Air Transport Auxiliary pilot, Third Officer Betty Black
Betty Black was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 1 September 1913. Her father was George Black New Zealand Superintendent of Dalgety & Co. She was educated at St Hilda’s Collegiate School, Dunedin.
In common with other New Zealand women who served as pilots in Britain during the Second World War she was a member of the Otago Aero Club and had obtained her “A” licence in 1936
Betty served with RNZAF in New Zealand as an equipment assistant until the end of 1941 when she went to Britain to join the ATA.
As was the case with other New Zealand women who wished to serve in the ATA in Britain, she had to pay her own fare to get to the United Kingdom and sit the flying exams, and pass the medical on arrival. There was no guarantee of being accepted. Betty was accepted in 1942 and served until 1946. She began work as a taxi pilot before training on Spitfires and other aircraft.
In late 1946 she married Christopher Dalton Beaumont in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, and remained in the United Kingdom for the next twenty years, returning to New Zealand in 1966. She lived in Nelson where she died on 9 July 1977. Public - John Lee - Researcher - 25 December 2022 - British & Commonwelath Forces History