Huggett had been Trained to return to base in the event of bad weather: the Aircraft were expensive and vital for the War Effort. But as she turned, the Fairey Barracuda lost height severely and Huggett just had time to brace herself as the plane hit the water. Years later she recalled: “It sat there on the surface for a few moments, then started Sinking. I must have gone down quite decently, like in a Lift.” She wrote in her Log Book: “All things considered, it was a good landing.” The Aircraft settled on the Sea Bed. Huggett took a deep breath and released the Straps in her Cockpit and floated to the grim, blackened surface of the Forth. She had no Life Jacket and was only wearing normal ATA Uniform. She shouted for help. Visibility was bad but a Trawler, the ‘Provide‘, from the nearby Fishing Port of St Monans heard her cries and steamed towards her. “Hang on, Laddie,” the Skipper, John Morris, cried reassuringly. She was immediately taken to the Royal Naval Air Station at Crail (HMS Jackdaw at the East Neuk or Heel of Fife) to be warmed up with a Cup of Tea and then transferred to a Heated Cradle built for rescued Fighter Pilots.
She made a number of Flights after her Adventure in the Firth of Forth, including 4 more Barracuda Flights, before leaving the ATA in August, 2-days after VJ-Day. She was fondly known throughout the Service as the “ATA Mermaid” after her sinking.
Betty Huggett (née Keith-Jopp) was the niece of the one-eyed, one-armed Stewart Keith-Jopp who was one of the original Pilots in ATA. She was born into an Army Family and worked as a Secretary and did War work on Salisbury Plain. She married Major Peter Huggett in 1950, moving to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) where he worked in Insurance. In 1964, they moved to the Eastern Cape in South Africa.
She seldom spoke of her exploits with the ATA, but in the late 1990s Giles Whittell interviewed her for his Book, Spitfire Women of WWW2. When the Book was published, Huggett was Interviewed by BBC Radio Scotland in 2007 and her Escape attracted much attention – especially from the local MP, Nigel Griffiths. Mr Griffiths approached the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown (also a Fife MP), with a proposal that the Ladies from the ATA should belatedly be Honoured. In 2008 all the surviving Lady ATA Pilots were presented with a Veterans’ Badge at Number 10. Mrs Huggett was represented by her daughter, Caroline.
In 2013, Bill Morris, a 3rd generation of the Rescue Trawler Skipper’s Family and a resident of St Monans, initiated plans for a Salvage Operation of the Fairey Barracuda and made Inquiries about the Ditching: he was keen that the Local Folk who had come to Huggett’s Rescue should be suitably remembered. Inquiries suggested that the Plane was Ditched close to the ‘Sea Pool’ in St Monans, but such was the Secrecy at the time there was little written evidence of the Event. Bill Morris said in 2013: “The Pilot described the rescue as a miracle, so I think we should do something to recognise what these people did.” The Lady Pilots of the ATA were brave Pioneers who flew Planes in challenging conditions often with poor Navigation infpormation. Their Training was demanding and brief but provided them with the necessary Skills to Fly Airplanes on perilous Missions. ATA’s Spitfire Women defied the belief that only male Pilots could Fly Fighter Planes – in fact, the lady ATA Pilots were Trailblazers. Typically modest, Huggett admitted years later: “I so wanted to be useful.”
Betty Huggett was survived by her 2 daughters.
Air Gunner Bob Gill DFM 