The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of

the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

with headquarters at

White Waltham Airfield White Waltham Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome located at White Waltham, southwest of Maidenhead, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. This large grass airfield is best known for its assoc ...

in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, maintenance units (MUs), scrapyards, and active service squadrons and airfields, but not to naval aircraft carriers. It also flew service personnel on urgent duty from one place to another and performed some

air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

work. Notably, around 10% of its pilots were women, and from 1943 they received equal pay to their male colleagues, a first for the British government.

Mission

The initial plan was that the ATA would carry personnel, mail and medical supplies, but the pilots were immediately needed to work with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) ferry pools transporting aircraft. By 1 May 1940 the ATA had taken over transporting all military aircraft from factories to maintenance units to have guns and accessories installed. On 1 August 1941 the ATA took over all ferrying jobs.Air Transport Auxiliary, ''Air Transport Auxiliary''. (Handbook) pp. 5–7 This freed the much-needed combat pilots for combat duty. At one time there were fourteen ATA ferry pools as far apart as Hamble, near Southampton, and

Lossiemouth Lossiemouth ( gd, Inbhir Losaidh) is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, Moray, Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town wa ...

, near

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histo ...

in Scotland. A special ATA Air Pageant was held at White Waltham on 29 September 1945 to raise money for the ATA Benevolent Fund, supported by the aircraft companies that had been served by the ATA. It included comprehensive static displays of Allied and German aircraft, including a V1, aero engines, and an AA gun and searchlight complete with crew. Pilots taking part included

Alex Henshaw Alexander Adolphus Dumphries Henshaw, (7 November 1912 – 24 February 2007) was a British air racer in the 1930s and a test pilot for Vickers Armstrong during the Second World War. Early life Henshaw was born in Peterborough, the eldest son of ...

in a

Supermarine Seafire The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurric ...

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...

, a World War II

Minister of Aircraft Production The Minister of Aircraft Production was, from 1940 to 1945, the British government minister at the Ministry of Aircraft Production, one of the specialised supply ministries set up by the British Government during World War II. It was responsible ...

, gave an appropriate tribute at the closing ceremony disbanding the ATA at White Waltham on 30 November 1945:

Accomplishment

During the war the ATA flew 415,000 hours and delivered more than 309,000 aircraft of 147 types, including Spitfires,

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

s, de Havilland Mosquitoes, North American Mustangs,

Avro Lancasters The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

, Handley Page Halifaxes,

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also use ...

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracud ...

s and Boeing Fortresses. The average aircraft strength of the ATA training schools was 78. A total of 133,247 hours were flown by school aircraft and 6,013 conversion courses were put through. The total flying hours of the Air Movement Flight were 17,059, of which 8,570 were on domestic flights and 8,489 on overseas flights. About 883 tons of freight were carried and 3,430 passengers were transported without any casualties; but a total of 174 pilots, women as well as men, were killed flying for the ATA in the wartime years. Total taxi hours amounted to 179,325, excluding Air Movements. As non-operational delivery flights, the aircraft guns were not loaded. After an encounter with German fighters in UK airspace, the mid-upper gun turrets of

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ...

transports were armed.British Air Transport Auxiliary
''www.airtransportaux.com'', Accessed 10 January 2021 However, it was realised that this was against international law as the ATA staff were technically civilian status. A number of solutions were considered but eventually the gunners were withdrawn.

Administration

The administration of the ATA fell to

Gerard d'Erlanger Baron Sir Gerard John Regis Leo d'Erlanger, CBE (1906–1962) was a merchant banker in London (partner of ''Erlanger Ltd.'' and ''Myers & Co'') and aviation enthusiast. Baron d'Erlanger was the second son of Emile Beaumont Baron d’Erlanger (18 ...

, a director of

British Airways Ltd British Airways Ltd was a British airline company operating in Europe in the period 1935–1939. It was formed in 1935 by the merger of Spartan Air Lines Ltd, United Airways Ltd (no relation to the US carrier United Airlines), and Hillman ...

. He had suggested an organisation along the lines of the ATA in a letter dated 24 May 1938. Initially the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

was lukewarm to the idea but, with war imminent, they accepted d'Erlanger's proposal and the ATA was set up in 1939. In late August 1939 the ATA was placed under British Airways Ltd for initial administration and finance, but on 10 October 1939 Air Member for Supply and Organisation (AMSO) took over. The first pilots were assigned to

RAF Reserve Command RAF Home Command was the Royal Air Force command that was responsible for the maintenance and training of reserve organisationsJohn D. Rawlings, 'The History of the Royal Air Force,' Temple Press Aerospace, Feltham, Middlesex, 1984, p.180 from fo ...

and attached to RAF flights to ferry trainers, fighters and bombers from factory and storage to

Royal Air Force station The Royal Air Force (RAF) operates several stations throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. This includes front-line and training air bases, support, administrative and training stations with no flying activity, unmanned airfields used fo ...

s. The ATA's Central Ferry Control, which allocated the required flights to all Ferry Pools, was based at

RAF Andover RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air ...

. Late in 1939 it was decided that a third and entirely civilian ferry pool should be set up at White Waltham, near

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

in Berkshire. The operations of this pool began on 15 February 1940. On 16 May 1940

RAF Maintenance Command RAF Maintenance Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling maintenance for all the United Kingdom-based units from formation on 1 April 1938 until being renamed RAF Support Command on 31 August 1973. History ...

took control through its No. 41 Group. Then, on 22 July 1941, the ATA was placed under the control of Lord Beaverbrook's Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP). Although control shifted between organisations, administration was carried out throughout the war by staff led by Commodore Gerard d’Erlanger, first at British Airways Ltd then, after its merger in 1940, at the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. ...

(BOAC).

Pilots and Engineers

The ATA recruited pilots who were considered unsuitable for either the Royal Air Force or the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

by reason of age, fitness or gender. A unique feature of the ATA was that physical disabilities were ignored if the pilot could do the job – thus, there were one-armed, one-legged, short-sighted and one-eyed pilots, humorously referred to as "Ancient and Tattered Airmen" (ATA). The ATA also took pilots from other countries, both neutral and combatant. Representatives of 28 countries flew with the ATA.

Women pilots

Most notably, the ATA allowed women pilots to ferry aircraft. The female pilots (nicknamed "Attagirls") had a high profile in the press. On 14 November 1939 Commander

Pauline Gower Pauline Mary de Peauly Gower Fahie (22 July 1910 – 2 March 1947) was a British pilot and writer who established the women's branch of the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War. Early life and education Pauline Mary de Peauly ...

was given the task of organising the women's section of the ATA. The first eight women pilots were accepted into service as No 5 Ferry Pilots Pool on 1 January 1940, initially only cleared to fly de Havilland Tiger Moth biplanes from their base in Hatfield. They were: Joan Hughes, Margaret Cunnison,

Mona Friedlander Mona Renee Vera Ernesta Forward ( Friedlander, 2 June 1914 – 24 December 1993) was a British pilot and one of the eight founding pilots who started the women's section of the Air Transport Auxiliary. Early life Mona Renee Vera Ernesta Friedland ...

Rosemary Rees Rosemary Rees MBE (23 September 1901 – 8 March 1994) was a British aviator who worked for the Air Transport Auxiliary. She was second in command to Margot Gore at Hamble from the 29th September 1941 when the site became an all-women ATA ferr ...

Marion Wilberforce Marion Wilberforce (22 July 1902 – 17 December 1995) was a Scottish aviator and one of the first eight members of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). She flew many planes including Spitfires, Hurricanes, Lancaster Bombers, Wellington Bomber ...

Margaret Fairweather Margaret Fairweather (23 September 1901 – 4 August 1944) was a British aviator and one of the first eight women members of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). She was the first woman to fly a Supermarine Spitfire. Life Fairweather was born in 1 ...

Gabrielle Patterson Gabrielle Ruth Millicent Patterson (; 1905–1968) was a British aviator who worked for the Air Transport Auxiliary. She was Britain's first woman flying instructor. Early life She was born in Maida Vale in London on 6 July 1905. She was the elde ...

, and

Winifred Crossley Fair Winifred Crossley (9 January 1906 - 27 March 1984) was an aviator the first woman to be checked out on a Hurricane fighter. She was one of the ''First Eight'', the initial group of women pilots to join the Air Transport Auxiliary. Early life Win ...

. Overall during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

there were 166 women pilots, one in eight of all ATA pilots, and they volunteered from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, the Netherlands and Poland. British women pilots included

Mary de Bunsen Mary de Bunsen (29 May 1910 – 13 April 1982) was a British Air Transport Auxiliary pilot and author. Early life Mary Berta de Bunsen was born in Madrid on 29 May 1910 to Sir Maurice William Ernest (1st Bt) de Bunsen and Bertha Mary Lowry- ...

and

Diana Barnato Walker Diana Barnato Walker MBE FRAeS (15 January 1918 – 28 April 2008) was a pioneering British aviator. In World War II, she became one of the first women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary, flying 80 types of aircraft and delivering 260 Spitfi ...

. Annette Elizabeth Mahon was the only Irish woman to serve in the ATA. From Argentina and Chile came Maureen Dunlop and

Margot Duhalde Margot Duhalde Sotomayor (12 December 1920 – 5 February 2018) was a Chilean pilot who served with the Air Transport Auxiliary in World War II. She was Chile's first female military pilot and first female air traffic controller, and the last ...

and

Vera Strodl Dowling Vera Elsie Strodl Dowling (16 July 1918 – 11 January 2015) was a Danish pilot who gained fame in the Second World War as the only Scandinavian woman to fly for the RAF's Air Transport Auxiliary. Later, based in Alberta, Canada, she instructed p ...

from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

. Fifteen of these women lost their lives in the air, including the British pioneer aviator

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records du ...

, Joy Davison and Susan Slade. Two of the women pilots received commendations; one was

Helen Kerly Helen Kerly or Ruth Helen Clark (6 January 1916 - 26 May 1992) was a British civilian female pilot officer who was one of only two such women commended for their work. Life Third Officer Ruth Helen Kerly was born in 1916 in London and she came ...

. A notable American member of the ATA was the aviatrix

Jacqueline Cochran Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...

, who returned to the United States and started a similar all female organization known as the

Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...

(WASP). In June 1940 the role of No 5 Ferry Pilots Pool was expanded to other non-combat types of aircraft (trainers and transports) such as the

de Havilland Dominie The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its rel ...

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

Miles Magister The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was affectionately known as the ''Maggie''. It was authorised to perform aerobatics. The Magi ...

and

Miles Master The Miles M.9 Master was a British two-seat monoplane advanced trainer designed and built by aviation company Miles Aircraft Ltd. It was inducted in large numbers into both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during the Second W ...

; eventually women were incorporated in the other (previously all-male) ferry pools and were permitted to fly virtually every type flown by the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm, including the four-engined heavy bombers, but excluding the largest flying boats.Curtis, Lettice. ''The Forgotten Pilots'' pp. 74-75 Hurricanes were first flown by women pilots on 19 July 1941, and Spitfires in August 1941. One notable feature of the ATA was that women received the same pay as men of equal rank, starting in 1943. This was the first time that the British government had agreed to equal pay for equal work within an organisation under its control. At the same time American women flying with the

(WASP) were receiving as little as 65 per cent of the pay of their male colleagues. With the death in December 2020 of

Eleanor Wadsworth Eleanor Wadsworth (née Fish; 15 October 1917 – 21 December 2020) was an English second world war pilot, who served as one of the RAF's "Spitfire women". Wadsworth was the oldest surviving pilot of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), befor ...

at the age of 103, and of Jaye Edwards (née Stella Joyce Petersen) in August 2022 only one female former ATA pilot survives, American Nancy Stratford (co-author of ''Contact! Britain!: A woman ferry pilot's story during WWII in England''). Wadsworth had joined the ATA in 1943 and went on to fly a total of 22 different aircraft types and flew Spitfires on 132 occasions. Edwards served as Third Officer in the ATA from 1943-1945.

Engineers

As the ATA became established and expanded the size and number of aircraft variants, the need for having a variety of engineers quickly became apparent. Further, as they began delivering larger multi-engine aircraft, the Flight Engineer (F/E) became essential in assisting the pilots. They were also presented with their own unique insignia in both stitched and bullion variations. There were many specific categories and levels of Engineers within the ATA organisation including Flight, Ground, SCE, Records Clerk, Tarmac, etc. Of the approximately 30 Operational Flight Engineers, only a handful were women. One of these was Patricia Parker who started her career with the ATA as a Pilot, third class but went on to become a F/E. Others were Janice Harrington (died in service), Phillis Pierce and Alice Thomas, the latter who also started as a pilot with the ATA.

Training

The first ATA pilots were introduced to military aircraft at the RAF's

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...

(CFS), but the ATA soon developed its own training programme. Pilots progressed from light single-engined aircraft to more powerful and complex aircraft in stages. They first qualified on "Class 1" single-engined aircraft such as the Tiger Moth, Magister and

Percival Proctor The Percival Proctor is a British radio trainer and communications aircraft of the Second World War. The Proctor is a single-engined, low-wing monoplane with seating for three or four, depending on the model. Design and development The Proctor ...

, then gained experience by doing ferrying work with any aircraft in that class, before returning to training to qualify and gain experience on the Class 2 advanced single-engined aircraft. The same process was followed to progress to Class 3 light twin-engined aircraft and Class 4 advanced twin-engined aircraft. In each case, once cleared to fly one class of aircraft, pilots could be asked to ferry any plane in that class even if they had never seen that type of aircraft before. To do so they had ATA Pilots Notes, a two-ring book of small cards with the critical statistics and notations necessary to ferry each aircraft. To fly Class 5 four-engined aircraft, pilots were first trained on the Handley Page Halifax heavy bomber and then could be permitted by their Commanding Officer to fly other similar types such as the Avro Lancaster when they had acquired more experience. When flying Class 5 aircraft and certain Class 4 aircraft, the pilot was the sole pilot but was always accompanied by a further crew member such as a flight engineer. There were further rules for Class 6 flying boat ferrying. The ATA trained its pilots only to ferry planes, rather than to achieve perfection on every type. For example,

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glider ...

and blind flying were not taught, and pilots were explicitly forbidden to do either, even if they were capable of doing so. Also, in order not to strain the engines, an "ATA cruise" speed was specified in the ATA Pilots Notes. The objective of the ATA was to deliver aircraft safely and that meant taking no unnecessary risks.

Ranks

ATA rank insignia was worn on the

shoulder strap A shoulder strap is a strap over a shoulder. They are often affixed to women's dresses to support its weight or as part of its style. The term is also applied to carrying bags. Dress shoulder strap Image:Camisole.png, Camisole Image:Preprom.jpg, ...

of the uniform jacket.

Units

The following units were active in the ATA: * No. 1 Ferry Pool ATA

White Waltham White Waltham is a village and civil parish, west of Maidenhead, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is crossed briefly by the M4 motorway, which along with the Great Western Main Line and all other roads co ...

, Maidenhead
Previously: No. 1 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA − 'A' Section of No. 3 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 2 Ferry Pool ATA Whitchurch, Bristol
Previously: No. 2 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA − 'B' Section of No. 3 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 3 Ferry Pool ATA Harwarden, Chester
Previously: No. 3 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA − 'C' Section of No. 3 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 4 Ferry Pool ATA Prestwick, Ayrshire
Previously: No. 4 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 5 Ferry Pool ATA Thame, Oxfordshire (Training Unit) : Previously: No. 5 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA − 'D' Section of No. 3 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA − Women's Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 6 Ferry Pool ATA Ratcliffe, Leicester : Previously: No. 6 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 7 Ferry Pool ATA

Sherburn-in-Elmet Sherburn in Elmet (pronounced ) is a large village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, west of Selby and south of Tadcaster. It was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. It is one ...

, Leeds : Previously: No. 7 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 8 Ferry Pool ATA Sydenham, Belfast : Previously: No. 8 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 9 Ferry Pool ATA Aston Down, Gloucestershire : Previously: No. 9 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 10 Ferry Pool ATA

, Moray : Previously: No. 10 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA − No. 4 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 12 Ferry Pool ATA Cosford, Shropshire : Previously: No. 12 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 15 Ferry Pool ATA Hamble, Southampton : Previously: No. 15 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 16 Ferry Pool ATA Kirkbride, Carlisle : Previously: No. 16 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA − No. 4 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 14 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA Ringway, Manchester : Previously: No. 14 Ferry Pilot Pool ATA * No. 5 (T) Ferry Pool ATA : Previously: (Training) Ferry Pool ATA * Initial Flying Training School ATA : Previously: Elementary Flying Training School ATA − ATA School * Air Movements Flight ATA (1942–45) * Advanced Flying Training School ATA (1942–45) : Previously: ATA School

Recognition

In 2008 the surviving members of the auxiliary were awarded Air Transport Auxiliary Veterans Badges in recognition for their contributions to the war effort. The badge was announced by Transport Secretary,

Ruth Kelly Ruth Maria Kelly (born 9 May 1968) is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1997 until she stood down in 2010. Previously, she served as the Secretary of State for Transport, ...

in February 2008. Some of the awards were presented directly by Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

at a Downing Street reception in September 2008.

In media

*Dewar, Isla. ''Izzy's War''. Ebury Press, 2010. * Gould, Carol. ''Spitfire Girls: A Tale of the Lives and Loves Achievements and Heroism of the Women ATA Pilots in World War II''. Forfar: Black Ace Books, 1998. *Lord Brown, Kate ''The Beauty Chorus''. London: Corvus Atlantic, 2011 *Matthews, Beryl. ''A Flight of Golden Wings''. Sutton: Severn House, 2007. *Morrison, Margaret and Pamela Tulk-Hart, ''Paid to Be Safe''. London: Hutchinson, 1948. * Ryan, Garry, ''Blackbirds'' (2012) and ''Two Blackbirds'' (2014). Calgary, AB: NeWest Press. *Schrader, Helena. ''The Lady in the Spitfire''. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, Inc, 2006. *Singer, E. M. ''Mother Flies Hurricanes''. Bend, OR: Avidia Cascade Press, 1999. *Terrell, George. ''I'll Never Leave You''. San Jose: Writer's Showcase, 2001. * Wein, Elizabeth. ''

Code Name Verity ''Code Name Verity'' is a young adult historical fiction novel by Elizabeth Wein that was published in 2012. It focuses on the friendship between two young British women, one English and one Scottish, in World War II – a spy captured by the N ...

'' (Electric Monkey, 2012) and '' Rose Under Fire'' (2013) *Lester, Natasha. ''The Paris Secret.'' New York: Forever (Hachette Book Group), 2020.

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Air Transport Auxiliary, ''Air Transport Auxiliary''. (Handbook) White Waltham: Reminder Book, 1945. * * *Barnato Walker, Diana. ''Spreading My Wings''. Patrick Stephens, 1994 *Curtis, Lettice. ''The Forgotten Pilots: A Story of the Air Transport Auxiliary, 1939-45''. Olney, Bucks: Nelson & Saunders, 1985 *Schrader, Helena. ''Sisters in Arms''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation, 2006.

External links

Air Transport Auxiliary AssociationAir Transport Auxiliary Museum & Online Archive at Maidenhead Heritage Centre
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20101209112247/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history_old/dianabw2.html Royal Air Force history site Diana Barnato Walkerbr>Royal Air Force history site Amy Johnson
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070814114458/http://www.motherflieshurricanes.com/historyATA.htm Mother Flies Hurricanesbr>Those Magnificent Women. Times Online (19 November 2005)
* ttp://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Air_Transport_Auxiliary Your Archives Air Transport Auxiliarybr>Hamble le Rice ATA MemorialJohn Leonard Yingst papers
at th
Hoover Institution ArchivesAnn Wood-Kelly papers
at th
Hoover Institution ArchivesJane Spencer collection
at th
Hoover Institution Archives

Online films

ATA Girl! MovieBBC Documentary: Spitfire Women
{{Authority control Air Ministry during World War II Aviation organisations based in the United Kingdom 1940 establishments in the United Kingdom 1945 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1940 Organizations disestablished in 1945 Defunct organisations based in the United Kingdom