March 2020 - Grandma Flew Spitfires
Members of the Horndean & District U3A met for their regular monthly meeting on Friday 6th March. Members enjoyed a talk by John Webster, who is a volunteer and secretary of the ATA from the Maidenhead Heritage Centre, titled "Grandma Flew Spitfires" which covered the work carried out by the Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II.
Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), founded at the outbreak of World War II, was a civilian organization which made an enormous contribution to victory by taking over from service pilots the task of ferrying RAF and RN warplanes between factories, maintenance units and front-line squadrons. During the war, 1250 men and women from 25 countries ferried a total of 309,000 aircraft of 147 different types, without radios, with no instrument flying instruction and at the mercy of the British weather. Often they were presented with a type of plane they had never seen before.
Air Transport Auxiliary’s headquarters was at White Waltham airfield near Maidenhead from February 1940 until 30th November 1945. White Waltham is still the spiritual home of ATA and Maidenhead Heritage Centre holds the world’s leading collection of ATA memorabilia, including 140 logbooks and thousands of photographs. Most of these are now available on the Maidenhead Heritage Centre website for anyone who is interested in the astonishing achievements of the ATA. .
The ATA came about following Commodore Gerald d'Erlanger, who at the time was a Director of British Airways, writing to the Director General of Civil Aviation pointing out that there were a number of talented pilots who were too old or infirm to operate combat aircraft. He was given the authority to recruit 30 which he did and set up a base and headquarters at White Waltham. The real concept of ATA was to act as a ferry organisation releasing RAF pilots to go and fight the enemy. Private planes were requisitioned for the tasks to start with.
The aircraft were classified into groups: single engined, Tiger Moths; fighters, twin engined, Anson; heavier twin engined, Wellingtons; four engined bombers , Lancaster, Halifax; flying boats, Sunderland and American Catalina. As the war progressed ATA were tasked with training people from scratch. In order to get the pilots where they were required around the country, they obtained taxi aircraft. They became involved with much more - like medical evacuation, flew into Europe getting as far as Eastern Europe, Berlin and North Africa. They would fly the new aircraft from the manufacturers to safer places around the country where they would be fitted with guns etc.
The ATA's women's section would not have been founded without the persistence of Pauline Gower MBE who persuaded the powers that be that many women who were highly talented and qualified pilots (some as instructors and also some held commercial pilot's licences) could perform an equally important and useful role in ATA. The women received the same rate of pay as the men.
John told interesting and fascinating stories relating to Joan Hughes, Amy Johnson, Maureen Dunlop, Mary Guthrie, Monique Agazarian, Sheila Garrett, Yvonne McDonald, Joy Lofthouse, Pat Provis and Lettis Curtis just a few of the many women engaged in the ATA during the war. Women were particularly good at flying the Spitfire aircraft. John was thanked and answered several questions from the members.
Diane Stoner
Speaker Co-ordinator