DOROTHY 'Baa' Badger, who has died aged 96, made a huge contribution to village life in Horton-cum-Studley and had an even greater impact teaching children in Africa.

Dorothy Badger was born on October 28, 1921, on Manor Farm, in Horton-cum-Studley and grew up with four siblings, Eva, Jack, Mary and Margaret.

They had a happy childhood and went to the local village school and worked hard on the farm.

Dorothy earned the nick-name “Baa” as a toddler when she described the noise of all the farm animals as “Baa”.

She won a scholarship to Milham Ford School in Oxford and attained her A-Levels in 1939 - just before the outbreak of the war.

She then became an emergency teacher at Stanton St John school before going to teacher training college in Chichester and university in Reading.

In 1942 she taught in Ruislip Gardens by day and drove a Red Cross ambulance around London by night, following the bombs to recover survivors, or bodies.

At weekends she returned to the family farm to help her brother run it, to keep it going during the war.

In 1940 she met - Joe Swindells - a young royal engineers captain based at Arncott, and after corresponding further when he was posted to Persia, they married in London in 1947.

They moved to Birmingham and their only child Joanna was born just outside the city in Shenstone.

In 1954 they emigrated to Southern Rhodesia - now Zimbabwe, where Baa’s younger sister, Margaret had settled.

Mrs Swindells taught in a special needs school, in Gwelo.

In 1961, the couple separated and divorced - and over the next 20 years worked in Northern Rhodesia - now Zambia - Swaziland and again in Zimbabwe.

On retiring from teaching in 1982 and after travelling extensively, returned to her home village of Horton-cum-Studley, where she lived for the next 25 years.

She contributed greatly to village life - as a member of the garden club, the Women's Institute, the lunch club and St Barnabas Church.

She developed a close bond with her only grandchild Beatrice, who suffered a brain injury and was left severely disabled - and was by her side when she died at Helen House aged 16 in 2012.

She died on January 28 from bronchopneumonia and is survived by her daughter Joanna.

Her funeral was attended by friends and family at St Barnabas Church, Horton-cum-Studley, on Saturday.