The Spitfire Girls(102)

Pauline was part of the ‘First Eight’: the eight women pilots who were permitted to ferry Tiger Moths from London to Scotland. Each woman had to have over 500 hours’ flying experience, and to start with they were only allowed to fly light aircraft. It wasn’t long, though, before their numbers grew from 8 to 166 female pilots, and they were flying not only Tiger Moths, but 147 different types of aircraft, including four-engine bombers that even intimidated most male pilots. The First Eight were all highly experienced pilots, but when the squadron expanded many of the new recruits didn’t even drive a car, let alone fly planes! They were also from extremely varied backgrounds, from socialites to working girls, stunt pilots to architects and even ballet dancers. These incredibly brave women often flew several planes every single day once they’d completed their training; often they had never flown the plane they were told to pilot. They received a ferry notebook that gave them instructions and specifics for the aircraft, and away they went, into conditions that were often cloudy and dangerous, and with no way of defending themselves in the case of enemy fire. And with no instrument training or radios to use.

The favourite plane of the ‘Attagirls’ was the Spitfire, which was light to the touch, fast and incredibly sensitive. It was nicknamed the ultimate ladies’ plane, but it certainly wasn’t easy to fly despite being loved by all the girls. After reading about the love these brave women had for the Spitfire, it was the logical namesake for this book, and I wish to honour the memory of every single female pilot – true feminists before their time and women I greatly admire. Their story is certainly one that deserves to be told.

Of the 166 female ATA pilots in Britain, 15 died serving their country. Unlike in the United States, these women were recognised for their outstanding efforts immediately after the war, with the entire ATA (men and women included) credited with helping to win the war. In total, the ATA ferried 308,567 aircraft, with some women personally delivering in excess of 1,500 planes during their time with the ATA.

Many events in this novel are factual; however, it is very much a work of fiction, and I have had to make exceptions to fit within the parameters of my story.

As with all of my novels, I need to thank my incredible team at Amazon Publishing – Sammia Hamer, Victoria Pepe, Sophie Wilson and Gill Harvey. Thank you also to the design and author relations team at Amazon, as well as to my agent, Laura Bradford. And finally to my amazing readers – you are the reason I can write the stories I love! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for buying my books.

Soraya xx