Mary Ellis (pilot)
Mary Ellis | |
---|---|
Born | Mary Wilkins 2 February 1917 Leafield, Oxfordshire, England |
Died | 24 July 2018 Sandown, Isle of Wight, England | (aged 101)
Occupation(s) | Air Transport Auxiliary Royal Air Force airport manager |
Known for | Aircraft pilot |
Spouse |
Don Ellis
(m. 1961; died 2009) |
Mary Ellis (née Wilkins; 2 February 1917 – 24 July 2018) was a British
Early life
Mary Wilkins was born on 2 February 1917, at Langley Farm, in
Second World War
In October 1941, she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), and was posted to a pool of women flyers based in Hamble in Hampshire. Over the course of the war she flew over 1,000 planes of 76 different types, including Harvards, Hurricanes, Spitfires and Wellington bombers. Some of her flights were to relocate planes from Royal Air Force airfields to the frontline, and others were to ferry new planes from factories to airfields.[1][4][6]
Post Second World War
After the war the Air Transport Auxiliary was disbanded. However, Ellis was seconded to the Royal Air Force and continued to ferry aircraft.[6] She was one of the first women to fly the Gloster Meteor, Britain's first jet fighter.[4] She later moved to the Isle of Wight.
In 1950, she became the manager of
In 2016, Ellis published her autobiography: A Spitfire Girl: One of the World's Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots Tells Her Story.[8][9]
Personal life
She married fellow pilot Don Ellis in 1961, and they had a house next to the runway at Sandown. Don Ellis died in 2009.[1]
Ellis died at her home in Sandown, Isle of Wight, on 24 July 2018 at the age of 101.[10]
Recognition and commemoration
In 2017 a plaque was unveiled at RAF Brize Norton in recognition of Ellis' and fellow pilot, Molly Rose's, "contribution to ATA".[11]
In 2018, Ellis was granted the Freedom of the Isle of Wight.[12]
Ellis was featured on the BBC in 2018 highlighting, among other achievements, solo flights where other teams consisted of eight crew.[4][13] She also appeared in the documentary Spitfire that was first released on 15 July 2018, just days before her death.[14]
In March 2022 the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography published a biography of Mary Ellis.[3]
Works
- A Spitfire Girl: One of the World's Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots Tells Her Story, Melody Foreman, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire Frontline Books 2016. OCLC 975366210
References
- ^ a b c d e McKay, Jessica (26 July 2018). "Mary Ellis, the last female second world war pilot, dies aged 101". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ Ceylan, Yeginsu. "Mary Ellis, Who Flew British Spitfires in World War II, Dies at 101". The New York Times. 26 July 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Obituary: Mary Ellis the air pioneer". BBC News. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ Nichol, John (2018). Spitfire: A Very British Love Story. Simon and Schuster.
- ^ a b "Flying against all expectations – Island Life magazine". www.visitilife.com. 1 December 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Isle of Wight mourns legendary aviator Mary Ellis". Isle of Wight County Press. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-47389-536-2.
- ISBN 9781473895393.
- ^ "WW2 Spitfire Pilot Dies". BBC News. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ "Female WW2 flyers honoured in RAF Brize Norton ceremony", BBC News, Oxford, 14 March 2017.
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ "The last surviving female pilot from World War II". BBC London, 9 February 2018 (YouTube video).
- ^ "Spitfire (2018)" imdb.com.
External links
- Mary Ellis at IMDb'Spitfire Sisters', documentary with Mary Ellis.
- One of last female World War Two pilots, Mary Ellis, dies aged 101 - ITV News) on YouTube