The Director of Women Pilots: Pauline Gower
Men gave women the chance to fly in the Air Transport Auxiliary, but the opportunity might easily have been squandered if the organisational leadership of the women pilots had not been entrusted to the right person. The story of the WASP in the United States, who were disbanded and sent home just when they were becoming most useful, is a cogent and telling example of the price of poor leadership in such a delicate role. Rather than a glamorous prima dona ala Jacqueline Cochrane, the British women pilots were blessed with Pauline Gower. Pauline Gower wasn't rich, famous, glamorous or ambitious; instead, she was hard-working, competent and fair. According to the women who served under her, she wasn't particularly charismatic, yet she was accepted 'quite happily' even by women twice her age, society girls with court and political connections, and pilots famous for their flying achievements. Her success can best be measured in the success of the organisation she headed beca...