Mary Ellis (pilot) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mary Ellis
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Mary Ellis at the Royal Albert Hall for her appearance at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance in November 2016
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| Born |
Mary Wilkins
2 February 1917 Leafield, Oxfordshire, England
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| Died | 24 July 2018 (aged 101) Sandown, Isle of Wight, England
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| Occupation | Air Transport Auxiliary Royal Air Force airport manager |
| Known for | Aircraft pilot |
| Spouse(s) |
Don Ellis
(m. 1961; died 2009) |
Mary Ellis (born Mary Wilkins; 2 February 1917 – 24 July 2018) was a brave British pilot. She was one of the last women pilots from the Second World War who helped fly planes.
Contents
Early Life and Learning to Fly
Mary Wilkins was born on 2 February 1917. Her family lived on a farm in Leafield, Oxfordshire, England. She was the only girl among four children.
Mary loved planes from a young age. Her home was close to Royal Air Force bases. When she was eight, she got to ride in a plane called an Avro 504. This was with the Sir Alan Cobham Flying Circus. After that, she knew she wanted to fly.
At 16, Mary started flying lessons. She got her private pilot's licence. She flew for fun until 1939, when the Second World War began. At that time, all flying for fun was stopped.
Flying in the Second World War
In October 1941, Mary joined the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). This was a special group of pilots. Their job was to move planes around during the war. Mary was sent to a base in Hamble, Hampshire, with other women pilots.
During the war, Mary flew over 1,000 planes! She flew 76 different types of aircraft. These included planes like Harvards, Hurricanes, Spitfires, and Wellington bombers.
Some of her flights took planes from airfields to the front lines. Other times, she moved brand new planes from factories to airfields.
After the War
After the war ended, the Air Transport Auxiliary group was closed down. But Mary continued to fly planes for the Royal Air Force. She was one of the first women to fly the Gloster Meteor. This was Britain's first jet fighter plane.
Later, Mary moved to the Isle of Wight. In 1950, she became the manager of Sandown Airport. This made her Europe's first female air commandant, which is like a boss of an airport. Mary managed Sandown Airport for 20 years. She also started the Isle of Wight Aero Club there. Another pilot she knew from the ATA, Vera Strodl, worked for her as the main flying teacher.
In 2016, Mary Ellis wrote a book about her life. It was called A Spitfire Girl: One of the World's Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots Tells Her Story.
Personal Life
Mary married another pilot named Don Ellis in 1961. They had a house right next to the runway at Sandown Airport. Don Ellis passed away in 2009.
Mary Ellis died at her home in Sandown, Isle of Wight, on 24 July 2018. She was 101 years old.
Honored and Remembered
Mary Ellis received many honors for her amazing work.
- In 2017, a special plaque was put up at RAF Brize Norton. It honored Mary and another pilot, Molly Rose, for their help in the ATA.
- In 2018, Mary was given the "Freedom of the Isle of Wight." This is a special award from the island where she lived.
- The BBC featured Mary in 2018. They talked about her achievements, like flying planes alone when other teams needed eight people.
- She also appeared in a movie called 'Spitfire'. This movie came out just a few days before she passed away in July 2018.
- In March 2022, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography published a story about Mary Ellis's life.
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. ISBN: 9781473895362,
