A Largs lady who miraculously survived the London Blitz on two occasions has died in her 99th year, writes Drew Cochrane.
Beryl Green was one of eight children, in 1918, born in Lambeth.
During the Battle of Britain Beryl hid with her family in the cellar of their house when a German bomb exploded in the garden, destroying the building. They crawled out through a coal chute.
Later, she was out in the city, heading for dancing at the Cafe de Paris when the dreaded noise of a Doodleburg bomb was heard over the music. As the cafe exploded she fled to safety.
She worked as a secretary in the famous Tin Pan Alley area where she knew a lot of musicians, particularly an American trombone player and band leader, Major Glenn Miller who had such massive hits as ‘Tuxedo Junction’ before he perished in an air crash.
In 1947 Beryl married Stephen Green and they moved to Glasgow where he was a senior manager with the Co-op. She did a lot of modelling and fashion designing, ran a modelling agency, and was one of STV’s first presenters before entering the world of book publishing.
On the death of her husband, Beryl moved to Largs but still travelled in the publishing business. She is survived by sons, Graham and Harvey, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
She remained at home, cooking for herself, until her sudden death but was supported by the Crossroads Care organisation and North Ayrshire Council carers.
At a funeral at Holmsford Crematorium, the service by Rev. Sandy McCallum concluded with songs such as ‘Lambeth Walk’ and ‘Maybe, It’s Because I’m a Londoner.’