Maureen Dunlop (aged 24), an Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) pilot, in front of a Fairey Barracuda dive bomber, featured on the front cover of the 'Picture Post' magazine 16th September 1944.
Born in Argentina of Australian/English parents, she joined the ATA in 1942, trained to fly 38 types of aircraft, her 800 hours subsequently logged included time in Spitfires, Mustangs, Typhoons, and bomber types including the Wellington. She later stated that her favourite type to fly was the de Havilland Mosquito.
Initially attached to No.6 Ferry Pool at RAF Ratcliffe near Leicester, she then moved to the all-female Ferry Pool at Hamble, Southampton, which exclusively delivered Spitfires from Supermarine's new factory at RAF Southampton.
She was forced into occasional emergency landings, once after the cockpit canopy of her Spitfire blew off after take off and another occasion put down in a field after the engine of her Fairchild Argus failed in the air. One in 10 women pilots died flying for the ATA.
Maureen died on the 29th May 2012 aged 91.
