Ann Wood-Kelly (née Wood; 31 March 1918 – 14 May 2006) was an American aviator who flew with the British

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...

in 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 opposin ...

Early life

Ann Wood was born in Philadelphia in 1918 and was educated there and at

Namur, Belgium Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

. When she returned to the United States she continued her education at Melrose Academy,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and then graduated from

D’Youville College D'Youville University (D'Youville or DYU) is a private university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded as D'Youville College in 1908 and named by the Grey Nuns after the patroness saint Marie-Marguerite d'Youville. As of Fall 2020 D'Youville Co ...

, Buffalo, New York with a degree in English literature in 1938.

Aviator

She gained a place on the

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

flight training program in 1941 and after eight hours of flying went solo. Wood-Kelly then stayed with the college and became a flight instructor.

Jacqueline Cochran Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...

a pioneer female aviator tried to form an American auxiliary with female pilots, but with little interest from the authorities she recruited 24 women, including Wood-Kelly to sail to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to join the British

(ATA). During her time as a ferry pilot with the ATA she flew more than 900 aircraft of 75 different types ranging from the single-engined

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

fighter to the four-engined

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

heavy bomber. In 1946, she was awarded the

King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom The King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom is a British medal instituted by King George VI on 23 August 1945. It was awarded to civilian foreign nationals, mainly of allied countries, who had given meritorious service to further the int ...

for her services to the United Kingdom. After the war she became an assistant to the United States

Air attaché The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

in London before she returned to the United States. She became a public relations manager for

Northeast Airlines Northeast Airlines was an American airline based in Boston, Massachusetts that chiefly operated in the northeastern United States, and later to Canada, Florida, the Bahamas, Los Angeles and other cities. It was acquired by and merged into Del ...

, and later worked for

Pan American Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

, becoming their first female vice-president.

Family and later life

She married airline executive Jackson Kelly in 1948 and had a son but the marriage was dissolved. In her last ten years she travelled around the United States giving lectures on her experiences and in 2005 D'Youville College awarded her an honorary doctorate. She died on 14 April 2006 aged 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood-Kelly, Ann 1918 births 2006 deaths Air Transport Auxiliary pilots Aviators from Pennsylvania Women aviators People from Philadelphia Recipients of the King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom D'Youville University alumni