Mary Ellis (née Wilkins; 2 February 1917 – 24 July 2018) was a British ferry pilot, and one of the last surviving British women pilots from 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

Mary Wilkins was born on 2 February 1917, at Langley Farm, in

Leafield Leafield is a village and civil parish about northwest of Witney in West Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Langley, west of Leafield village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 945. The village is above sea leve ...

, Oxfordshire,Ceylan, Yeginsu
"Mary Ellis, Who Flew British Spitfires in World War II, Dies at 101"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. 26 July 2018. the only daughter and third of four children born to Nellie, ''née'' Clarke (1885–1967) and Charles William Wilkins (1885–1972). She developed a fascination with aviation from a young age, as her family home was located near

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

bases at Bicester Airfield and Port Meadow. When she was eight, the

Sir Alan Cobham Sir Alan John Cobham, KBE, AFC (6 May 1894 – 21 October 1973) was an English aviation pioneer. Early life and family As a child he attended Wilson's School, then in Camberwell, London. The school relocated to the former site of Croyd ...

Flying Circus visited the area and she persuaded her father to pay for a joy ride in an

Avro 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

. She decided she wanted to learn to fly. When she was 16 she started having lessons at a flying club in

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...

, successfully gained a private pilot's licence and flew for pleasure until the start of the

in 1939, when all civilian flying was banned.

Second World War

In October 1941, she joined the

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 ...

, 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 A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Spitfires 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 Griff ...

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.

Post Second World War

After the war the Air Transport Auxiliary was disbanded. However, Ellis was seconded to the

and continued to ferry aircraft. She was one of the first women to fly the

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

, Britain's first jet fighter. She later moved to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. In 1950, she became the manager of

Sandown Airport Isle of Wight/Sandown Airport is an unlicensed aerodrome located west of Sandown, Isle of Wight, England. It is close to the village of Lake. Isle of Wight Sandown Aerodrome formerly had a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P883) that allows fligh ...

, and Europe's first female air commandant. Ellis managed Sandown for twenty years, during which time she also founded the Isle of Wight Aero Club. A former ATA colleague, Vera Strodl, was hired by Ellis as the chief flying instructor. In 2016, Ellis published her autobiography: ''A Spitfire Girl: One of the World's Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots Tells Her Story.''

Personal life

She married fellow pilot Don Ellis in 1961, and they had a house next to the runway at

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...

. Don Ellis died in 2009. Ellis died at her home in Sandown, Isle of Wight, on 24 July 2018 at the age of 101.

Recognition and commemoration

In 2017 a plaque was unveiled at

RAF Brize Norton Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the village of Brize Norton, and the towns of Carterton and Witney. The station ...

in recognition of Ellis' and fellow pilot,

Molly Rose Molly Daphne Rose, ('' née'' Marshall; 26 November 1920 – 16 October 2016) was a British aviator who flew for the Air Transport Auxiliary in World War II and later served as a magistrate in Oxfordshire. Early life Molly Rose was born on ...

's, "contribution to ATA". In 2018, Ellis was granted the Freedom of the Isle of Wight. Ellis was featured on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

in 2018 highlighting, among other achievements, solo flights where other teams consisted of eight crew. She also appeared in the documentary, 'Spitfire', that was first released on 15 July 2018, just days before her death."Spitfire (2018)"
imdb.com. In March 2022 the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

published a biography of Mary Ellis.

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. ,

References

External links

* 'Spitfire Sisters', documentary with Mary Ellis. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Mary 1917 births 2018 deaths British aviators Members of the Order of the British Empire British World War II pilots British women in World War II Air Transport Auxiliary pilots British women aviators People from Oxfordshire English centenarians English autobiographers Women autobiographers Women centenarians