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Pamela McGeorge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pamela Betty McGeorge BEM was a Women's Royal Naval Service motorcycle dispatch rider during World War II.

Early life

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Pamela Betty McGeorge was born on 29 October 1918, in Edgebaston, to Mabel Maud (née Cooper) and John McGeorge.[1] She was baptised at St Bartholomew's Church, Edgbaston on 30 November 1918. Her father was a surveyor of taxes.[2]

Second World War

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McGeorge initially joined the Women's Land Army aged 20, in 1939, having been at physical training college. She resigned to join the Women's Royal Naval Service.[3]

On 30 September 1941,[4] when a WREN third officer, she received the British Empire Medal, for bravery in carrying urgent despatches on foot in an air raid. She delivered a despatch to a command post at the naval shipyards in Devonport, Plymouth on 22 April 1940, after being thrown from her motorcycle by a German bomb during the air raid, then volunteering for more despatch duty.[5][6][7][8][9] McGeorge had been a Sea Ranger.[10][11] She underwent training WREN's officer training at Greenwich and was promoted to acting second officer on 29 January 1944[12] and was listed as a second officer in the Womens Royal Navy (Supplementary) Reserve in 1960.[13]

A portrait of McGeorge by British painter Anthony Devas is in the collection of The Hepworth Wakefield.[14]

Later life

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McGeorge settled in the family home in Cheltenham after the war.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007". www.ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Birmingham, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1919". www.ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  3. ^ "UK, World War II Women's Land Army Index Cards, 1939-1948". www.ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  4. ^ "McGeorge, Pamela Betty - TracesOfWar.com". www.tracesofwar.com. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  5. ^ Woodward 2019, p. 48.
  6. ^ Costello 1987, p. 28.
  7. ^ Roberts 2017, p. 131.
  8. ^ Wadge 2003, p. 78.
  9. ^ "The Female Dispatch Motorcycle Riders Of World War II". Motorcyclist. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Young authors' section: The Wendy Hut". Winnipeg Free Press. 17 January 1942. p. 31 – via Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Honour for Sea Ranger". Launceston Examiner. Launceston, Tasmania. 26 February 1942. p. 5 – via Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "UK, Navy Lists, 1888-1970 (1944 April, Vol 2)". www.ancestry.co.uk. 1944. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  13. ^ "UK, Navy Lists, 1888-1970 (1960)". www.ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  14. ^ Art UK 2019.
  15. ^ "Gloucestershire, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1974". www.ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.

Sources

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