Female pilots ‘forgotten’ at RAF centenary celebrations

‘They had barely any training, no radio contact and no weaponry, yet they flew fighter planes’

THEY were a small band of pilots to whom the country owed so much: the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary who braved the odds to deliver planes to the RAF during the Battle of Britain.

But relatives of the women who became the first females to get RAF wings as a result of the hours they flew during the Second World War say they have been largely forgotten and want more recognition for Benedetta Willis, Jackie Moggridge, Joan Hughes, Freydis Leaf and Jean Bird, known among friends as The Famous Five.

As part of Tuesday’s 100th anniversary commemoration of the founding of the RAF, a parade will march to Buckingham Palace, where the Queen and Prince of Wales will present a new Queen’s Colour, before a fly-past of 100 aircraft takes place. However, little if any mention is expected to be made of the women’s role during the darkest days of the war of flying Spitfires, Lancasters and Hurricanes to RAF pilots.

Candy Atkins, the daughter of Mrs Moggridge, who died in 2004 aged 84, said: “I fear these women run the risk of being forgotten. There is little mention of them and their role at the RAF Museum in Hendon and nothing to recognise what they did as part of the commemorations.” Mrs Atkins, from Taunton, added: “They made a huge contribution, delivering planes to the pilots from the factories.”

Jackie Wetherill, a film producer who is planning a documentary about The Famous Five, said: “What they did was astonishing. They had barely any training, no radio contact and no weaponry, yet they flew fighter planes hot off the production line to the airbases where they were so desperately needed to defend Britain. It’s a shame so little is being done to recognise their role.”

Mrs Atkins said she was upset that the RAF museum at Hendon turned down her offer of material about her mother, as there were already “a few women dotted around here and there”. She said it appeared to be indicative of the neglect that women’s roles in the war effort have suffered.

The women’s roles were not limited to delivering planes. Mrs Moggridge served in a top secret mission helping to test the new radar system.

Mrs Leaf served as a nurse, then moved into analysing damaged aircraft engines to improve their design.

Ms Willis juggled flying with raising a young family, while Ms Hughes trained men and women to operate a range of military aircraft. “They were all pioneers and should be recognised as such,” said Mrs Atkins.

An RAF spokesman said: “The RAF 100 celebrations remember all those who have served, including the women who contributed so much. Women have featured heavily in RAF 100, including a BBC Women at War programme and the Air Transport Auxiliary, including women who transported planes during WWII, recently met the Prime Minster at 10 Downing Street at a commemorative event.”