Dorothy Spicer with Parachutist Bill and pilot Pauline Gower
Anne Grant, editor of the brilliant Solentaviatrix Website, has been in touch with some fantastic news in relation an Award created in memory of a very special female engineer.
Back in the 1930s, with the help of Saunders Roe (SARO), young engineer Dorothy Spicer was able to break through the glass-ceiling of a ban on women engineers in aviation.
A world first
Dorothy become the first woman in the world to gain all four Air Ministry licences in Aircraft Engineering, but tragically died with her husband, Richard Pearse, in 1946 in an airliner crash near Rio de Janeiro.
The Dorothy Spicer Memorial Award was created to preserve her memory, with some notable winners of the award over the years. Sadly it came to a halt in the 1980s, “due to cumbersome administration”.
Dorothy Spicer Award revived
The good news is that Anne tells OnTheWight the Isle of Wight Studio School (whose partner businesses include BA Systems and GKN) has stepped forward to revive the annual Dorothy Spicer Memorial Award, in recognition of the role the town and SARO played in her becoming the first woman in the world to hold all four ground engineer licences.
In the coming year, one student will be recognised for their outstanding achievements with the ‘Dorothy Spicer’ school prize.
Anne says that Dorothy’s family are delighted by the school’s decision and hope that Dorothy’s determination to achieve her dream will inspire today’s young students.
For more information visit Anne Grant’s brilliant solentaviatrix Website, dedicated to women pilots of the Solent.
