Betty was one of 300 aboard the Vyner Brooke which was bombed by a Japanese aircraft. After floating on a raft, Betty washed ashore several days after the Bangka Island massacre but was immediately captured by Japanese soldiers, also becoming a prisoner of war. Betty later wrote White Coolies, a book based on a secret diary from her three and a half years as a POW in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Betty was born in Hobart. Betty trained at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne before joining the Australian Army Nursing Service in 1940.

Returning to Melbourne, after hospitalisations, along with Vivian, Betty travelled to Victoria raising awareness and funds to establish a memorial to their colleagues who died in Sumatra. Eventually, the Nurses Memorial Centre was established on St Kilda Road, Melbourne, with Betty appointed its first administrator.