Very many happy returns to Isle of Wight centenarian, Mary Ellis.
Mary, one of the female pilots in WWII, will be celebrating her 
100th birthday today (Thursday).
Mary had her first flying lesson in August 1938 and was later trained to fly fighters and bombers. She served as a First Officer in the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War.
Flying over 400 Spitfires and Seafires, Mary achieved an impressive record of aircraft flown.
Mary was also Commandant of Sandown Airport for twenty years from 1950.
The photo shows Mary receiving her master Air Pilot certificate last year from Air Commodore Rick Peacock-Edwards, of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots.
A recent biography by Melody Foreman of Mary was published under the book title, ‘A Spitfire Girl’, subtitled ‘One of the world’s greatest female ATA ferry pilots tells her story.’
Amazingly, Mary survived two crash landings, and later said,
“Looking back I suppose I was very lucky. But when you are in your early 20s, you don’t think of danger. Back then, people thought a woman was odd even wanting to fly.”
Solentaviatrix Website
Our thanks to Anne Grant from the brilliant Solentaviatrix Website for sharing the news. Solentaviatrix is a Website dedicated to Women Pilots of the Solent – it’s a fascinating read and well worth following.
Watch the BBC South Today coverage – jump to 21.43 (available until 2pm Friday 3rd)
Here’s Mary up in the air just months ago, when she took control of a Spitfire.
Image: © Mary Ellis receives her MASTER AIR PILOT certificate in November 2016. Courtesy of Ivan Berryman via Derek Hermiston-Hooper
