SAWIA S O U T H E R N A F R I C A N W O M E N I N AV I AT I O N & A E R O S PA C E I N D U S T RY
I N F O R M . C O N N E C T . M O T I VAT E . I N S P I R E
AVIATRIX PROFILES 2 AUGUST 2012
SOUTH AFRICAN WORLD WAR II WOMEN’S AUXILIARY AIR FORCE There can be few service institutions which owe so much to the tenacity and enterprise initially within a hostile environment - of a handful of individuals as the WAAF. When one considers that the South African Women’s Aviation Association (or Women’s Civil Air Guard) held its inaugural meeting on 5 December 1938, and its first flight at the Rand Flying Club, Germiston, on 6 March 1939, and when one then considers the role and size of the WAAF during World War II, its development compares most favourably with that of the Royal Air Force (which, as an independent organisation, pre-dated the SAWAA by some 21 years and which, moreover, had extremely influential personalities guiding its development, including General Smuts). Throughout the WAAF’s development - from its origins in the SAWAA to demobilization in 1945 - certain personalities recur as dominating forces, moulding and directing its purpose; Maj Marjorie Egerton Bird, Lt Col Doreen Dunning (Hooper), Capt Sybil Starfield, Maj Elaine Percival-Hart, and others. Indeed, this powerful theme of continuity had its distinctly tragic overtones; in so far as Capt Starfield died in the service of women’s aviation. It bears emphasis that the WAAF’s role included duties which were far from sedentary; Rosamund Steenkamp was the first woman to pilot a jet aircraft and, indeed, was killed whilst on flying operations. In a major respect, the efforts of Maj Egerton Bird and her founder-colleagues of the WAAF (as it ultimately became) anticipate by some three decades the struggle for women’s equality which has been such a prominent feature of contemporary social history. SOURCE: http:// samilitaryhistory.org
DIANA BARNATO WALKER (granddaughter of BARNIE BARNATO, a South African diamond merchant) climbing into the cockpit of a Spitfire whilst serving with the Air Transport Auxiliary. SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA
On the outbreak of war in 1939 the Women’s Aviation Association offered their services to the South African Government. Plans were laid to train 1 000 women for the SAAF and the South African Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (SA WAAF) was established on 10 May 1940. Over 10 000 women eventually served in the SA WAAF during the war and they were to be found at SAAF stations all over South Africa and in the Middle East. They did useful work in 75 different fields of which 35 were technical. Some of them were storemen, typists, clerks, telephone operators, painters, parachute packers, welders and drivers. SOURCE: http://www.af.mil.za/about_us/history.html
DIANA BARNATO WALKER Diana Barnato Walker, a granddaughter of Barney Barnato, a co-founder of the De Beers mining company in Johannesburg, was 18 years old when she discovered her calling in 1936 and became a celebrated aviator as one of a group of women, the Spitfire Girls, who delivered new fighters and bombers to combat squadrons in World War II. In 1941, after serving as a nursing auxiliary with the British expeditionary force, which had been driven from France by the German invasion the year before, she passed rigorous tests and became a member of what The Times of London described in 2005 as “the pluckiest sisterhood in military history,” the women’s arm of the Air Transport Auxiliary. Only a little over five feet tall, Mrs. Walker often needed a special cushion to allow her to reach the controls of the aircraft she flew. Known as the “Atagirls,” the transport auxiliary pilots — 108 by the war’s end in 1945 — joined more than 500 male pilots in delivering many of the most renowned aircraft of the war to squadrons across Britain. Mrs. Walker, like the other women in the group, flew Spitfire, Hurricane and Mustang fighters, as well as Wellington and Hampden bombers, though not heavy bombers; only male pilots were judged to have the physical strength to handle those. Mrs. Walker alone delivered 260 Spitfires during her four years in uniform, according to wartime records. In one month, September 1944, she delivered 33 aircraft of 14 types. Pilots were often asked to fly in poor weather, without instruments, without combat weaponry and frequently without radios.
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A total of 16 women piloting the ferry runs were killed in the war, nearly one in six, a ratio that aviation historians say was worse than that suffered by the Royal Air Force’s wartime fighter pilots. Mrs. Walker, who survived many brushes with death, wrote in her 1994 autobiography, “Spreading My Wings,” that she owed her survival to a “guardian angel.” Twice the unarmed planes she was flying came were attacked by German aircraft, and she emerged uninjured. There were light moments. The incident that amused her most occurred when she tried aerobatic maneuvers in a Spitfire and found herself flying upside down, unable to right the aircraft. “While I was wondering what to do next, from out of my top overall pocket fell my beautifully engraved silver powder compact,” she wrote. “It wheeled round and round the bubble canopy like a drunken sailor on a wall of death, then sent all the face powder over everything.” Mrs. Walker continued to fly after the war, when she flew her own light aircraft around Britain encouraging young women to take up careers in aviation through an organization known as the Women’s Junior Air Corp. She bought the sheep farm in Surrey and became master of the local fox hunt. In 1963, at the age of 45, she became the first British woman to fly faster than sound when she piloted a two-seat R.A.F. Lightning fighter at a speed of 1,262 miles an hour over the North Sea. That made her, briefly, holder of the world air speed record for women; it was broken in 1964 by Jacqueline Cochran Odlum, one of more than a dozen American women who had flown with the Air Transport Auxiliary during the war.
LEFT: First Officer Maureen Dunlop, one of the ferry pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary, pictured in September 1944. SOURCE: ATA MUSEUM. www.atamuseum.org
SPITFIRE GIRLS Top-class pilots were crucial to the survival of Great Britain during the dark days of the Blitz, and playing a vital role in fending off the German attack were the women’s section of the Air Transport Auxiliary (RIGHT), a close and dedicated circle of female pilots. In the midst of events that would shape history, these women risked their lives to ferry aircraft day and night from factory to the arena of war, and lasting friendships were born. SOURCE: http://www.iwmshop.org.uk
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JACKIE SOROUR ABOVE: Jackie Sorour, a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary. RIGHT: Hazel Raines and Jackie Sorour at Brize Norton during World War II. SOURCE: ATA MUSEUM. www.atamuseum.org
JACKIE SOROUR During World War II, Jackie Sorour ferried surplus RAF aircraft to countries in the Middle and Far East. She was a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and flew 63 aircraft types, delivering 1,500 aircraft. Jackie was born Dolores Teresa Sorour in South Africa on 1st March 1922, where she was flying solo by the age of 16. It took some time for her to overcome her fear of the air sufficiently to pilot an aircraft without assistance. After five hours of solo flying she obtained her A licence. In a further effort to conquer her fear, she undertook a parachute jump in Pretoria on 30th January 1938, breaking her ankle during landing. In 1939 she went to England to obtain her B licence. At her first attempt to join the newly formed ATA, she was turned down. Jackie was a radar operator during the Battle of Britain. Eventually the ban on women as pilots was relaxed and she was able to transfer to the ATA. In the 1950s she joined the Women’s Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve to convert to Meteor and Vampire jets. In 1957 she joined Channel Airways as an airline pilot.
MARJORIE EGERTON-BIRD Marjorie Helen Egerton-Bird was born in Weymouth, Dorsetshire. She came out to South Africa with her parents and brother George in 1902. Marjorie was two years old. James Sydney Egerton-Bird arrived in the Transvaal to build a prison in Pretoria. He had been a governor of the Portland Prison near Wentworth in England. The family lived in Johannesburg for five years until they moved to Pretoria for 15 years. Her father was governor of Central Prison from 1907-1917. Marjorie attended the Diocesan School for Girls in Pretoria until her father’s death in 1917 at the age of 48. Marjorie and her mother returned to England, settling in Dover. George was already there attending Naval college. After Marjorie’s mother died in 1926, she returned to South Africa and started working at the South African Reserve Bank in Johannesburg. In 1936 one of Marjorie’s friends took her to Rand Airfield for a flight. The young pilot showed off by looping the loop. Upon landing, Marjorie declared that she never wanted to fly again. The chief instructor had seen this and half an hour later, he took her up and gave her a smoother flight. Soon afterwards, Marjorie received a small inheritance
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from an aunt and she used it to take flying lessons which cost £3 per hour through Rand Flying Club. In March 1937, three hours after her first solo flight, she obtained her A licence and an hour later, was competing with 22 men in the Aero Club Round the Reef Flying Race, in which she finished in fourth place. Her licence was endorsed for several different types of aircraft on which she was trained by Doreen Hooper. She could also carry passengers. In 1937 Marjorie was one of the 10 women in South Africa to possess an A licence.
Soon after obtaining her A licence, Marjorie Egerton-Bird set about trying to make flying more available to women. Together with Joan Blake, she set up a petition to the government. The petition was signed by 150 women interested in flying but Oswald Pirow, then Minister of Defence, replied, “perhaps after the first thousand men pupil pilots were trained then something might be done for women.” This would take about two years. Marjorie approached Doreen Hooper, who promised to help. Six women met with Doreen at her flat – Joan, Elaine Percival-Hart, Sylvia Starfield, Toy Celliers and Marjorie. They approached Mrs Deneys Reitz, who was the Member of Parliament for Parktown, to chair a meeting at the Wanderers’ Club. An advert was put in the newspaper and on the evening of 5th December 1939, 110 women attended. They called themselves the South African Women’s Aviation Association (SAWAA). Later on they were referred to as the Women’s Civil Air Guard. Mr. Haswell, secretary of the Rand Flying Club, offered to train eight women every weekend at the Rand Flying Club. Soon other clubs followed suit, and within six months, the 110 members were working during weekends learning all about flying. A year after its formation, the SAWAA had branches throughout South Africa, and numbered between 3 000 and 4 000 members. In December 1938, the SAWAA had eight branches, 67 pilots of which 18 had A licences and two were instructors. In February 1939, the East Rand branch had 100 women joining up – all from Benoni. Each branch collected money to give bursaries to members who showed an aptitude for flying. By 1939, 300 women had joined the SAWAA. In 1939, there were only 600 licensed civilian pilots in South Africa. After raising its own funds, the SAWAA purchased a Taylorcraft 65 De Luxe monoplane for £650. They were not able to use it much as all civilian flying ceased in 1940 and all private aircraft were taken over by the government and distributed to air schools. In February 1940, six SAWAA members flew over Johannesburg in formation flight. Marjorie was one of the pilots, and this was the first time that women pilots had flown in formation flight in the world. By the late 1930s, South African women had started asking about joining the Defence Force. In May 1939, the Director-General of the Reserve Force, Brigadier J.J. Collyer, met with Lieutenant-Colonel H.C. Daniel (Director of Technical Services) to investigate the utilisation of women. Lt.-Col. Daniel was not keen but Col. J. Holthouse (Director of Air Services) proposed that women be used as typists, clerks, store assistants, canteen and mess personnel, telecommunication operators, drivers, ground personnel and instructors.
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MARJORIE EGERTON-BIRD In 1937 Marjorie was one of the 10 wonen in South Africa to possess an A license. She was second-in-command of the SAWAAF. SOURCE: http://ancestry24.com/articles/marjorieegerton-bird/
As war loomed, SAWAA members started receiving instruction in first aid, fire-fighting, alarms, clerical and administrative work. Military drill was also taught. When war broke out on 3rd September 1939, the SAWAA sent General Smuts a telegram offering their services. On 10th June 1940, a notice appeared in the Government Gazette establishing a Women’s Auxiliary Air Force which would be associated with and act in co-operation with the South African Air Force.
On 1st June 1940, Doreen Hooper was the first woman in South Africa to be called upon to volunteer for full-time war service. She was 22 years old and was given the rank of Major, in command of the SAWAAF. Marjorie was the second woman to be called up 10 days later, and then Elaine Percival-Hart, both with the rank of Captain. Marjorie was second-in-command of the SAWAAF. On 28 June 1940, the first group of 120 women were taken into fulltime service. Five months later there were 800 SAWAAFs proudly wearing the orange flash, signifying they had volunteered for overseas service. All SAWAAFs did a three week basic training course at Valhalla under the command of the SAWAAF Sergeant Major (Mrs) Edwards. The SAWAAF technical personnel did their advanced training of a year at the Pretoria Technical College, while other training was done at 73 Air School at Wonderboom. The first female Physical Training Instructors graduated from the Military College in August 1941. Women who were appointed as non-commissioned officers (NCOs) did their NCO course at 100 Air School in Voortrekkerhoogte. By June 1942 there were 34 SAWAAF camps in South Africa. SAWAAF pilots flew communication and ferry flights and served as duty pilots and second pilots in the SAAF shuttle service. Special legislation enabled SAWAAFs to be employed on combatant duty, serving at ack-ack sites on instruments to direct the guns and as searchlight operators. The SAWAAFs came from all walks of life. Helen Beatrice May Fennell was born in Sussex, England, in 1905. She graduated from King’s College, University of London, in 1927, and taught for three years in India. She came to South Africa in 1931, where she met and married Billie Joseph. During World War II, Helen was an information and welfare officer in the SAWAAF. Helen became a social worker after the war and was well-known for her role in the anti-apartheid movement. She passed away in 1992. In December 1940 the first detachment of SAWAAFs were sent up North with Muriel Horrell in charge. They went to Mombassa in a troopship and from there by train to Nairobi, where a camp was established in a grey stone building. Soon this became too small and they moved to another camp of wooden huts. In September 1940 the SAWAAFs were sent to the Middle East, where their housed in a hotel in Cairo.
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During the war, the women performed in some 75 different types of work. These included metal workers, welders, wood workers, fitters and turners, inspectors, armament instructors, stores, clerical, cooks, despatch riders, signals, Link Trainer instructors, lorry drivers, meteorological assistants and observers, developing and printing photos, parachute packers, P.T. instructors, shorthand typists, and wireless operators. By 1941, there were 36 A licence pilots in the SAWAAF. In 1942 a major re-organization occurred within the SAWAAF. Their administrative functions were amalgamated with those of the SAAF. The SAWAAF directorate remained, but with only a few senior officers serving, their function being to direct the policy of the SAWAAF and to maintain the general welfare and well-being of all the SAWAAFs on full-time service.
After the war, Maj. Egerton-Bird was placed in charge of the Women’s Dispersal Section of the Directorate of Demobilization. By the end of December 1945 1, 955 women had been demobilized. In January 1946 alone, 626 women had been through the dispersal camps. The last SAWAAF camp closed on 1st April 1947. Assistance was provided to enable women to cope with the transition from war to peace. This consisted of grants for educational and vocational training, vocational guidance officers assisting women to choose training suitable to their capabilities, the provision of courses both full-time and part-time (two of the most popular were shorthandtyping and nursing), and assistance for those who wished to establish businesses. All the discharge benefits available to men were also provided for those women with equivalent service. Women who had been artisans during the war found it difficult as there weren’t sufficient factories in the country to absorb them. While the majority of women returned to civilian life, a number of the women went into the Women’s Auxiliary Defence Corps and were used in the SAAF. An amendment to the Defence Act was made in 1947, allowing women to serve in the military on a voluntary basis, but only in non-combatant roles, with effect from 3rd June 1947. The Women’s Defence Corps (WDC) was then established on 28th November 1947. In 1948, with a new government in power, the Minister of Defence, F.C. Erasmus, asked for a report on women serving in the Permanent Force. According to the statistics provided in the report, the SAAF had four officers and 30 other ranks in the WDC. In April 1949, women were no longer able to drive military vehicles. The following month, the Minister decided that recruiting women for the WDC Permanent Force was to cease. Only female military nursing personnel and medical officers were retained.
Women were kept out of the Forces until October 1972 when the Minister of Defence granted permission for the appointment of women in the Permanent Force again. The first three women to join the SAAF in 1974 as Permanent Force members were trained at the Civil Defence College in George. On 19th January 1974, 33 women began their basic training at the Air Defence School in Waterkloof. On 21st February 1995, an all-women’s parade was held at the SAAF Gymnasium in Valhalla to celebrate 21 years of women’s service in the Permanent Force.
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PHYLLIS DOREEN DUNNING Phyllis Doreen Dunning was the first South African woman to be called upon to volunteer for full-time war service on 01 June 1940. She was only 22 years old when she became the Officer Commander of the South African Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (SAWAAF), with the rank of Major. SOURCE: http://ancestry24.com/articles/marjorie-egerton-bird/
In 1996, the SAAF recruited the first six women for pilot training. By October 2004, 15 women had received their wings and 13 were still pilots in the SAAF.
PHYLLIS DOREEN DUNNING Phyllis Doreen Dunning (nee Hooper) was born in Johannesburg and attended Boksburg Convent School before completing her education under private tuition. She became interested in flying when, aged nine years old, her parents took her to see a “flying machine” in Barberton owned by Alan Cobham. People could write their names on the plane’s fabric, and Doreen wrote hers. On the 3rd July 1935, soon after her 18th birthday, she started flying lessons with the Johannesburg Light Plane Club, in Baragwanath. She learnt to fly in a Gipsy Moth (ZS-ADW) and her instructor was Captain Stan Halse who was a RFC pilot in WWI. After two weeks and 9 hours of flying, she earned her A licence and decided to make aviation her career. In 1936 she took second place in the Vereeniging-Durban-Vereeniging air race, flying a Gipsy II Moth. On the 30th October 1936 she obtained her B licence, becoming the first female commercial pilot in South Africa. This was followed by employment with African Flying Services at Rand Airport. In February 1937 she went to England from where she took part in the Oases Race in Egypt. She flew with Captain V. Budge in a miles Hawk and finished 23rd in a field of 40. In 1938, with Mr. Calderbank as co-pilot, and flying a Leopard Moth, she placed 8th in the Governor-General’s air race. The same year, she placed 2nd in the Round the Reef air race, again in a Gipsy II Moth. By July 1937 she was studying for her Instructor’s rating and working for the Johannesburg Light Plane Club. She obtained her Instructor’s rating on 20th January 1938, becoming the first female instructor in South Africa. A few months later she re-joined African Flying Services, now based at Grand Central. Her wire-haired terrier, Starkey, was a common sight at Grand Central and had about 70 flying hours to his credit! At the outbreak of WWII, she had more than 2 000 flying hours. At the age of 24 she was the youngest officer in the British Commonwealth to attain the rank she held. In October 1943 Lt.-Col. Doreen Dunning resigned on a point of principle affecting her work. Maj. Muriel Horrell took over her duties. After Lt.-Col. Dunning had telegraphed news of her resignation to Maj. Egerton-Bird, then stationed in Port Elizabeth, the Major flew to Pretoria to speak to Gen. Smuts. A short while later, Gen. Smuts made a public apology to Lt.-Col. Dunning in the Press. She was chairwoman of the SAWAAA. She married Edwin Keith Dunning, who was born in Nigel. He died in Natal in 1968. Doreen lives in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal.
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MURIEL HORRELL Muriel Horrell was born in Pretoria in 1910 and educated at Pretoria High School. She graduated with a B.Sc. from Wits University. She earned her A licence at Grand Central where she was a pupil of Doreen Hooper. Muriel was a senior member of the SAWAAF.
SYBIL STARFIELD Sybil Florence Starfield was one of the founder members of the SAWAAF. She was a qualified pilot and was a leading figure in women’s aviation. Sybil played an important role in SAWAAF recruiting campaigns, travelling all over South Africa. In September 1944, Captain Starfield was missing at sea presumed drowned, as a result of a torpedo action against her ship whilst she was en route to England. She had sailed from South Africa in June 1944, having been seconded to the ATA.
RHENIA SLABBERT Frances Rhenia Slabbert was born in Kroonstad and finished her schooling at Girls’ High School in Johannesburg. She was the daughter of J.H. Slabbert, director of Slabbert, Verster and Malherbe, of Johannesburg. Her interest in flying started in childhood and during a visit in Europe, she flew from London to Paris as a passenger. Back in South Africa, she joined the Rand Flying Club and took flying lessons from Captain Gray. She earned her A licence in February 1937, in Durban, becoming the first woman to obtain her pilot’s licence in that city. She often acted as piloted for her father on business trips. During WWII she was attached to the Communication Squadron of the SAWAAF.
ROSAMUND KING EVERARD-STEENKAMP Rosamund King Everard was born near Carolina, South Africa in 1907 to British parents, Charles Joseph Everard (a trader and farmer) and Amy Bertha King (an artist). The women in her family became well-known artists, known as the Women of Bonnefoi or the Everard Group. Rosamund was not only an accomplished artist, but also one of South Africa’s female aviation pioneers. Her career was cut short by her death in a Spitfire demonstration accident in England. She was the first woman to pilot a Spitfire. In August 1945 she became the first woman in the world to pilot a jet aircraft in Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary Service (whilst still holding the rank of Captain in the SAWAAF). She flew a Meteor III jet. In 1935 she started flying, earning her A licence (no. 453) on 23rd January 1936. Together with her brother, Sebastian King Everard, also a pilot, she operated a Moth (ZS-AFF). She undertook her first flight across Africa to Britain in 1937. Rosamund went to England and earned her B licence (no. 14171) on 16th March 1938. She earned a 2nd Class navigator’s licence (no. 729) on 28th September 1938 and the Guild of Air Pilots & Navigators Instructors Endorsement on the 29th October 1938. After her B licence she took part in the Empire Air Display at Hendon, London. While in England she also flew in Europe and Scotland. Rosamund won the race for the Wright Trophy at the Njoro Air Rally and Derby in Kenya. Rosamund returned to South Africa and on 21st April 1939, she earned her South African B licence and Instructor’s Endorsement. She then joined the staff of the Witwatersrand Technical College as a flying instructor stationed in Ermelo and Carolina. She trained many pupil pilots who later distinguished themselves in the SAAF. When WWII broke out, she was commissioned with the rank of Captain and posted to 61 Squadron where
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ROSAMUND KING EVERARD-STEENKAMP Rosamund was not only an accomplished artist, but also one of South Africa’s female aviation pioneers. Her career was cut short by her death in a Spitfire demonstration accident in England. She was the first woman to pilot a Spitfire. In August 1945 she became the first woman in the world to pilot a jet aircraft in Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary Service (whilst still holding the rank of Captain in the SAWAAF). She flew a Meteor III jet. SOURCE: http://ancestry24.com/articles/marjorie-egerton-bird/
she gave instruction and did flying duties. By 1942 she and Rhenia Slabbert were flying Lodestars between South Africa and Cairo. In 1944 she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, ferrying many types of aircraft to the operational bases. By then she had more than 3 500 flying hours on active service. She was killed in a flying accident at Littlewick Green, 5 km west of Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. There was low cloud at the time, and the Spitfire that she was piloting crashed into a hill. She had over 4 000 flying hours. During the war she was attached to the Communications Squadron of the SAWAAF, which ferried important officials to various military centres. Membership of this unit was one of the most envied and coveted jobs in the SAWAAF. She was a member of the Johannesburg Light Plane Club, the Royal Aero Club in London, the London Aeroplane Club, the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators of Great Britain, an honourable member of the Leicester Aero Club and an associate of the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.
URSULA SMITH Ursula “Duffy” Smith was born in Port Elizabeth in 1921 and educated at Holy Rosary Convent. She first flew in the 1920s when Allister Miller took her on a flight. She took up gliding at the age of 14 and obtained a gliding licence. In 1938 she took up powered flight and had to wait until August 1938, on her 17th birthday to go solo, becoming one of the youngest qualified pilots in the British Empire and Commonwealth. Ursula was in university when WWII broke out, so she joined the SAWAAF and trained pilots in a Link simulator. She was also a navigation instructor. She was a member of the Port Elizabeth Aero Club.
MOLLIE NOREEN GOLDSMITH Mollie Noreen Goldsmith was born in Benoni and educated at St Andrew’s School in Johannesburg and UCT. She became a member of the Rand Flying Club and took flying lessons from Captain Gray. After almost 12 hours of dual instruction, she went solo, the first woman to do so at Benoni Aerodrome. She was strong apposed to the discriminatory policies that prevented more women from flying.
MURIEL SHIRES Muriel Shires was born in Johannesburg in 1922 and educated at Kingsmead College. In 1941 she was a pupil pilot at Grand Central where she trained to ultimately become an instructor. Muriel was a member of the SAWAA.
CLAIRE ELIZABETH SEAWRIGHT Claire Elizabeth Seawright was born in Johannesburg. She was a pupil pilot at the Johannesburg Light Plane Club, where she earned her A licence. In 1935 she won the Star Aviation Competition. Claire graduated with a B.Comm. from Wits University.
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SUSANNE DU PLESSIS Susanne du Plessis was born in Philipstown, Cape, in January 1890. She was educated at Middelburg and Rondebosch. In June 1937 she earned her A licence at Air Taxi Company in Cape Town. This was renewed in 1938 and 1939 at Pretoria Flying School and rand Central respectively. Susanne was a member of the Transvaal Women’s Civil Aviation Association.
EDITH D. WATSON Edith D. Watson (maiden name Nicol) was a member of the SAWAAF and an aircraft fitter at AFB Ysterplaat during WWII. She often made her own tools when supplies were short. The tools are on display at the Air Force Museum at Ysterplaat.
MARJORIE JUTA Constance Marjorie Juta was born in Cape Town in 1901. Amongst her many accomplishments – horse riding, golfing, big game shooting, author, playwright – she was also a pilot. In 1928 she was riding a horse towards Youngsfield when she saw an aeroplane being unpacked. It belonged to Colonel Henderson, who was starting a flying school. Amongst the people watching this were Sir John and Lady Heath. Marjorie asked him how much it would cost to learn to fly and he replied, “About £60”. A few days later, he agreed to teach Marjorie for the price of the fuel. She spent 10 days with him, often being air sick. After weeks of gales, she finally made her first solo flight in an Avro-Renault. She went on to earn her A licence. At the same time as Marjorie was learning to fly, so were two of her school friends, unbeknown to her, Marjorie Douglas and Dulcie Evans. Marjorie, along with Lt. Miss Penny E. Otto, was awarded the Croix de Guerre (avec palmes) for courage as ambulance drivers when they were members of the Mechanized Transport Corps serving in the Battle of France in May 1940. The presentation was done in 1941 in Mombassa, Kenya. When South African women marched to the Union Buildings in 1954, Marjorie was responsible for organising them into ranks of six abreast.
MARJORIE DOUGLAS Marjorie Douglas was one of the first two women to qualify for an A licence in South Africa. She was born in Sea Point, Cape Town, the daughter of Thomas Douglas and Catherina Eleanor Cousins (daughter of Rev. George Cousins). Her brother, Rod, was managing director of De Havilland Aircraft Company in South Africa. She attended St Andrew’s School in Johannesburg and trained as a physiotherapist. Marjorie was a member of the Johannesburg Light Plane Club.
DULCIE EVANS Dulcie Evans was one of the first two women to obtain an A licence in South Africa. Both were trained by Graham Bellin at the Johannesburg Light Plane Club at Baragwanath in 1928. By 1931 the club had nine female pilots besides Marjorie and Dulcie. The nine included Mrs. Haggie and her daughter Diana, Nancy Ferguson, and Mrs. Humble.
WINIFRED BEATRICE BEARDMORE Winifred Beatrice Beardmore was born in Cape Town in 1914. She attended Wynberg Girls’ High. Winifred started flying in 1938 and obtained her A licence. She was a secretary at Cape Town Airport for a number of years. She served as the secretary of the Cape Peninsula Flying Club, of which she was a founding member. She was also treasurer of the Women’s Aviation Association. Winifred worked for Air Taxi Company when she joined the SAWAAF where she held the rank of Major.
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RIGHT: A member of the Auxiliary. BELOW: Women at Hamble (1944). SOURCE: ATA MUSEUM. www.atamuseum.org
BETTY ROWELL BEATTY Betty Rowell grew up in Southern Rhodesia. She was educated in Gwelo and Weybridge, Surrey. In 1938 she settled in South Africa. During WWII Betty joined the SAWAAF in South Africa where she was a Flight Sergeant. She worked in the meteorological office at Youngsfield, as an observer taking weather observations from a psychrometer strapped to the wing struts of a Wapiti biplane and later a Harvard. During one of these flights, Betty noticed a cloud effect downwind of Table Mountain. This cloud creates a specific effect for gliders and became known as Betty’s Wave. In June 1946 Betty flew solo at Youngsfield after 2 hours 15 m nutes dual instruction from Captain P. de Wet, a former SAAF pilot. She broke the record of Joy Cairns of Port Elizabeth, who had gone solo after 3 hours 25 minutes instruction. After the war, Betty worked for the civil Met office. In November 1954, with 94 flying hours to her credit, Betty bought a new Auster Aiglet and flew it to Ndola, together with a newly qualified private pilot, Dorothy Alton, who was a missionary. Betty sold the aircraft in Ndola and took the train to her parents who lived in Hermanus. She married Pat Beatty who designed and built gliders. Their daughter is Sue Beatty, the helicopter pilot. Just for the Love of Flying was written by Betty and is the story of her 1954 flight from England to Ndola and other aviation experiences.
UNA EILEEN BETTS Una Eileen Ross was born in Natal. She was a private pilot and became honorary secretary of the Port Elizabeth Aero Club in 1936. In 1939 she was secretary to the Port Elizabeth Air Rally. The Port Elizabeth branch of SAWAA was founded in May 1939, with Una as a founding member. She married Captain G.C. Betts who served in the RAF during WWI. Una had two brothers in the RAF, one of whom was awarded the Croix de Guerre posthumously.
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RIGHT: The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF): Members of Bomber Command returning from a mine-laying operation on the enemy coastline are interviewed by a WAAF Intelligence Officer at RAF Lakenheath. BELOW: Women’s Army Corps (WAC) repaired aircraft during World War II. SOURCE: collections
http://www.iwm.org.uk/
THE SPITFIRE GIRLS OF THE 1940S Between 1939-1945, 166 female pilots were part of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), a British organisation that delivered new and refitted aircraft from the factory to the RAF, leaving the male pilots free to go to war. In an age when women were generally considered best suited to the kitchen, these formidable young women broke into the allmale world of military flying and soared above the opposition they encountered from the flying establishment and the RAF.
Pauline Gower (left) was the force behind the formation of the Women’s Section of the ATA. An experienced pilot, she used her influential social and family contacts to persuade the Director-General of Civil Aviation that using women to transport planes to the RAF was a great idea. Finally in
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late 1939, after initial bureaucratic resistance, the idea became a reality and Pauline was appointed to head up the female flyers.
The first eight ladies (known as “The First Eight”) were recruited initially to fly light training planes to the RAF in the north of England and Scotland. All were highly-experienced pilots and seven of them were instructors, but it was felt ‘better to let a woman break a cheaper plane than one of the more expensive models’. This attitude slowly changed and, gradually, more female pilots were recruited. By the end of the war, 166 women had been a part of the ATA. Collectively they had flown many different types of aircraft from light trainers to heavy four-engine bombers, including the Tiger Moth, Gypsy Moth, Lancaster bomber, Hurricane and the beloved Spitfire. The women had come from all around the world—28 countries in all, including Chile, UK, New Zealand, USA and South Africa.
The pilot’s uniform consisted of a pleated skirt, slacks, a one piece “Sidcot” flying suit and quilted liner, a sheepskin leather “Irvin” flying jacket, a blue service tunic with four pockets, a belt with a large brass buckle, a great coat and a forage cap. Women had to purchase their own blue shirts, black nylon stocking, black shoes and black necktie. On landing, some of them used to do their makeup and hair, emerging from the planes looking fabulous! Officially, slacks were only allowed on the base and a skirt was to be worn off-duty. The same rule applied to the very warm black leather fleece-lined flying boots, but both rules appear to have been routinely ignored.
Admired and adored by the press, these exceptional ladies were the glamour girls of the age and consisted of two groups: the “Head Girls” and the “It Girls”. However, flying was a dangerous profession and flying during wartime even more so. Some of the pilots died whilst carrying out their duties, including the famous pioneer aviatrix, Amy Johnson, who was a part of the ATA until she died in 1941 during a ferry flight.
These women were inspirational, incredible and pioneering, even though they humbly saw themselves as simply doing a job—and they did it incredibly well, often flying in the most terrible weather conditions, without radios or instruments and often in the face of resistance. SOURCE: http://hair-and-makeup-artist.com/period-hair-makeup/spitfire-girls-1940s/
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