Mum’s WWII poems published by daughter

Helen Pearson came into possession of her mum Betty Drayton’s poems after her father died in 2021, and was so moved by the range and emotion of her mum's poems she decided to have them published in a new book, ‘The Library Called Life’.

Betty was born in North Somercotes in 1925, and was a plane spotter in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during World War II.

Her first poem was called 'Heaven' which described her marvel at life, nature, flowers and birds, as well as sunsets and stars. this was published locally when she was only 13 years old, which she wrote at school in only 30 minutes.

After meeting her future husband Jim in her teenage years, Betty was so desperate to get involved in England’s war efforts that she lied about her age:

"She put on her card that she was born in 1924, she added on a year just so she could play her part,” Helen said.

While they were parted during the war, Betty wrote some poems about Jim, the war and her home, and she wrote one in particular called ‘Lincolnshire’ in 1942 as she was missing home so much.

When the war was over, Jim was stationed in Egypt and the couple were finally married in 1945, although they divorced a couple of years later and Jim married Shirley Bates, and Helen was born in 1963.

During their years apart, Betty trained as a nurse and later a midwife, and when Shirley died in 1969, Betty and Jim remarried in 1970, when Helen was six years old, and the family moved to Louth together, where Betty became a lay preacher.

Betty wrote many poems about nature including the seasons and another about her brother Stan, who in turn wrote one about her too, and another about the former malt kiln in Louth, which stood where the town’s Aldi supermarket is now.

"It was called the concrete monster as it was built to withstand another German attack – and it was pulled down to build an Aldi!” Helen recalled.

She had a strong Christian faith and some of her poems reflect her faith, and many of her poems were published in local church newsletters the Louth Herald and The Focus, but a few were published more widely, including in The Lincolnshire Life County Annual.

After her mum died in 2003, her poems passed to her dad who was reluctant to read them and when he passed away, Helen found a whole box of her mum's poetry.

Helen and her husband Trevor spent many hours going through old papers and newsletters finding where her mum’s poetry had been published, and during their research it was later discovered that Betty’s first poem, Heaven, was printed in The New Zealand Methodist Times of February 1955!

Helen decided her mum’s beautiful words deserved to be shared with the world:

"I wanted to do something with them, rather than them sit in a box in my loft, and I decided to put them together into a family newsletter, and the idea grew and grew and eventually became a book,” Helen said.

“I have selected some of her poems and photographs and presented them in the form of a biography of her life.

"She was also a great advocate of living for today, as her poems such as 'Live' and 'Do it now!' demonstrate.”

‘The Library Called Life’ is now available to buy on Amazon here, from St James Church, and also by contacting Helen at [email protected] or call 07988 988995.