Book Read Free

Spitfire Girl

Page 23

by Jackie Moggridge


  ‘Any news of Gordon Levett?’ I asked as I handed him the delivery documents.

  He frowned.

  ‘The other Spitfire,’ I prompted.

  ‘Oh. Yes. He left Bandar Abbas yesterday.’

  ‘Is the pilot all right?’

  ‘U-huh. We expect him in a few days. Where are the spare radio crystals?’ he added nonchalantly.

  I pulled off my helmet, pushed my hair back and pointed to the wing panels. He shrugged and disappeared under the wing.

  So, on a note of absurd anti-climax, ended the fourth ferry flight.

  Epilogue

  How to end this book when there is no ending? I am too young to sum up, too old to end with a hint of a new beginning. There seem very few ends that need gathering. Gordon Levett arrived safely at Rangoon and joined us at Tel Aviv in time for the remaining two ferry flights.

  At the end of the Spitfire contract I hitch-hiked back to London on an Israeli Air Force freighter. As we crossed the Alps at night I sat at the controls. The rest of the crew were dozing when the clouds broke like a curtain to reveal the splendid sweep of the Bernese Alps. The moon, luminous as a pearl in the oyster of night, caressed the snow-clad peaks with shafts of quicksilver that lent depth by giving shadows to the valleys between. Peak upon peak reached for the sky like silvered pagodas. Swiftly the broken clouds sped past the moon switching its spotlight from one superb peak to another. New peaks rose to be admired, posed for an instant, then slipped into shadow. The slopes in the reflected light from the glaciers looked like the tinselled skirts of ballerinas. The frozen lakes like a hundred moons. And, I thought, as the peaks spotlighted the horizon for a brief moment before being snuffed out by distance, people ask me why I do not give up flying.

  Here then, a copy of a recent advertisement, is the end:

  ‘Woman pilot, 35, Commercial Licence and Instrument Rating, 3500 hours. Recent experience Far-East ferrying. Seeks flying post Home or Overseas. Box 467.’

  We hope you enjoyed this book.

  For more information, click one of the links below:

  Afterword

  Picture section

  Appendix A

  Postscript

  ~

  Jackie Moggridge

  An invitation from the publisher

  Afterword

  In 1979, Nick Grace, design engineer and qualified pilot, acquired Spitfire ML407 from a museum. Over the next five years he painstakingly restored the aircraft back to flying condition, and in 1985 Nick finally had his Spitfire airborne again. When Nick died tragically in a car accident in 1988, his wife Carolyn, a relatively inexperienced pilot, took on learning to fly the Spitfire in order to keep a Grace in the cockpit.

  The historian tracing the history of their Spitfire told Nick and Carolyn that it was first flown by ATA Pilot Jackie Moggridge on 29 April 1944.

  As a pilot myself, I have found all the ladies who flew in the ATA to be a huge inspiration. What they achieved in a male-orientated environment, during a time when women weren’t expected to drive a car, let alone pilot an aircraft, is incredible. When the historian Hugh Smallwood told me that the famous woman pilot, Jackie Moggridge, had been the first to fly our Spitfire I was deeply moved.

  I first met Jackie when we were making The Perfect Lady, a documentary about our Spitfire. She came to Land’s End Airfield where we were filming and I was so in awe of her I could hardly speak, but she immediately put me at ease.

  Looking through Jackie’s logbook entry from the 29 April 1944, it’s possible to re-visit the aircraft’s first flight. ML407 was one of two Spitfires Jackie delivered that day – and it was supposed to be her day off! On the 27th and 28th she had delivered a Beaufighter (Bomber), Hawker Typhoon (Fighter), another Spitfire as well as flying the transport aircraft Oxford and Anson. Quite a schedule! Jackie delivered ML407 to 485 New Zealand Squadron where it became the ‘mount’ of Flying Officer Johnnie Houlton DFC who was accredited, whilst flying ML407, with the first enemy aircraft shot down over the Normandy beachhead on the 6 June, D-Day.

  I decided to recreate this first flight: Jackie and I would re-deliver the Spitfire to its original pilot fifty years after its first flight. I had gathered together twenty members of the original 485 Squadron ground crew to be with Johnnie to receive their Spitfire again. On 29 April 1994 there Jackie was, standing beside ‘her’ aircraft that embodied so much history, looking wonderful in her ATA uniform which still fitted her perfectly.

  Jackie was, by her own admission, not a good passenger! She had told me she didn’t want to pilot the Spitfire herself. As we took off from North Weald for our ‘delivery’ I decided something must be done. Once we were airborne, I told Jackie that I had dropped my map so she would have to take control of the aircraft. As a Spitfire has no floor, Jackie knew this was a potentially serious situation and immediately said, ‘I have control’. Of course I hadn’t really dropped anything, but I knew this was the best way to make her fly her Spitfire again. As we approached Duxford, another Spitfire pilot suggested we fly together for a flypast down the runway. Jackie flew ML407 beautifully low down the runway in formation with the other Spitfire.

  After this flight, Jackie and I formed a bond I treasure to this day. In what is still a male-dominated profession, she would be sure always to look her best, having her lovely hair flow free when she removed her flying helmet to accentuate her femininity. She would ensure her make-up was perfect and carried a pair of high-heeled shoes to put on when she alighted from her aircraft. I remember her telling me at the Duxford Air Show to change into my slimmer-fit flying suit in order to show my figure off better. In an environment where everything is practical and serves a purpose, Jackie injected some much-needed glamour.

  But Jackie was also an expert pilot, capable of flying a wide variety of aircraft types. She would have ferried these war machines unarmed, usually in dangerous circumstances. By the end of the war Jackie had delivered more aircraft than any other member of the ATA, male or female, an incredible achievement. All this she did whilst managing the complications of family life – what a lady!

  It was with great sadness but immense honour that I scattered Jackie’s ashes from her Spitfire on 1 August 2004: an appropriate ending to an inspirational life.

  Carolyn Grace, May 2014

  Picture section

  Dolores Teresa Sorour, born 1 March, 1920. She became Jackie in her teens, refusing to answer to any other name.

  Jackie’s beloved grandmother Helen Sarkis. ‘Old-fashioned and strong willed’, but Jackie adored her.

  Jackie and her mother Veronica in South Africa c.1937.

  Preparing for her parachute jump, in front of the de Havilland Moth, at Swartkop Aerodrome. They had no suits small enough to fit a 17-year-old girl – only men jumped out of planes in those days – so Jackie’s tiny frame was completely

  ‘I saw polo players approaching on horseback like an army of Pegasus.’ Jackie, the first South African woman to perform a solo parachute jump, is carried back to the aerodrome with a broken ankle.

  Jackie on her beloved motorbike ‘Jill’ in Pretoria. Years later, Jackie would name her first daughter after this bike.

  Jackie and Reg pose for the camera in July 1942 during a precious week’s leave spent together.

  Jackie poses with fellow Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) pilot Hazel Raines on the wing of a Spitfire. Photo taken at RAF Brize Norton in 1943.

  The women of No. 15 Ferry Pool relax in the sunshine between duties.

  ‘To you darling with love Jackie. March 1943. In the Anson, taken at 2000 ft.’ A photograph sent to Reg during one of many periods of separation.

  The full team of No. 15 Ferry Pool, Jackie can be seen to the left of the propeller.

  ‘I want to see South Africa again before we get married.’ Jackie managed to obtain this work permit in order to see her family again before settling down to married life.

  Jackie with her extended family, Matatiele, December 1944. Clockwise from
left: Jackie’s Uncle, her youngest brother Eddie, her baby sister Rosemary, Jackie, her mother Veronica, her aunt Mary, two cousins, her brother Laurence and three more cousins. The two sisters (Veronica and Mary) married two brothers, making the family very close.

  Jackie and Reg were married on 12 January, 1945 at St George’s Catholic Church in Taunton. Here they are pictured with their bridesmaids, Sally Malthouse (left) and Barbara Gill (right).

  Jackie was straight back to work following the wedding. Here she is in her favourite aeroplane, a Spitfire. As she was only 5ft 2in., Jackie always carried a cushion with her in order to reach the controls.

  Jackie and Jill, 1949.

  Jackie continued to encourage other women to fly. Here she is with the Women’s Junior Air Corps (WJAC) in the early 1950s.

  ‘Graduation photo, Wings at Wellesbourne!’ Jackie is the only female face in a class full of men – something she was very used to by now. They are posing in front of an Airspeed Oxford.

  Jackie finally gets her full Wings, 25 August, 1953, at Royal Air Force Wellesbourne.

  Jackie in the cockpit of a jet, taken during her campaign to become the first woman to break the sound barrier.

  ‘I was happier than I had been for years.’ A photograph of Jackie taken during the Spitfire trips to Burma,

  ‘Ferrying Spitfires at Bahrain in Persian Gulf, 120 degrees in shade!’

  Last arrival in Burma, having delivered all the Spitfires, 1955.

  Jackie working as an airline captain for Channel Airways in the late 1950s. She wasn’t allowed to use the tannoy in case passengers took fright at being flown by a woman.

  Jackie and a colleague pose with a de Havilland Dragon Rapide, September 1956. It was in such an aircraft that Jackie had her first flight, aged fifteen.

  Jackie as local celebrity: interviewed by Richard Dimbleby for Down Your Way, with Jill proudly looking on.

  Jackie at Weston-super-Mare, 1967, where she piloted pleasure flights.

  The ATA’s forty year reunion, 14 August, 1985. Jackie is crouching at the front.

  Jackie and Carolyn Grace prepare for Jackie’s last flight in Spitfire ML407, 29 April, 1994.

  Appendix A

  Below are expanded lists of the people featured in some of the photographs included in the image section. Many thanks to Richard Pode and his team at the Maidenhead Heritage Centre for all their hard work identifying faces.

  ‘The women of No. 15 Ferry Pool relax in the sunshine…’,

  (p.4 of image section):

  LEFT TO RIGHT Kay Van Doozer (USA), Cecile Power, Anna

  Leska (Poland), Unknown, Unknown, Margot Duhalde (Chile).

  ‘The full team of No. 15 Ferry Pool...’, (p.4 of image section):

  FRONT ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): Pam Marsh, Phyllis Farquharson,

  Kay Van Doozer, Maureen Dunlop, Grace Stevenson, Emily Chapin, Rosemary Bannister, Pat Parker, Philippa Bennett, Rachel Nickalls, Margot Gore, Alison King, Rosemary Rees, Barbara Murray, Margaret Murray, Doreen Williams, Jean Bird, Anna Leska, Veronica Innes, Mary Wilkins , Betty Grant. MIDDLE ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT) Dora Lang, Jackie Moggridge, Tanya Whittall, Diana Barnato. BACK ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT) Bobby Leveaux, Mardi Gething, Margot Duhalde, Anne Walker. TOP Vera Strodl.

  ‘The ATA’s forty year reunion...’, (p.12 of image section):

  BACK ROW Lettice Curtis, Veronica Volkersz, Pete Wither, B. Hale, Mary (Guthie) Cunningham, Doreen (Williams) Ulstey. Joy (Gough) Lofthouse, Zoe Jener, Rosemary (Bannister)

  Seccombe, Marigold (Dean Drammond) Saville. THIRD ROW FROM FRONT Helen (Kerly) Storm Clark, Alison King, Freddie (Leaf)Sharland, Monique Agazarian, Maggie Fost (hidden). SECOND ROW FROM FRONT Anne (Walker) Duncan, Pam Tulk Hart, Maureen (Dunlop) de Popp. Betty (MacDougall) Evans, Molly Rose, Phillippa (Bennett) Booth, Bernie Willis, Mary (Wilkins) Ellis, Cecile (Power) Moger. FRONT ROW Diana Barnato Walker, Margot Gore, Margaret Murray, Jackie Moggridge.

  Photo on back cover of No. 15 Ferry Pool:

  LEFT TO RIGHT: Betty Hayman Diana Barnato, Maureen Dunlop, Mary Wilkins, Freydis Leaf, Unknown, (Driver) Pamela, Doreen Williams, Grace Stevenson, Emily Chapin, Kay Van Doozer, Margaret Murray, Veronica Volkersz, Margot Gore, Unknown, Rosemary Rees, Philippa Bennett, (in cockpit) Chile and Anne Walker, three ladies sitting on wing unknown, above them Tania Whittall, Mardi Gething, Jackie Moggridge, Vera Strodl.

  All of the images used in this edition have been kindly provided by Jackie Moggridge’s family from their personal collection.

  I miss the beauty of that world above the earth,

  Where winds have curled the tops of clouds,

  And tossed them into frilly forms;

  The sunlight sweeping o’er them

  Warms my very soul.

  And I behold a vision there of silver wings,

  Swift, cutting through the cumulous mass,

  And listen to my heart it sings,

  Until with pain I see, alas!

  It is not I that feels that thrill,

  Though yet the memory lingers still;

  It is a younger one today

  Who’s flying now, o’er my skyway.

  About this Book

  ‘We had returned to a different world.

  We had taken off in peace at nine-thirty and landed in war at noon.’

  Jackie Moggridge was just nineteen when World War Two broke out. Determined to do her bit, she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary. Ferrying aircraft from factory to frontline was dangerous work, but there was also fun, friendship and even love in the air. At last the world was opening up to women... or at least it seemed to be.

  From her first flight at fifteen to smuggling Spitfires into Burma, Jackie describes the trials and tribulations, successes and frustrations of her life in the sky.

  About the Author

  JACKIE MOGGRIDGE served in the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) during World War Two, receiving a King’s Commendation for Services in the Air. After the war she continued to fly professionally whilst raising her two daughters. She died in 2004; her ashes were scattered from a Spitfire.

  A Letter from the Publisher

  We hope you enjoyed this book. We are an independent publisher dedicated to discovering brilliant books, new authors and great storytelling. Please join us at www.headofzeus.com and become part of our community of book-lovers.

  We will keep you up to date with our latest books, author blogs, special previews, tempting offers, chances to win signed editions and much more.

  If you have any questions, feedback or just want to say hi, please drop us a line on hello@headofzeus.com

  @HoZ_Books

  HeadofZeusBooks

  The story starts here.

  First published as Woman Pilot in the UK in 1957 by Michael Joseph Ltd

  This revised edition first published in paperback and eBook in the UK in 2014 by Head of Zeus Ltd

  Copyright © Jackie Moggridge, 1957

  Introduction © Veronica Jill Robinson and Candida Adkins, 2014

  Afterword © Carolyn Grace, 2014

  The moral right of Jackie Moggridge to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Paperback ISBN: 9781781859896

  eBook ISBN: 9781781859889

  Head of Zeus Ltd

  Clerkenwell House

  45–47 Clerkenwell Green

  London, EC1R 0HT

  www.headofzeus.com

 

 

&n
bsp;


‹ Prev