Betty Cochran: Bid to remember mystery Fife woman on WW2 memorial

North East Fife MP Wendy Chamberlain recently noticed a woman named on the WWII memorial on Queen Street in Tayport: Betty Cochran.

An entry on the Commonwealth War Graves website shows that she died on 8 October 1945, aged just thirty and was part of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. It also lists her full name as Betty Helen Stewart Cochran and suggests she was buried in Kandy War Cemetery in Sri Lanka.

The North East Fife MP hopes to be able to commemorate Betty in this year’s Constituency Garden of Remembrance at Westminster.

Ms Chamberlain said: “War memorials are a reminder of the toll conflicts took on communities across the country and world who lived through them. I believe it is important that they should not only be static objects but that we continue to remember those commemorated on them, to learn about them, and understand their experience.

“I was struck they Betty Cochran’s name on the memorial in Tayport as she was the only woman commemorated there. The publicly available information shows that she died at a young age, as so many did, and after the surrender of Japan.

“I am interested to find out more about Betty. If anyone knows more about her life and service during the Second World War I would be grateful if they contacted my office.”