Women's Royal Naval Service motorcycle dispatch rider during World War II
Pamela Betty McGeorge BEM was a Women's Royal Naval Service motorcycle dispatch rider during World War II.
Early life.
Pamela Betty McGeorge was born on 29 October 1918, in Edgebaston, to Mabel Maud (née Cooper) and John McGeorge. She was baptised at St Bartholomew's Church, Edgbaston on 30 November 1918. Her father was a surveyor of taxes.
Second World War.
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.
On 30 September 1941, 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. McGeorge had been a Sea Ranger. She underwent training WREN's officer training at Greenwich and was promoted to acting second officer on 29 January 1944 and was listed as a second officer in the Women's Royal Navy (Supplementary) Reserve in 1960.
A portrait of McGeorge by British painter Anthony Devas is in the collection of The Hepworth Wakefield.
Later life.
McGeorge settled in the family home in Cheltenham after the war.
References.
 ;templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" / ;