Spitfire Women: Blue plaque unveiled for WW2 ATA pilot

Freydis Sharland, nee Leaf, was among the first women to earn RAF pilot wings

A blue plaque has been unveiled to commemorate the life of one of the so-called Spitfire Women of World War Two.

Freydis Sharland flew numerous aircraft, including Spitfires, between factories and airfields as a pilot for the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA).

She was one of about 160 women employed by the ATA and, after the war, was among the first five women to earn RAF pilot wings.

The plaque has been unveiled at her former home in Benson, Oxfordshire.

About 160 women were employed by the ATA to ferry aircraft

The ATA, which had its headquarters at White Waltham in Berkshire, was created at the start of WW2 to ferry new, damaged and repaired aircraft without radios or instrument flying instruction - and often types of planes they had never seen before.

Between 1943 and 1945, Mrs Sharland - then Freydis Leaf - flew 38 different types, including Vickers Wellington bombers, De Havilland Mosquito combat aircraft and, most frequently, Supermarine Spitfires - clocking up more than 600 hours of flying time.

After the war, she became a commercial pilot. One mission saw her fly 4,000 miles to deliver a Hawker Tempest V to Karachi in Pakistan but on arrival she was denied access to the officers' mess because she was a woman.

Freydis Sharland competed against 16 men to become British Air Racing Champion

In 1954, she became British Air Racing Champion, competing against 16 men.

The following year, she became the founding chairwoman of the British Women Pilots Association (BWPA), which has gone on to become the largest and longest-running organisation of women pilots in the UK.

Mrs Sharland gave up flying to bring up her children but later returned to the skies and continued flying microlights well into her 70s.

The plaque was unveiled on Saturday at Chalkstone Cottage in Brook Street, where she lived from 1981 until her death in 2014, aged 93.

The blue plaque has been unveiled at Ms Sharland's former home in Benson

Bev Reardon of the BWPA gave a speech at the unveiling and said: "Legendary names such as Freydis Sharland, Mary Ellis, Lettice Curtiss, Eleanor Wadsworth and Joy Lofthouse were all former ATA pilots and BWPA founder members. They were also visionaries, who in thought and deed, were way ahead of their time.

"In honouring Freydis Sharland today, we pay tribute to a true aviation pioneer, a trailblazer and role model for women in flight.

"May her legacy inspire us to dream big, fly high, and never lose sight of the limitless horizons that await us."

Freydis Sharland (third from right) and fellow ATA pilots reunited on a number of occasions

Eda Forbes of the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Scheme said: "It is often suggested that there are not enough blue plaques for women.

"We are delighted to add this spectacular example to our record."

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