Jean and her mother

During World War II Batten gave lecture tours with the funds going to the War effort. There is some mystery as to why she was never accepted into the Air Transport Auxiliary. Possibly it was due to double vision incurred in an earlier crash, or perhaps because she wasn't a team player. Whatever it was, the war signalled the end of Batten's long distance flying adventures, and the end of Batten in the public eye. She lived in Jamaica then Spain after the War, and continued to live with Ellen until her mother's death in 1965. Her devotion to Ellen (and vice-versa) grew stronger with the years. Jean Batten's last visit to New Zealand was in 1977 where she was the guest of honour at the opening of the Aviation Pioneers Pavilion at the Museum in Transport and Technology in Auckland. It would be the last time many heard of her. After the visit she returned to Spain. In 1982 Jean Batten suffered a minor dog bite. The bite became infected, but she refused any antibiotics or other medication. After a short period of deterioration, she died. Because of her reclusive later life it was over a year after her death that those who had kept up some form of correspondence with Batten began to worry about her. It was accepted that Batten wanted 'to be alone'. It would take four and half years and the tireless detective work of documentary film-makers Ian and Caroline Mackersey, to uncover the mystery of Batten's lonely death. In 1987 the Mackerseys discovered that she had died in Majorca, infected by a dog bite. Subsequently the site of her unmarked grave was found in Palma.