Royal Air Force History

The ATA -
Women with Wings

Part 1 - An organisation is born

With the outbreak of the Second World War, it became apparent that most of the male population were either working in strategically important reserve occupations or being called up to fight for their country. At this early time in the war there was great public show of patriotism. Unfortunately, as time passed it was clear that there were several problems within the RAF caused the shortage of pilots.

A far-sighted man, Gerald d'Erlanger, got permission to start an organisation to ferry passengers and aircraft around the country. Thus began the ATA, who eventually moved 309011 aircraft of 140 different types. They cleared the factories and took the aircraft to maintenance units and other squadrons of the RAF and Fleet Air Arm.

Britain needed pilots to ferry new aircraft to service airfields and military bases across the country, from both manufacturer's airfields and maintenance units. It was not deemed viable to use fully-trained RAF pilots to ferry the aircraft, so the next best option was reluctantly accepted, this was to take on civilians who held a pilots licence. According to official records it was thought that it would take six hundred and twenty four civilians to replace twelve RAF pilots! For this target to be reached, it was finally agreed that the civilian pilots had to be recruited, rather than called up, to ensure the quality of the flying skills of the applicants and allow a rank structure to be based on experience.

Gerald d'Erlanger was a director for the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) when he was approached and requested to instruct the fresh pilot intake for the ATA. Within a few months, d'Erlanger was asked to become administrator of the new organisation.

Why was d'Erlanger chosen? Largely for his foresight is the simple answer. Prior to the outbreak of war, he had contacted the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Air, Harold Balfour, and the Director General of Civil Aviation, Sir Francis Shelmerdine, and proposed the creation of a pool of peacetime civil pilots who could employ their aviation skills in service of their country. Beyond the ferrying role, d'Erlanger believed that war would create further demands for the services these civilian pilots could provide, such as transporting dispatches, mail, supplies, medical officers, ambulance cases, and the occasional VIP.

Initial interviews and test flights took place for approximately one hundred would be members of the Air Transport Auxiliary. To be considered for an interview you had to hold an A licence and a logbook containing a record of at least two hundred and fifty flying hours. It did not matter what their background was, which was unusual at the time, and a good mix of pilots resulted; they varied from stockbroker to farmer, office worker to artist. Only their flying ability was important.

After initial training came flight testing, which was carried out by a BOAC instructor, a Mr McMillian, who later became the Chief Flying Instructor for the ATA. The women were issued with a uniform which consisted of dark blue skirt, a forage cap, light blue RAF shirt, black tie, and a single-breasted jacket bearing the ATA insignia: a circlet enclosing the letters "ATA", superimposed on a set of wings. Gold bars on the shoulders would indicate rank.

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