The last surviving British female pilot from World War 2, Mary Ellis, passed away at her home on the Isle of Wight on July 25, Tuesday. She was 101.
She was a member of Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and reportedly delivered Spitfires and bombers to the army troops on the front line during the war.
Ellis was popularly known as the last-surviving female pilot from WWII, and BBC reports there were only three other women pilots who participated in the war.
The news of her death was confirmed by several British news organisation. The Guardian reports that she joined the ATA in 1941 and flew 1,000 flightsover a four-year period. These aircrafts included 400 Spitfires and 47 Wellington bombers.
The UK publication reports that Ellis, who was Mary Wilkins then, joined the ATA after she heard a radio advertisement calling for women pilots. She said that they were called the "Glamour Girls", back then. "There were plenty of escorts around," she recalled in an interview.
After the war ended, she moved to the Isle of Wight and worked with Sandown airport from 1950 to 1970. She was married to fellow pilot Don Ellis, who died in 2009.
Ellis was presented with the freedom of the Isle of Wight award earlier this year. She was described as the "national, international and island heroine," by council leader, Dave Stewart.
Ever since the news broke out, tributes have been pouring in. Fellow pilots including the Red Arrows flier Mike Ling took to Twitter and deemed her a "legend of the Air Transport Auxiliary". "I hope you are enjoying a well-earned sherry up there with Joy Lofthouse [a fellow ATA pilot] again," Ling wrote.
Sally McGlone, RAF veteran and military historian, also expressed his grief and said, "Older than the RAF by one year. Without the ATA #RAF100 might not have happened."
