out by her reference to "Picture Post" magazine as a "book"--a sure sign of a non-reader if they don't know the difference between the two!!

It was interesting to note that as she lived in the Norfolk countryside, rationing didn't seem to affect her nearly as much. Like Nella, she raised chickens (and ducks) for the eggs, but we are never told that any of her poultry ended up in the pot (though a few must have done). Her country neighbours seemed to have an efficient system of barter in place--and, be it said, poaching. Young Freddie often goes out at night and comes back with game, but as they all seem to be good pals with the important folk up the Big House, there are no problems. I was a bit surprised to note that there never seemed to be a scarcity of chicken feed etc and Betty never speaks of having to dodge up wartime meals. Aside from "registering for margarine" (think of it!) rationing doesn't seem to have bitten at all hard in her area. Even alcohol seems to have been widely available to her--she's always having a few drinks of whiskey or gin with her mates, and her dog learns to enjoy a Guiness now and then.

[Nicola Michelle]

I’m so glad Betty wrote this diary during the war as it really gives an insight into the ‘average’ person navigating wartime. We get glimpses into the effects of rationing, the strength of friendships and the ordinary, everyday lives of people just living day by day during the horrors of war.

It was really insightful to see what, day by day, the effects of war had on the individual, down to what they cooked, how they filled their days, how information was disseminated and digested from the radio, newspapers and posters. From digging for victory, opening up their homes to soldiers and making sure themselves and their pets were well fed!

I also loved the inclusion of the wartime posters and missives in the book to supplement Betty’s writing (recruitment posters, advertisements and even Christmas cards).

Getting to know Betty’s Cat Albert, her gaggle of happy ducks and chickens and new additions to her household in the form of the cutest sounding puppy Monty! I’m so glad they didn’t put all the animals down during the war - you could tell they really provided a balm to Betty and her whole community. There was also a friendly companion pig (they thankfully didn’t use for bacon) who could often be found following one of the land girls around like a faithful puppy.

I really did enjoy reading this book and it’s a certain reread again and a happy addition to my bookshelf!

[Tania]

Betty's diary was not written for publication, unlike some of the other wartime diaries, it was written on anything she could get her hands on, so mostly bits of scrap paper. It is a bit choppy, and some parts of it are missing, so some months only have one or two entries; none the less it makes for a really interesting read. Betty is retired from the stage and living in rural Norfolk. There is a fairly large cast of people in the village who for the most part are all mucking in and helping each other out. There is a lot of talk about food; they don't suffer the same deprivation as those in the cities, and have lots of eggs, vegetables and game, all of which they work hard to obtain; Betty certainly comes across as a hard worker, and it's lovely reading about this community coming together. Ends with The party of all parties, and who can blame them.

The editor gives us a handy timeline, so it's easy to follow the events of the war in the wider world.

[Fran]

My favorite read in 2022! A perfect book if you like to read about Women on the Homefront in World War 2 and if you like the diary style, which I LOVE! This book is expensive to buy used, as of last week, but it is worth it in my opinion. The diary style allows you to read and learn a bit at a time which is perfect if you have a busy schedule and cannot give a lot of time to reading. I highly recommend this book.

[Anne Zook]

I’m not quite finished with this, but I absolutely cannot contain myself. The person who did the editing actually put FDR’s famous quote (“December 7, 1941 — a date that will live in infamy”) into Winston Churchill’s mouth. Also misquoted, but what can you say?

[Little BigGirl]

Really enjoyed the diary exerts, not so much the historical padding from the narrator.

[JOHN MCLOUGHLIN]

Excellent read

Explained a lot of things a small community went through during that horrible time. Really enjoyed. Opened my eyes. Brilliant.

[James Crawford]

This is a really neat book about a wartime diary kept by a woman nearly sixty years of age. It covers the pre-war period right up until after the war.

The book is about daily life among rural people and it has some really interesting characters. Albert, the fat cat and Daniel, the pig, are two of them. Then there's a black-market character who really helps the people there out. Fred is a jack-of-all-trades and an (unproven) poacher that also helps out people there, especially with providing them food.

The blitz against London is described as some other bombings.

These are all people that would be interesting to know personally (if they were still alive, of course) as they all were quite decent people, helped others whenever they could and didn't really ask for anything in return. Really good.

[Helena]

Although this book contained many annoying typos (not in the diary text--that I could excuse on the assumption that they were trying to be true to the original), I still really enjoyed it. Most of the WWII diaries I've read (and most of the fiction as well) take place in London so to read about the experience in a different setting was fascinating. Definitely recommended if this is a topic that interests you.

[Donna]

Poorly edited diary, there are many better first person wartime diaries you can read