Wartime ‘Atagirl’ flew Spitfires and bombers to RAF airfields
Mary Ellis Air Transport Auxiliary pilot b February 2, 1917 d July 24, 2018
Mary Ellis, who has died aged 101, was one of a pioneering group of women pilots who flew the latest fighter and bomber aircraft with the wartime Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA).
She was one of 166 female ATA pilots, affectionately known as ‘‘Atagirls’’ because of their adventurous spirit and courage. When the ATA was opened up to women pilots in 1940, Ellis, who had gained her flying licence, was well-qualified and, after hearing an advertisement on the BBC, she applied and was accepted. She joined in October 1941.
Initially flying light aircraft, she soon graduated to the more advanced types, including Hurricanes and Spitfires. Based in the all-female ATA pool near Southampton, southern England, she recalled her first Spitfire flight.
‘‘As I taxied to the runway, it took only a few seconds for me to feel completely at home in this beautiful aircraft,’’ she recalled. ‘‘I breathed deeply and closed the canopy over my head. I saw my blonde curls faintly reflected in its Perspex . . . I was already in heaven before I’d taken off . . .’’ She flew another later that day: ‘‘What a great, great day, and it marked the fact that my life was one now driven by adrenalin and purpose.’’
She went on to deliver 400 of the fighters: ‘‘They truly are beautiful aircraft and have to be the most beautiful ever designed. A lady’s aircraft? Yes, no doubt.’’
Ellis described her work as ‘‘exhilarating and sometimes very dangerous’’ and she had her fair share of difficult moments. Flying over Bournemouth, she came under ‘‘friendly fire’’, and on another occasion, when landing in very poor visibility, she almost collided with another Spitfire landing in the opposite direction. Once, the undercarriage of her Spitfire jammed and she had to make an emergency landing.
Using just a brief pre-flight checklist, the ATA pilots could be allocated a variety of aircraft to fly, often without previous experience of the type. Ellis graduated to Wellington bombers.
On one occasion, she arrived at an RAF airfield, having delivered a Wellington. As she climbed out, the RAF controller approached her and asked to see the pilot. ‘‘I am the pilot,’’ she replied. Unconvinced, he searched the aircraft before realising she had flown the bomber by herself. By the end of the war, she had been promoted to first officer and had flown almost 1000 aircraft and 76 different types.
As all ATA pilots, men and women, flew the same aircraft and faced the same risks, War Cabinet minister Sir Stafford Cripps arranged that the women should receive equal pay, and they rightly considered themselves pioneers of sex equality. Ellis commented: ‘‘I suppose we were changing things.’’
She was one of six remaining women serving in the ATA when it was disbanded at the end of 1945. For a brief period she was seconded to the RAF and was chosen as one of only three women to fly the new Meteor jet fighter.
The daughter of a farmer, Mary Wilkins was born near the current RAF base at Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire. She was 8 when the Sir Alan Cobham Flying Circus visited the area and she persuaded her father to allow her to make her first flight in an Avro 504.
She became hooked on flying and was allowed to skip hockey at school to take flying lessons.
She gained her flying licence and built up her experience giving pleasure flights. With the outbreak of war, civilian flights were cancelled and she returned to the farm until she joined the ATA.
In 1950, she moved to the Isle of Wight and lived on the edge of Sandown airport, where she became Europe’s first female airport managing director, a post she held for almost 20 years. Away from the airport, she indulged a love of fast cars, entering and winning sports car rallies, and she ran a fashion boutique.
Later in life, she and her few remaining ‘‘Spitfire Girls’’ became celebrities and were in much demand to attend air shows and commemorative events. Their role in the ATA had been largely overlooked until prime minister Gordon Brown was persuaded to honour them with a commemorative badge in 2008.
To celebrate her 100th birthday, she once again flew in a Spitfire. She took control for some 15 minutes, an experience she described as ‘‘wizard’’.
Early in 2016 a plaque dedicated to Ellis and another Oxfordshire ATA pilot, Molly Rose, who had died in 2016, was installed at RAF Brize Norton. The following November, she and her fellow ATA pilot and friend Joy Lofthouse, who died in November 2017, were honoured in front of the royal family at the annual Festival of Remembrance in London. Earlier this year she was given the freedom of the Isle of Wight when she was described as a, ‘‘national, international and island heroine’’.
Her memoir A Spitfire Girl was published in 2016. She remained vivacious and energetic until the end of her life. Just two weeks ago she attended the London premiere of the film Spitfire, where she was seen smiling on the red carpet and receiving a standing ovation.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier said: ‘‘She was an inspiration to generations. I’ll always remember her proudly reminding us at RAF 100 events that she was older than the RAF itself!’’
In 1961 Mary married fellow pilot Donald Ellis; he died in 2009. – Telegraph Group