During the years of World War Two, a short lived, but remarkable, organisation existed. The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a civilian service that was tasked with the delivery of aircraft from factories to the squadrons of the RAF and Royal Navy, and the delivery of supplies. Featuring pilots exempt from wartime service due to health, age and – most commonly – gender, they gained a reputation for being able to take anything anywhere. One such pilot was Mary Ellis. A courageous and pioneering aviator, she blazed the way for women aviators in Britain with her passion for the skies and evident skill. She served with the ATA by flying aircraft - including spitfires - between airfields, enabling the RAF to maintain their defence against the Luftwaffe. In this extraordinary episode, she talks about her love of flying, which first developed when she was a child, and the incredible feats she undertook as a pilot. Mary Ellis passed away on 24 July 2018, aged 101 – just a short time after filming this interview.
Up Next in Season 1
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The Luftwaffe Ace and the Spitfire
He is a German Luftwaffe ace with 81 confirmed victories on the Eastern front. Now a 95-year-old veteran, his talent and courage remain legendary throughout the world. It is the most iconic British fighter ever built. The hum of its Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, the wonderful elliptical wing, and th...
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Jan Stangreciuk: Veteran. Hero. Guine...
Of all the clubs in the world, perhaps the most extraordinary is the Guinea Pig Club, a group of Second World War veterans that suffered terrible injuries and were then treated by pioneering surgeon Archibald McIndoe. Today there are only a handful left. Dan visits Jan Stangreciuk, one of the few...
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Jack Kenneth Lyon: The Last Great Esc...
March 1944: 76 Allied airmen escaped through a tunnel from their prisoner of war camp deep in occupied Poland. Their aim was not only to get back to Britain and rejoin the war, but also to cause as much inconvenience for the German war machine as possible. Within a few days, all but 3 had been re...
