Ann McMullan (12 May 1923 9 March 2006), was Director of the

Electrical Association for Women The Electrical Association for Women (EAW) was a feminist and educational organisation founded in Great Britain in 1924 to promote the benefits of electricity in the home. History The Electrical Association for Women developed in 1924 from a p ...

as well as an officer of the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

Biography

Ann McMullan was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

on 12 May 1923 to Garth Glendenning and Madelaine Greener. Her grandparents were George Hammerton Glendenning and Alice Glendenning. As a result she was a cousin of

Graham Laidler Graham Laidler (4 July 1908 – 23 November 1940) was a British cartoonist, noted for his work in ''Punch'' magazine in the 1930s. He signed his name as "pont", short for a nickname, ''Pontifex Maximus''. Life Laidler was born on 4 July 1 ...

Education

She got her education from Church High School before going on to Abbey College at Malvern Wells. She graduated from a course in domestic science before joining the WAAF during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Career

McMullan served as a Code and Cypher Officer at

Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, oft ...

Headquarters. After the end of the war McMullan went to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to work with

displaced persons Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

for a local community organisation. She moved on to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

for a time before going to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

to work with the ''African Children's Feeding Scheme'' in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

. McMullan went on to get a diploma in Public Relations from the Communications, Advertising and Marketing foundation. Continuing to work in charities, McMullan was the head of education for the British Epilepsy Association which was founded in 1950. On 1 March 1976 she became the director of the

. She was central to the association's involvement with the Nuclear industry in Britain. They arranged the program ''Get into Lane'' (Learning about Nuclear Energy). She edited "Essential Electricity, A User's Guide" in 1983. She wrote a biography of her cousin

, better known as the cartoonist Pont, which was published posthumously on Kindle in 2022.

Personal life

McMullan also flew with the

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...

Gliding Club. She married Peter Greville Kay Williamson on 4 November 1944. They had three daughters and one son. She later married Robert McMullan in 1955, and had two more sons. She was also awarded an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in 1985. She died in 2006 and is buried in Warkworth, Northumberland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMullan, Ann 1923 births 2006 deaths Women's Auxiliary Air Force officers Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Newcastle upon Tyne