Pauline Gower
Pauline Mary de Peauly Gower, Mrs Fahie (1910–1947) was a British pilot and writer who headed the female branch of the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War.
Daughter of MP Sir Robert Gower, and educated at Beechwood Sacred Heart School, she first flew with Alan Cobham and was fascinated by flying. In August 1931 she established a joy-riding and air taxi service in Kent. She also wrote for Girl's Own Paper and Chatterbox and published a collection of poetry, Piffling Poems for Pilots, in 1934. As a writer she was acquainted with W. E. Johns whose character Worrals was based on herself as well as Amy Johnson.
In 1938 she was appointed a civil defence commissioner in London with the Civil Air Guard. That year her work on women in aviation—Women with Wings—was published.[1] On the outbreak of the Second World War, Gower made use of her high-level connections to propose the establishment of a women's section in the new Air Transport Auxiliary —the ATA would be responsible for ferrying military aircraft from factory or repair facility to storage unit or operational unit—to the authorities.
Gower was appointed as the head of the women's branch, and commenced the selection and testing of women pilots, the first eight being appointed by the ATA on 1 January 1940. Early members included ice-hockey international Mona Friedlander and former ballet dancer Rona Rees. Later members included Amy Johnson and Lord Runciman's daughter, Margaret Fairweather. Fahie received the MBE for her services and received a Harmon Trophy award posthumously in 1950.
Personal life
Gower married Wing Commander Bill Fahie in 1944. She died in 1947 giving birth to twin sons.[2]
References
- ↑ Merry, Lois K. Women Military Pilots of World War II: A History with Biographies of American, British, Russian and German Aviators. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc., 2010. ISBN 978-0-7864-4441-0
- ↑ Notice of Pauline Fahie's death, flightglobal.com, 13 March 1947.
External links
- Pauline Gower, Woman's Hour, bbc.co.uk, 20 August 2001
- Brief History of the ATA, motherflieshurricanes.com
- Women in aviation, airsceneuk.org.uk
- Portraits at the National Picture Gallery, npg.org.uk
- Aviation Pioneers: An Anthology, monash.edu.au
- Gower (married name Fahie), Pauline Mary de Peauly (1910–1947), aviator (by Michael Fahie) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography website
Sources
- Curtis, Lettice, The Forgotten Pilots, Nelson Saunders, Olney, Bucks, 1985; ISBN 0-947750-02-9
- Edwards, Owen Dudley, "The Battle of Britain and Children's Literature" in Paul Addison & Jeremy A. Crang (eds), The Burning Blue: a new history of the Battle of Britain. London: Pimlico, 2000; ISBN 0-7126-6475-0
- Edwards, Owen Dudley, British Children's Fiction of the Second World War. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007; ISBN 0-7486-1651-9
- Fahie, Michael, A Harvest of Memories: The Life of Pauline Gower, MBE. Peterborough: GMS Enterprises, 1995; ISBN 1-870384-37-7
- Whittell, Giles, Spitfire Women of World War II. (Hardcover) November 2007 by Harper Press; ISBN 0007235356 (ISBN 9780007235353)
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