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E.M. "Betty" Stoddard manuscript, 2006-2006, Date acquired: 01/17/2006, bulk 1939-1945

 

Summary

Creator:
Stoddard, Betty
Sinco, Holly
Abstract:
Betty Stoddard was an Englishwoman from London who worked in the Women's Land Army farming, and in an aircraft factory in London during World War II. She met her husband, an American army combat medic, in 1943 and married later that year. She then went through the process of receiving clearance to move to the United States. She traveled to the United States on the ship Mauretania with other British wives and hundreds of injured American soldiers, arriving in January 1945. She lived in Missouri with her in-laws until her husband returned and discharged in May 1945. They settled in Iowa.
Extent:
1.00 folders
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], E.M. "Betty" Stoddard manuscript, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_06_0005.

Background

Scope and content:

The E.M. "Betty" Stoddard collection contains one folder with a 42-page typed transcript of an oral interview.

Biographical / historical:

Betty Stoddard was born September 25, 1919, in West Ealing, London Middlesex, England. She was one of two daughters, and grew up in Ruislip Middlesex, west of London. She was working as a stenographer in London when England entered World War II. Stoddard worked as an air raid warden and watched dogfights over London. In early 1940 she volunteered to work on a farm in Norfolk, England, and at the age of 20 officially joined the Women's Land Army and was stationed to do mixed farming in Gloucestershire, England, on the Simmons' family farm. Without prior farming experience, she quickly learned skills like milking cows, working fields with horses, and spreading manure. After farming, she returned to Ruislip and worked in an aircraft factory making the struts for aircraft that went on aircraft carriers.

In April 1943, Betty visited a girlfriend in Western England who was farming. While there, Betty met her future husband, Richard Stoddard, an American combat medic in a medical collecting company. They married in October 1943. In January 1944 they began the paperwork to move Betty to the United States; she received clearance by January 1945 and paid her own passage. She left Liverpool, England with only two trunks and crossed the Atlantic to New York City via the Mauretania. She traveled with other British wives of US servicemen, and with hundreds of wounded soldiers being transported stateside. Their ship was shadowed by a German submarine all the way across the ocean. Betty arrived in New York City in January 1945 and eventually made her way to Missouri to stay with her in-laws. While her husband was home on a month-long furlough, the war ended in Europe, and he was among the first few hundred soldiers discharged at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri in May 1945. Afterward, the couple moved to their farm in Iowa. Betty had a daughter in 1948. At the time of the interview, she still remained in touch with the Simmons family for whom she farmed while in the Women's Land Army.

Acquisition information:

Betty Stoddard

Donated

Custodial history:

Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.

Processing information:

Entered 01/23/2017

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open to all researchers.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], E.M. "Betty" Stoddard manuscript, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_06_0005.

Location of this collection:
116 Honors Way
Tallahassee
FL
32306-2047
USA