Benedetta Willis
| Benedetta Willis | |
|---|---|
 Benedetta Willis with a Hurricane | |
| Full name | Benedetta Willis |
| Born |
25 Jan 1914 Famagusta, Cyprus |
| Died |
December 2008 Bembridge, Isle of Wight. |
| Aviation career | |
| Known for | Pioneering RAF pilot |
Benedetta Willis (25 January 1914– December 2008) was one of the first women RAF pilots to get her wings.[1]
Life
Willis was born in 1914 in Famagusta, Cyprus.[2] She came to the UK when she was ten. A lifelong interest in flying lead her to the Insurance Flying Club in London. Her husband, Charles Henry Willis, was an instructor there when they met. They married and started a family. They also bought a plane.[3] Willis worked as an architects assistant,[2] but when World War II began her husband joined up and encouraged his wife to join the Air Transport Auxiliary. Willis became a First Officer when she joined up on 1 September 1941.[4] She left Air Transport Auxiliary on 3 August 1943, a year after flying her first Spitfire because she was pregnant.[5] She went on to have a total of four children. After the war, in 1953, Willis joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Her RAF wings were awarded 18 August 1953.[6][7] She and her husband retired to Bembridge, Isle of Wight. Charles Willis died in 1990 aged 81. Willis herself died in 2008.[2]
References
- ↑ "RAF 100: Celebrating the legends of the skies".
- 1 2 3 "ATA Women".
- ↑ "Aviation Safety Network".
- ↑ "Photo of Bernadetta Willis in ATA".
- ↑ Mary Ellis, As Told To Melody Foreman (30 November 2016). A Spitfire Girl: One of the World's Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots Tells Her Story. Frontline Books. pp. 138–. ISBN 978-1-4738-9538-6.
- ↑ Patrick Sawer; Helena Horton (8 July 2018). "Women RAF pilots 'forgotten' in centenary celebrations, say relatives".
- ↑ "Bernadetta won her wings". The Echo (formerly Southern Evening Echo). 31 August 1984.
