Pamela Espeut Barton (4 March 1917 – 13 November 1943) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

amateur

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er. She was born in the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

suburb of

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People * Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes Railway Bri ...

, the daughter of Henry Charles Johnston Barton and Ethel Maude Barton. 1931 saw Barton's first public appearance on a golf course at Stoke Poges Golf Club, in the Girls' Open Championship, where she came to notice for hitting the ball further than anyone else. In 1934, aged 17, she won the French International Ladies Golf Championship and after being runner-up in 1934 and 1935, she won the 1936

British Ladies Amateur The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of th ...

. She then traveled to the Canoe Brook Country Club in

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

where she won the U.S. Women's Amateur over Maureen Orcutt. Her victory was the first by a foreign competitor in 23 years and the first time in 27 years that a player held both the British and U.S. titles simultaneously. Barton was a member of the British team to compete in the 1934 and 1936

Curtis Cup The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and " ...

and in 1937 her book ''A Stroke a Hole'' was published in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Blackie & Son Blackie & Son was a publishing house in Glasgow, Scotland, and London, England, from 1809 to 1991. History The firm was founded as a bookseller in 1809 by John Blackie (1782–1874) as a partnership with two others and was known as 'Black ...

. In 1939, Barton won her second British Ladies Amateur but following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she immediately signed up as an

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

driver and served in London through the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

. In early 1941 she joined the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

(WAAF) as a radio operator, later gaining a commission she served as a

Flight Officer The title flight officer was a military rank used by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and also an air force rank in several Commonwealth countries, where it was used for female officers and was equivalent to the rank of flig ...

in command of a staff of more than 600 at

RAF Manston Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpor ...

in Kent. On 13 November 1943, 26-year-old Barton was killed in an air crash at

RAF Detling Royal Air Force Detling or more simply RAF Detling is a former Royal Air Force station situated above sea level, located near Detling, a village about miles north-east of Maidstone, Kent. It was a station of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS ...

when a

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

in which she was a passenger hit a fuel bowser on take-off in bad weather. She was buried with military honours at the Margate Cemetery in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Her friend and pilot of the Tiger Moth was Flight Lieutenant Angus Ruffhead survived the crash but was killed in action over France a few weeks later. In her honour, the "Pam Barton Memorial Salver" is awarded to the winner of the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship. Also a course has been named after her at

Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club The Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club is a private golf club and golf course comprising two 18-hole courses located in Old Deer Park in Richmond, south west London. Location The course lies in an arc of Crown Estate land on the east bank of the River ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

.Royal Mid-Surrey GC In his 2001 book, ''The Golf 100: Ranking the Greatest (Female) Golfers of All Time'',

Robert McCord Robert Maxwell McCord (born March 5, 1959) is an American former politician and convicted felon. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the Treasurer of Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2015. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic n ...

ranked Pamela Barton 34th.

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

(tie) *

Vagliano Trophy The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in od ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1934 (tie), 1936 (winners), 1937 (winners), 1938 (winners), 1939 (winners)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Pamela English female golfers Amateur golfers Winners of ladies' major amateur golf championships Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Women's Auxiliary Air Force officers People from Barnes, London Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in England Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943 1917 births 1943 deaths 20th-century English women 20th-century English people