Women of the ATA and the Men who Flew

The women who flew with the ATA were operating in a predominantly male environment. They never made up more than 16% of the ATA, and the ATA was itself a tiny, auxiliary organisation supporting the bloated, wartime military services. The women of the ATA had to deal with male superiors, male colleagues, and with the officers and airmen of the RAF on a daily basis just to do their jobs. The attitudes of all these men had an impact not only the experience of the women fliers, but their ability to succeed.

Before delving into the reception that the women pilots received from their colleagues and RAF aircrew, it is important to remember that the male pilots of the ATA also initially encountered scepticism from the RAF. Young RAF pilots were naturally proud of winning their wings and being entrusted with the most technically advanced aircraft in the country. It was deflating to some young men to have a doddering old man with one arm or an eye patch step out of a newly delivered Spitfire or Wellington. Male ATA pilots reported being treated with ill-disguised disdain in the early months of the war. Yet by steadily and competently doing the job, they rapidly overcame the initial scorn for ‘hobby fliers’ and ‘old gents.’ It no doubt helped that some of those ‘hobby fliers’ and ‘old gents’ wore wings and ribbons from the previous war. Yet the bottom line was competence. As the ATA expanded and successfully took on more and more responsibility, it gained respect from the RAF, FAA and the civilian aviation authorities.

The women in the ATA faced the additional burden of overcoming fundamental prejudices against women doing ‘men’s jobs.’ However, the rapid expansion of the women’s branches of the armed forces and the mobilization of women for other kinds of war work rapidly eroded strict categorizations of work by gender. Furthermore, the women in the ATA benefited from a corporate management devoid of gender-based bias. Gerard d’Erlanger was completely at ease with women pilots and proposed their inclusion on an equal basis from the start.

The founders of the ATA formed the core administrative and supervisory personnel at ATA HQ, and here a pattern of ‘no prejudice’ was established and consistently applied. Mary Wilkins reported “There was never any hostility or prejudice, women pilots were treated as equals to the men — we carried out own parachutes!” [Letter to the author 20 June 2004] New women were warned they “would survive on their own merits.” [Y. M. Lucas, WAAF with Wings, 1992, p. 25] While the emphasis in the official greeting was that the women were not to expect gallantry or favouritism, it was also a promise of fair treatment that the ATA consistently delivered — as an organisation.

Which is not to say there was no scepticism, doubts or prejudice on the part of individuals within the organisation.  The commander of the Ferry Pool at Whitchurch, for example, long resisted the notion of women at his pool, and accepted them only reluctantly. Lettice Curtis,who joined the ATA in 1940, described a brief but unhappy assignment to the Ferry Pool at Ratcliffe which she claims “had collected a band of relatively young, tough and self-assured pilots, many of them American, who liked to think of themselves as the dead-end kids who could deliver aircraft when even the birds were walking.” [Lettice Curtis, Autobiography, 2004, 114] Such a self-image could only be endangered by having a ‘helpless female’ doing the same job — and, indeed, doing it better than they did.

Yet the reports of helpful and encouraging male colleagues far outnumber the negative examples.  Curtis herself stresses that many of the male pilots were “vastly experienced pre-war pilots and yet, whatever they may have thought about women flying four-engined aircraft … they never for one moment showed anything other than absolute friendship and kindness.” [Curtis, 198] Again and again, women ATA pilots reported that their male colleagues were predominantly encouraging, helpful, and cooperative — not to mention ‘good fun.’ The attitude of the men in the ATA is best summarised as initial scepticism but without either hostility or bigotry. Thus, when the ATA allowed women to attempt to qualify on the heavy bombers, there was widespread pessimism whether ‘the girls’ could ‘hold them’ if an engine went out. After proving they could do just that, the men applauded and the issue was resolved. ATA women flew heavy bombers with the support and encouragement of their male colleagues.

As for the RAF, from the start it was more open to women pilots than the Civil Branch of the Air Ministry, probably due to the positive experience it had already gained in dealing with women in the WRAF (WWI) and WAAF (WWII). The official history of the ATA notes:

At first there was naturally a certain amount of scepticism in Service circles as to whether the women would have the endurance and necessary qualities to cope with the ever-growing variety of operational aircraft, but as time went on and they methodically continued to ‘deliver the goods’ this attitude changed to a more easy comraderie and healthy admiration of their work. [ E.C. Cheeseman, Brief Glory, 1946/1987/2001, 74]

Rosemary du Cros, one of the original eight women pilots hired by the ATA, and Lettice Curtis both noted that the fuss made over women pilots declined over time. The delivery of the first two Hurricanes by women caused a sensation with the RAF ground crews, who were stunned into helpfulness. Later in the war, no one even batted an eye when women brought Liberators and Lancasters.

Likewise, the pilots of the RAF appear to have adapted very rapidly to the idea of women flying their precious aircraft — in the context of ferrying. The story is told, perhaps apocryphally, of an RAF fighter pilot indignantly deploring the practice of letting women fly -- only to have one of his colleagues respond, “What are you afraid of? That they’ll shoot down more Huns than you?” And that was the crux of the matter. The ATA women pilots weren’t challenging the masculinity or superiority of RAF operational pilots. The type of flying the ATA women did was tame and safe compared to operational flying, and most RAF pilots recognised that.

Furthermore, to young men mad about flying (as most RAF pilots were by nature), finding young women who shared their passion was not a bad thing at all. Diana Barnato Walker makes the point that it was two RAF pilots who encouraged her to apply to the ATA and that they coached her for her first flight. There are other examples of RAF pilots giving advice on bad weather flying, coping with engine failure and other flying challenges. Meanwhile, ATA women were welcome at RAF Messes and the anecdotes about help with ground transport, accommodations and even clothing are legion. Last but not least, RAF pilot husbands and boyfriends were common among the women pilots of the ATA -- a clear indication that on the whole women pilots were fully accepted by the fliers in the RAF.

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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