The Extraordinary Mandate of the ATA --- and its Consequences

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 One of the defining characteristics of the ATA was its mandate. From its very inception, this set it apart from most other organisations, civil and military. The objectives laid out more than any other aspect of the organisation enabled the ATA to make a contribution to the war effort far in excess of its size and apparent strength. The mandate that shaped it was the legacy of the founder and subsequent commander: Gerard d'Erlanger.

Put simply, the mandate of the Air Transport Auxiliary was to put the skills of trained pilots not fit for active service in the RAF or FAA at the disposal of the nation in time of war. The primacy of serving the nation in any capacity for which it was qualified created a flexibility in attitude and approach that became the ATA's trademark. If a job involved flying, then there was no such thing as "that's not in my job description." 

This attitude is best illustrated by the fact that the role of ferrying had not be initially anticipated at all. Yet when the need arouse, the ATA took it on and performed so well that it evolved into the sole ferrying organisation of both the RAF and FAA. Yet it didn't stop there.

In accordance with the mandate to do "whatever would help win the war," ATA personnel consistently responded positively and creatively to requests for assistance. Indeed, an "Air Movement's Flight" was created explicitly to be able to respond rapidly on an ad hoc basis to urgent requests for assistance to fly something somewhere. At various times the ATA provided rapid VIP transport, ambulance service, and in the closing months of the war, handled freight and repatriated POWs as well.

The ATA's broad mandate justified a rapid response to requests unfettered by bureaucracy. Women ferried service aircraft including fighters long before they were officially allowed to do so. Likewise, the ATA had been flying to the Continent of Europe de facto more than three months before such flights were officially sanctioned. Some flights to Berlin, Rome, Naples and Cairo were never officially approved; they were spontaneously undertaken -- and completed -- before anyone 'higher up' could object. Put another way, the mandate itself fostered a certain contempt for unnecessary "bumpf" and so gave birth to a distinctive corporate ethos -- but that must be the subject of a separate entry!

A former ATA woman pilot is one of the leading female protagonists in the Bridge to Tomorrow Trilogy about the Berlin Airlift.  Find out more about the series at: https://helenapschrader.net/bridge-to-tomorrow/

Watch a video teaser here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7rS_Mwy3TU 

                                      

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