Wartime heroes: The Spitfire Women
The Spitfire Women were as incredible as the male members of the ATA, and many ATA pilots were killed in plane crashes because of the conditions they had to fly in. The authorities sent them off to fly planes on their own with little or no regard for their safety simply because it was a job that needed to be done.
The most famous female member of the ATA was Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia in 1930. She joined the ATA in 1940 and was promoted to first officer but was sadly killed in 1941.
Finally, after so much advertsity and lack of respect, the Spitfire Women did receive a badge of honour in 2008 after Gordon Brown backed a campaign to honour them and their achievements.
To find out more about them, grab a copy of Spitfire Women by Giles Whittell. Or pay tribute to them this D-Day and head to a Forties or Blitz party and recreate their uniform.
The synched-in military jackets they wore created a lovely curvy silhouette and looked great with the smart buttoned-up collar and tie. The uniform skirt was rather shapeless, but couple your own synched-in blazer or military jacket and shirt with a fitted or puff ball skirt with high heels or clunky boots to create a stylish outfit to honour these brave women through the uniforms they eventually got to wear.
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We like to think we’re something special these days, but we dont’ hold a candle to pioneers like this!
Great post! Just love that photo of Lettice Curtis. These women were awe-inspiring