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I have given this Wren lapel button in memory of my mother Elizabeth (Betty) Watson.

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Betty was born in Durham into an impoverished mining community at the height of the depression era of the 1930s. She was the eldest of

10 brothers and sisters.

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Betty was determined to escape the poverty of her surroundings. As soon as she was old enough, she left home and embarked on a new exciting life as a Wren.

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She met my father, a Naval officer and they married and settled in Cambridge. 

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Although Betty left the Wrens when she got married in 1955, she was a life-long member of the Wrens Association. She continued as a member until her death in 2011.

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My mother’s favourite bird was a wren. Wrens are shy birds, often heard, but rarely seen. They usually skulk and creep under cover close to the ground. 

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But on the morning of my mother’s funeral a wren appeared outside our window. It danced and pranced along the fence for some time.

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I never again saw a wren in our garden, until the day my father died. On the morning of his death, a wren appeared again in our garden. It came right up to our door and jigged and danced about on our doorstep for some considerable time. 

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Deborah Curtis