Volume 14 - N° 5 - May 2009

EDITORIAL

Our mechanics have worked very hard so that the annual checks on the Piper

Cub and the NC 856 could be completed in time for the renewal of their respective airworthiness certificate. As you will see in the following pages, they took this opportu-nity to improve the look of these planes by the addition of the CAF logo, and by giving back the NC 856 the livery it had while it was stationed in Algeria. The plane will be dis-played in the static area of the La Ferté-Alais air show, where it will proudly represent our organization. We hope to see you all there on May 30 and 31 !

With Spring, comes the need to renew your membership with the French Wing.

I ask all our members who haven’t yet paid their annual dues, to send 50€ to the French WIng (20€ for the Cadets), and, as far as our friends in the USA are concerned, to send a $ 50.00 check to Roy and Irene Grinnell. Please check the list of members who are up to date, and if you cannot see your name, please send your dues at once. Thanks !

We only need 200 euros to reach the required amount of money so that

the Spirit of Lewis can operate without any problem !A big thank you to everyone who reacted to my last month call ! Just a little effort from those members who did not renew their support to this plane, and we will enjoy a 2009 season which will allow us to proudly represent the Commemorative Air Force before the French and European public. Thank you in advance !

Finally, let us congratulate col Jacques Leroux, our Unit Historian, for the mas-

terful and well documented article that he wrote for our bulletin : “The ATA Girls”. It talks about those women made of dedication and courage, who did not need fallacious pretexts to demonstrate their equal rights with men. They simply did it, and very bravely too !

Bernard

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SUPPORT OUR PIPER CUB !ONLY 200 EUROS ARE MISSING FOR THE “SPIRIT OF LEWIS” TO OPERATE SMOOTHLY ! (Page 3).

THE ATA GIRLS“Always Terrified Airwomen”

AN HOMAGE TO THE WOMEN, UNSUNG HEROES, OF THE AIR TRANSPORT AUXILIARY (Pages 7 to 11).

FRENCH WING 2009/2010 ANNUAL DUESPLEASE DO SEND YOUR FRENCH WING ANNUAL DUES TODAY ! (Page 2).

http://www.caffrenchwing.fr

NEW LOOK FOR THE NC 856THE PLANE WAS ROLLED OUT OF THE HANGAR WITH ITS BRAND NEW LIVERY (Pages

5 & 6).

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ROGER GOUZONMOVING

We thank you all in advance for all the help you will give to col Roger Gouzon when he will move from Villepinte to Ermenonville.

The greatest part of this operation will take place between May 15 and June 20,2009. It will require the help from a maximum number of members since Roger was kind enough to keep a great part of the French Wing PX in his home, as well as all the Rearwin Sportster parts, and our Ford Transit van, for several years, which reduced our costs drastically.

It is, therefore, normal that all members make a little effort to help with this moving.

It will be the perfect occasion to dem-onstrate that the word Association has a real meaning within the French Wing.

NEWS

As everyone knows, the date for the pay-ment of the annual dues to the French Wing is on May 1st each year.

Many members have already sent their dues in, which, this year again, haven’t been raised, thanks to the saving made thanks to the fact that we send a large number of Newsletters via the Internet.

Our members have, no doubt, noticed that this is the ninth year without any dues increase, despite the galloping cost of living which hits the French Wing budget as bad as any other budget in general life.

Should you not see your name in the list printed hereafter, it is time to send us your 50€ (Colonels, Supporting Members, and Friends), or 20€ (Cadets).

If you reside in the USA, please draw a check in the name of Roy & Irene Grinnell and send it to their home address :

Roy & Irene GrinnellPO Box 719 Little Elm

75068 Texas

Members who had sent their dues at the time of printing this Newsletter :

Jim Adams, Gilles Avenel, Lilian Ayars, Bunty Bateman, Henri Bourrassier, Merill Butikofer, Didier Cardinal, Jean-Yves Cercy, Cédric Chanu, Daniel Costelle, Gaël Darquet, Jean-Christophe Debuisson, Bernard Delfino, Fumiko Delfino, Stéphane Duchemin, Danielle Duflot, Ken Fields, Marcel Francisci, Maurice Girard, Roger Gouzon, Irene Grinnell, Roy Grinnell, Barbara Hair, Aubrey Hair, Jean-Luc Jentel, Marie-Françoise Le Cornec, David Ledrich, Jacques Leroux, Isabelle Lesser, Léon Manoukians, Guy Perrin, Patrick Pierre-Pierre, Hervé Quefféléant, Sandy Sansing, Haruo Tanaka, Gilles Troussard, Regis Urschler, Ronald Wright.

Col Jake Tryon of the Dixie Wing has advised us that this Unit will not be present at AIRSHO in Midland.

The reason for this absence is that the Dixie Wing had already signed contracts for their annual air show, the Great Georgia Air Show when the CAF Headquarters decided the date of AIRSHO in Midland, identical to the Dixie Wing’s one. Therefore, the P-51 Red Nose will also be absent from Midland this year.

NO DIXIE WING NOR RED NOSE AT AIRSHO 2009

NEW ADRESSES FORJIM & TERRY ADAMS

505 Lajitas, MidlandTexas 79707

USA

Phone : 00 1 432 694 6375

Email : slatsjacobs@att.net

FRENCH WING ANNUAL DUES - YEAR 2009 / 2010

LISTS FOR LA FERTÉ & MIDLAND

• Here is the list of members who have asked for access to La Ferté on friday, May 29. This list has been sent to the organizers who will let them through, so that they can help with the setting up of the French Wing booth :

Christophe Bastide, Yohan Blancquaert, Jean-Yves Cercy, Jean-Christophe Debuisson, Gaël Darquet, Bernard Delfino, Fumiko Delfino, Claude Gascon, Roger Gouzon, Émilie Hochet, Patrick Pierre-Pierre, and Christian Tournemine.

• Here is the list of members who will travel to Midland for AIRSHO 2009. A room has been booked in the Holiday Inn Express in Midland for each one of them, according to their requirements. All in and out dates are from October 7 till October 12, except Twan and Patricia who will depart on October 13 :

1-Arnaud Chatton and Marie-Françoise’s nephew.2-Jacqueline Clerc.3-Gaël Darquet and Émilie.4-Jean-Christophe Debuisson and Anne.5-Bernard and Fumiko Delfino.6-Claude De Marco.7-Claude Gascon and Maurice Girard.8-Roger Gouzon and Patrick Pierre-Pierre.9-Marie-Françoise Le Cornec.10-Haruo Tanaka.11-Danielle Duflot.12-Antoine & Patricia Roels.

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NEWS

CALLING ALL SPONSORSYEAR 2009

The number of Sponsors of the Spirit of Lewis has gone up slightly this month, and we are now just 200 euros away from the amount we must reach if we want our Piper Cub to come out of the clouds.

We sincerely thank all members and friends whose list is printed here below ! Thanks to them, we are nearly there.

A dozen members who were Sponsor last year haven’t reacted to our call as yet. If they can, financially speaking, we will be happy to see them reiterate, and we also thank all those members who have never been Sponsors to become one.

To be a Sponsor of the Spirit of Lewis not only means that you can fly for a lot less than usual, but it’s also a means to show your enthusiasm for our Wing and the CAF, to help the common cause, and to reach the CAF goals which are also ours.

JUST ONE MORE SMALL EFFORT !REMINDER ABOUT THE SPONSORING SYSTEM

Flying Sponsor250€ ($ 325.00)/Year + 25€/Hour

Restoration Sponsor125€ ($ 163.00)/Year + 40€/Hour

Supporting Sponsor50€ ($ 65.00)/Year + 55€/Hour

Non Sponsor0€ ($ 0.00)/Year + 80€/Hour

B-29 “FIFI”

The restoration work and the replace-ment of the B-29 engines continue to move forward steadily.

The first of the four engines has been tested successfully with very promising results which let us hope for the best with confidence.

Here are a few pictures which illus-trate the difficult tasks performed by the members of the B-24/B-29 Squadron, Anderson Aeromotive Inc.in Grangeville, Idaho, for the engines, and Ezell Aviation in Breckenridge, Texas, for the modifications to the cowlings.

FlyingSponsors

Hugh Alexander IIIGilles Avenel

Jean-Yves CercyGeorge Chandler

Gaël DarquetBernard DelfinoMarcel FrancisciClaude GasconRoger GouzonIrene GrinnellRoy Grinnell

Georges MarcelinPatrick Pierre-Pierre

Sandy SansingSky Runner

SupportingSponsors

Lilian AyarsHenri Bourrassier

J-C. DebuissonFumiko Delfino

Claude De MarcoJean-Claude Miniggio

Louis-Jean GiouxBarbara HairAubrey Hair

Marcel LedouxHaruo Tanaka

Christian TournemineRegis Urschler

Ron Wright

RestorationSponsors

Didier CardinalCédric Chanu

Bunty BatemanMichel Fleury

Maurice GirardJohn Roeder

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AIR SHOWS - 2009 SEASON

Participating to air shows appear to be more difficult this year. Probably the effects of the current economical crisis… SO, here is an update on the events that have been canceled or confirmed for the French Wing :

• La Ferté-Alais (30 & 31 May) is confirmed with the PX and the NC 856 in the static area.

• Tours (13 & 14 June) is canceled because, after we were positively offered to take part in this air show as a compensation to their refusal of the one in Reims, the organizers of these two events finally also refused so that they could give priority to the local Associations (!).

• Quiberon (18 to 21 June) is canceled due no participant.

• Meaux-Esbly (Fly-in on 6 & 7 June) is confirmed with the J-3, NC 856,, and MS 733, and the PX if members volunteer to help in the setting-up and the transport.

• Compiègne (27 June) is confirmed with the J-3, NC 856,, and MS 733, and the PX if members volunteer to help in the setting-up and the transport.

• Niergnies (18 July) is not certain yet and we are still talking with the organizers.

• Lens (13 September) is not certain yet and we are still talking with the organizers.

• The week-ends at the Musée de l’Air are confirmed for early September due to numerous problems to be solved with the DGAC.

Note 1 : Should you be interested to get to any of these air shows aboard the Piper Cub, please do tell us at once !

Note 2 : It is possible that some other air shows call for our participation in the weeks to come. Should that be the case, we would advise you at once. We would like to organize a flying day at Le Plessis-Belleville, at a date that would be convenient for a maximum number of members, either in June or July.

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NEWS

LA FERTÉ-ALAIS 2009 - LATEST INFORMATION

As everyone knows, the air show in La Ferté-Alais, version 2009, is organized by the Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis, and not by Editions Lariviere as it has been the case for these past few years.

• First noticeable change : The ticket price has been reduced to about half of what it was last year. No rebate ticket will be available for our members, therefore, each one of them is responsible for buying his own ticket. It will cost you 22 euros per day if you purchase these tickets pre-sale in one of the following shops : CARREFOUR - FNAC - GÉANT - MAGASINS U - BON MARCHÉ. This price is for a full day.

• Only two professional free badges will be given to the French Wing PX, but in order to keep a reasonable equity within our Association, those who will use these badges are asked to pay the equivalent of one ticket, i.e. 22€, to the French Wing.

• As we do every year, the French Wing will organize a dinner under the tent on saturday evening. Therefore, we ask all members who wish to participate, to send us a cheque of 15€ per guest, to the French Wing, before May 10, 2009. Any member who will not have paid on that date, but who would still like to participate, will pay, on the spot, the amount of 20 €, as long as there is enough food for everyone. The organization of a dinner like this one requires a lot of time and work. Thank you for your understanding.

• Access to the site is closed to the public on Friday 29. Only those members who advised us of their intention to come are on the list that has been sent to the AJBS so that the members of this Association will let them through, and allow them to come and help us with the setting up of the French Wing booth.

• Col Christophe Bastide has offered to do a movie about this event, using his own video camera. Any member who would like to help with this project is very welcome. Please contact Christophe to finalize this project that will last the whole week-end.

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AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE

After more than three months of continu-ous work, the annual checks of the Piper Cub and the NC 856 are now completed, and the planes are ready to go through their examination by the GSAC to get their airworthiness certificate renewed.

The following members have taken a great part in this maintenance : Jean-Yves Cercy, Gaël Darquet, Bernard Delfino, and Roger Gouzon. Patrick Pierre-Pierre used three days of his leave to polish the windows, and Fumiko and Émilie were not afraid to get their hands dirty either !

A big thank you to all these members for this work performed in the best CAF and French Wing spirit !

Piper Cub “Spirit of Lewis”

The Piper Cub did not give us a major problem, and the biggest difficulty was to perform so many tasks in deep cold weather in temperatures often below 40F inside the hangar. After a particularly cold day, we even had to break the ice to wash our hands !

We waited for these temperatures to rise sufficiently to do some paint touch-ups and to apply the CAF logo stickers on each side of the fuselage, which is com-pleted as we type this article. The Spirit of Lewis has now a different, more elegant, look, as you can see on the photos printed above.

NC 856 Norvigie

This plane was, once again, the “difficult bit” of this maintenance period. The list of tasks to be completed was long, and we had some bad surprises during this work.

Our actions solved each of these prob-lems, but it was not easy, especially be-cause of their numbers.

The biggest jobs were the replacement of the two aileron control cables within the cabin area because three wires were broken on one of them, and the repair of the auxiliary fuel tank which had a few small weeps. Numerous less serious, but

nonetheless important jobs, were done to improve the health of this aircraft which has gone younger and younger over the pas three years, since we are looking after it !

A very big Thank You ! must be given to col Michel Perrin who repaired the vacuum pump of this airplane, which was described in a recent article in these pages. The help we received from Michel was invaluable since we have been unable to locate a replacement pump so far.

We took the opportunity of this main-tenance to give the plane the same look it had when it was active in the ALAT, especially in North Africa, and more pre-cisely in Algeria.

The only deviation that we accepted was the presence of the French insignias on the fuselage, which do not exist on the photos we found. The work to erase them would have been far too important and risky on fabric. The purists will forgive us I hope… And they will also forgive the fact that we applied the CAF logo on each door.

Article & photos : Bernard Delfino

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The photos printed on this page will give the reader a more precise idea of the amplitude of the work that has been done during the past three months.

The new livery is, of course, the most ob-vious change, but it was not the most dif-ficult to accomplish.

However, it’s the one that everyone will see first, starting with the public in La Ferté-Alais where the plane will be dis-played in the static area on May 30 and 31..

The two photos above kindly provided by col Claude Requi, show the very same aircraft during its stay in Algeria. They can be compared with those taken in Le Plessis-Belleville, as we rolled the plane out after its annual check. Cols Jean-Yves Cercy and Patrick Pierre-Pierre had the pleasure to test the plane during its test flight. Then the plane did several flights during two days for the pleasure of all its occupants and mechanics who saw their efforts rewarded by a faultless operation.

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THE “A.T.A. GIRLS” Article : Jacques Leroux

An article recently dropped onto the French Wing Forum described the par-ticipation of English women during the war, and the service provided by some of them in military units.

Were listed for WWII the Auxiliary-Territorial Service ( ATSW), the Wom-en Auxiliary Air force (WAAF), the Women’s Royal Navy Service, (WRNS), as well as the military nurses.

A huge lapse was, however, so obvious, that I feel it is necessary to correct it. I mean the women-pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary (A.T.A.).

A little bit of history to refresh ev-eryone’s memory ! In 1938, Gerald d’Erlanger, Director of BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation), con-scious that a conflict with Germany was inevitable, deducted that since many lines would stop operating, and many aero-club and private planes would be requisitioned, this would make numer-ous pilots available.

Many who had the required qualifica-tions would be recruited without any problem by the Royal Air Force, but others, either too old or with not enough experience, would not be selected.

Gerald d’Erlanger believed that these pilots could, nevertheless, be used in secondary tasks like transporting the mail, evacuating wounded people, fer-

rying emergency equipment, and even VIP’s, with, as a direct consequence, to relieve confirmed RAF pilots from these secondary jobs, and make them available for flights more appropriate to their competence.

So, in a letter dated May 24, 1938, he suggested the creation of a pool which would regroup volunteer pilots who would fit well defined criteria, but less strict that the Royal Air Force ones. Al-though this possibility was mentioned, the ferrying of military planes would not be part of their tasks.

The British government gave its agree-ment in August 1939 and puts Ger-ald d’Erlanger in charge of the orga-nization of the project. He contacted private pilots who had flown a mini-mum of 250 hours and got them to go through a test and offer them, if the latter is positive, to join what he would call the Air Transport Auxiliary.

About a hundred pilots coming from all social levels replied to his call. When the war was declared on September 3, 1939, the first volunteers arrived at the test center where only thirty will be se-lected.

A hierarchy was created including two grades, Second Officer for those who have an experience of light single-engine air-planes, and First Officer for pilots who have more than 500 hours or hold a twin engine license. Gerald d’Erlanger was promoted “Commodore”. Thus, the A.T.A became operational under the commandment of the Air Ministry, in fact the Royal Air Force, while the administrative part being was managed by BOAC.

If the official motto was “Aetheris Avi-di” which can be translated as “Eager to fly”, the unofficial one was : “Any aircraft anywhere”. Let’s point out that only male pilots had been recruited. So since most of them were not young any more, they changed the meaning of ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary), into “Ancient and Tattered Airmen” !

Soon, during the Battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force got short of pilots

and requested that the ATA should also take on the task of ferrying fight-ers and bombers from the production plants or repair centers to their units. Various classes specified the types of airplanes that the holder was allowed to ferry :

• Class 1 : Light single engine.

• Class 2 : Operational single engine : Hurricane, Spitfire, Corsair, Mustang, and Lysander.

• Class 2 Plus : P-40, Tempest, Ty-phoon, and P-39 Airacobra.

• Class 3 : Light twin engine like the Avro Anson.

• Class 4 : Heavy twin engine, mainly medium bombers like the Wellington or the Hampden.

• Class 4 Plus : Hudson, Mosquito, A-20 Havoc, B-20 Boston, P-38 Lightning, B-26 Marauder, and B-25 Mitchell.

• Class 5 : Four engine like the Halifax, Lancaster, Stirling, B-17, or B-24.

• Class 6 : Seaplane, Catalina or Sun-derland.

The A.T.A. recruited with more flexi-ble rules and it set up centers dedicated to training, improvement, type conver-sion, and twin engine or four engine qualifications. Two new grades were created : Third Officer and Flying Cadet within the Air Training Cadet.

The lack of pilots becoming serious, the Air Ministry Under Secretary suggest-ed that the ATA could recruit women, which immediately raised a polemic : Although the ATA was not controlled by the RAF, it worked in close collabo-ration with it, and the Air Ministry was definitely opposed to the possibility for women to fly RAF airplanes. “Why such an encroachment on men’s work” asked aviation magazine Aeroplane ?… Many reacted immediately, especially a wom-an pilot, Pauline Gower, 29 years old, a flight instructor and test pilot in sev-eral aero-clubs, with more than 2000 hours.

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Thanks to her ceaseless efforts, in No-vember 1939 the ATA was allowed to recruit its first eight women-pilots.

Named Second Officer, Pauline Gower (Above), was quickly promoted with a salary of 400 Pounds per year, 20% less than male pilots, and she became responsible for a women pool in Hat-field, North of London.

These women-pilots were only autho-rised to ferry Tiger Moth airplanes between the De Havilland production plant and the various centers located in the North of England and Scotland. There are two reasons why this job was given to them : First, no one wanted to do it, and second, since the price of a Tiger Moth was minimal, it wouldn’t cost the nation too much money when one of these women-pilots would break one…

This modest start nevertheless asked for a lot of courage and commitment. Living in wooden barracks with no comfort, they had to fly in winter slow-flying airplanes with open cock-pits, without any radio or navigation aids.

Let us name a few of these pioneers re-cruited as Second Officers with a salary of 26 Pounds per year…

Joan Hughes, Winifried Crossley, Margaret Cunnison, the Honorable Margaret Fairweather first woman to fly a Spitfire, who was killed while fly-ing a Proctor, Mona Friedlander, Ga-brielle Patterson, Rosemary Rees, and Marion Wilberforce. They all had 600 hours, and 7 of them had an instructor qualification.

Joan Hughes aged 22 was the youngest one. She was the only woman qualified

as an instructor on any military air-craft type, from single engine trainers to four engine bombers. Progressively, since they were needed, the ATA wom-en-pilots were first allowed to ferry the Hurricane and the Spitfire, then bigger ones and twin engines, and, for some of them, the four engines.

We were then far from what Pauline Gower had said about the ATA initials, to make fun of those who criticized the presence of women in military air-planes, that the initials actually meant Always Terrified Airwomen…

A few months later, Amy Johnson (Be-low), universally known for her 1930 raid from England to Australia, flying her Gipsy Moth “Jason”, joined the ATA. She was killed on January 5, 1941, when she was flying an Airspeed Oxford.

In January 1941, Jacqueline Cochran, a young American girl aged 31, with a prestigious experience in aviation, faced a categorical refusal to fly for the army from General Arnold, Commander in Chief of the USAAF, who didn’t see the necessity for women-pilots. So Jacque-line decided to hit hard : To prove that a woman could do what was usually re-served for men, she ferried, on June 17, 1941, a Lockheed Hudson to England, flying across the Atlantic Ocean.

She took this opportunity to meet Pau-line Gower, responsible for the ATA women pool and obtain information about the way this organization was ran. Back to the USA, as she could not convince the government of the need to form an identical structure, she decided, in March 1942, to join the ATA, to-gether with 25 women-pilots, including 23 American girls, one Canadian, and

one Dutch. Among the American girls was Mary Nicholson who was killed on May 22, 1943, when the propeller of her Miles Master broke in flight.

Jacqueline Cochran (Above) did not stay long with the ATA because she heard that the US government had finally de-cided to agree to an offer from another woman-pilot, Nancy Love, for the cre-ation of an organization, the WAFS, Women Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, within the FERD, Ferrying Division of the USAAF. Back to the USA, Jacque-line Cochran was named Director of the W.F.T, Women Flying Training, whose purpose was to study the possibility to train women according to the USAAF rules. The WAFS and the WFT merged in 1943 and became the WASP, Women Airforce Service Pilots, led by Jackie Cochran from August 1943.

A Chilean girl of French origin, who had joined the Free French Forces, Margot Duhalde aka Chile (Below),

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joined the ATA on September 1st, 1941, although she spoke very little English. She was demobilized on November 30, 1945, with the grade of 1st Officer, Class 4 ATA aircraft (qualified on twin engines).

The Air Transport Auxiliary managed up to 22 pools, many of which were located close to the production plants or the re-pair centers. Three of them were entirely feminine : Hatfield led by Pauline Gow-er, Handle led by Margot Gore (Below at the controls of a Hudson), and Cosford

led by Marion Wilberforce. The others were mixed, with men and women work-ing together without any problem.

166 women served with the ATA as pilots, four of whom lost their life during a mission. A rare fact for that time was that four women were quali-fied as Mechanic/Navigator. They flew four engine aircraft which required the presence of a mechanic aboard. One of them was killed during the ferrying of a Halifax.

• Pauline Gower, Joan Hughes, Mar-got Gore and Rosemary Rees, were named Members of the British Empire (M.B.E.), a very sought after distinc-tion.

• Lettice Curtis (Below) became the first qualified woman on the Lancast-er. She ferried a total of 1467 aircraft, of which 162 were Spitfire, and 374 bombers, including 222 Halifax.

• Klemens Dlugaszewski, a LOT pi-lot, the Polish national airline, evaded from occupied Poland flying a Lockeed 14 and reached England via Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Her name was so hard to pronounce that she was nick-named Double whisky !

• Although Diana Barnato (Below at the controls of an Anson, left at the age of 83, and on the front page of this issue) had an extremely rich family (Her father had inherited a diamond mine !), she had no taste for this kind of life.

She learned to fly and got her qualifica-tion after just 6 hours of Tiger Moth !

WWII gave her the chance to prove her very own personality by joining the ATA girls. Her small size (She was 5,2 foot), forced her to use a seat cushion so that she could reach the pedals, which was no obstacle to her willpower.

In three years she flew some 260 Spit-fire and “overcame” dozens of other aircraft types, including the difficult Walrus that even some men had a hard time to master.

In 1944, she married Wing Com-mander Derek Walker. Her aviation

career carried on after the war, to such a point that she became the first woman to go through the sound barrier, and the fastest woman on earth for a short time, until Jacque-line Cochran broke this record again.

The amazing Di-ana Barnato Walk-er sadly passed

away in May 2008 at the age of 90.

Joan Dutton

Today, I am able to add one more name to those of the ATA women-pilots al-ready quoted. Some years ago, a friend sent me some extracts of a British lady pilot’s logbook, who had flown several types of aircraft during WWII. Since they didn’t fit in the research work I was busy with at the time, I carefully put these documents away and did not look further into them.

When I saw the article on the French Wing Forum which described the ac-tions of British ladies during WWII, I

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thought that, may be, I had something related to that subject. I got these doc-uments out and noticed, penciled by the person who had sent them : Lent for copy by mister Jenkinson, son of Joan Jenkinson, the name of this log-book owner.

Hoping that this mister Jenkinson could live in the Gers district, or a bordering one, I looked at the white pages and was amazed to find a Robin Jenkinson resid-ing not far from me. A phone call con-firmed that his mother did fly with the ATA. He trustfully lent me all the docu-ments related to his mother during the war (Below left, standing next to me).

Joan Molesworth Dunn was the daugh-ter of a Canadian magnate, Sir James Hamet Dunn. Born in 1908 in Eng-land, she got married in 1930. She got her pilot license on January 4, 1933. Sadly, her husband, John Anthony Jen-kinson, died in 1935.

She joined the ATA on March 1st, 1941, and was posted to pool 5 at Hatfield, North

of London, with ac-creditation W33.

Her first flight took place as a trainee on March 1st on Tiger Moth R5130, and she soloed on March 5. She then moved on to the Miles Magister as shown by her RAF Pi-lot’s Flying Log Book. In June 1941, she started ferrying Ti-ger Moth and Miles Magister aircraft.

Her conver-sion onto more powerful single engine and twin engine airplanes came soon after, and she ended the was as First Officer autho-rized 4 plus.

The list of the aircraft she flew speaks for itself. One must note that she is prob-ably one of the first women to be qualified Au-togyro.

Until the end of 1945 she fer-ried hundreds of types, except the four engines. On some days she could jump from a Lysander to a Spit-fire (Top right), from a Tempest or a Ty-phoon an Hudson, from a Tiger Moth

to a De Hav i l l and Mosquito.

Joan Jen-kinson re-married in 1943 with Sir Charles D u t t o n , 7th Lord of Sherborne, and became Lady Dut-ton, but she carried on flying for the A.T.A. Her husband, although he had lost his right arm, was also an ATA pilot (Left).

After the war Joan Dutton ran, for some time, a charter company which

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allowed her to fly to France several times, namely to Bordeaux and Biarritz, as can be seen on the extract of her Flying Log Book (Above). Sadly, she passed away in 1982.

The CAF French Wing is a non-profit Association ruled by the 1901 law, and registered under number 2473 of the Journal Officiel dated 10 July 1996.

Unit Leader : Col. Bernard DELFINOTél & Fax : 01 48 69 04 57 - Mobile : 0680361717

email : bdelfino26@free.frExecutive Officer : Col. Roger GOUZON

Tél : 01 48 61 40 90 - Mobile : 0682904071email : en attente

Finance Officer : Col. Claude GASCONTél : 03 29 86 71 00 - Mobile : 0675742596

email : claudegascon@free.frAdjutant : Col. Fumiko DELFINO

Tél & Fax : 01 48 69 04 57 - Mobile : 0670362245email : bdelfino26@free.fr

AIRSHOW is a publication of the French Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, Inc. - Any partial or complete re-production of the articles and the illustrations published in this monthly Newsletter is forbidden without the agreement of the FW. Please write to the Association at the following address : 19 rue de Cannes 93600 - Aulnay sous Bois - FRANCE.

FRENCH WING P.X.

The following articles are available with a payment by cheque to the CAF French Wing. (+ P & P).• Wing patch: € 9,00.• Norvigie patch: € 6,00.• French Wing pin: € 10,00.• Various pins “cloisonné”: € 5.00.• 100 A4 sheets with the Wing logo and your personal address: € 10,00.• Warbirds photographs 30x45cm: € 10,00.• T shirt Piper CUB, 170 grammes, Hanes, L or XL : € 15,00.• T shirt cartoon P40, 170 grammes, Hanes, L or XL: € 15,00.• T shirts other sizes on order.• T shirt illustrated with the picture of your choice (Maximum size A5 - Warning ! Only send pictures that are free from any copyrights !) : € 15,00.• Aircraft profiles 15 cm x 20 cm ready for framing: Various types: € 4,00 each.• Vidéo filmed in Midland (55mn) VHS PAL: € 16,00 ©.• Eric Besançon large size paintings: F4U Corsair and Messerschmitt 262 night fighter: € 30,00 P & P included ©.• Poster N°1 Avions de la seconde guerre mondi-ale peint by Jean Bellis, 61x81cm: € 9,00 (FW Members), € 10,00 (Non Members) © + P & P.• Greeting cards with Jean Bellis’ profiles: € 4,00 each (P & P according to quantity) ©.• Roy Grinnell prints - Normandie Niemen, F4U7, and B26 Marauder - Unsigned : € 30,00 + P & P € 10,00. Signed by veterans : € 50,00 + P & P € 10,00 ©.• Roy Grinnell print of the Piper Cub: € 10 + P & P (FW Members), € 15 + P & P (Non members).• Post Cards based on the same paintings (B26 Marauder and Neuneu) : € 0,50 each (P & P according to quantity) ©.• CD Rom of all FW Newsletters since January 2000, French and English, and 200 photos of warbirds taken during Airsho in Midland, by B. Delfino : € 10,00 P & P included ©.

WING PROJECT

12

DONATEURS

Stéphane DUCHEMINChristian WANNYN

Gaël DARQUETCamille MONTAIGUDidier CARDINAL

ANONYMEMichel FLEURYJohn FRANCISAlain JIMENEZ

Jim LUXLilian AYARSGuy ROBERT

Lewis BATEMANWilliam DAVIES

Jean-Yves CERCYArnaud CHATTON

Claude DE MARCORoger GOUZONMichel PERRINJean-Pierre JOB

Jean-Christophe DEBUISSONHenri BOURRASSIERHugh ALEXANDER III

Sandy SANSINGRegis URSCHLER

George CHANDLERMatt SIMEK

Guy BORTOLUSPatrick PIERRE-PIERRE

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Shirley BATEMANDavid & Eileen BOTTLEY

Marie-Françoise LE CORNECPhilippe DUFLOT

Christian FALENTINBarbara & Aubrey HAIR

Claude REQUIKim TOLFREE

Eric JANSSONNEChristophe BASTIDE

David PRICEFumiko DELFINOBernard DELFINO

Haruo TANAKAEric REARWINYves DONJON

Roy & Irene GRINNELLBunty BATEMAN

Marcel FRANCISCIDominique DEUDON

John & Anne ROEDERRonald WRIGHT

Léon MANOUKIANSAviation Club de France

Georges MARCELIN

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EDITIONS LARIVIERE - UNIVERS PUB - SWISS INTERNATIONAL

PATRON COMPANIES SUPPORTING THE FRENCH WING

SPIRIT OF LEWISSPONSORS 2009

FLYING SPONSORS

Hugh Alexander IIIGilles Avenel

Jean-Yves CercyGeorge Chandler

Gaël DarquetMarcel FrancisciBernard DelfinoClaude GasconRoger GouzonIrene GrinnellRoy Grinnell

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RESTORATION SPONSORS

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SUPPORTING SPONSORS

Lilian AyarsHenri Bourrassier

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Barbara HairAubrey Hair

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Ron Wright