On the evening of 27th November, 1940, Mrs. Marjorie French sat alone in the air raid shelter at her home in Glenn Avenue, Purley. Warmed by an electric fire she was awaiting the return of her husband, John, a toolmaker by trade. As she listened for the sound of his car, the drone of an aircraft caught her attention...and then a bomb dropped.
The little girl featured in these photographs is June Barnett, her father was Sergeant Ronald Barnett. June befriended two ladies at ...
Article scanned from a copy of ‘The War Illustrated’ brought in by one of the Kenley Revival Project volunteers, the ...
Amy Johnson Described as a “slight young woman” with “a shy smile and a soft Yorkshire accent”, despite her shy appearance, ...
To date most of our stories about Kenley have featured men. To mark International Women’s Day 2017 on 8 March we thought it was timely to record the amazing life of one of Britain’s foundation glider pilots who had a Kenley connection. Ann Welch (1917-2002) was a world class glider pilot and an aviator who flew more than 100 aircraft types, from gliders to Wellington bombers.
Ann Welch London born and the daughter of a railway engineer, even as a child, she was keen on flying and ...
Born 8 March 1909 (now coincidentally International Women’s Day), Beatrice “Tilly” Shilling was considered one of the great engineers of her ...
Author and historian, Melynda Jarratt has been researching the history of Canadian War Brides since 1987. She wrote a book on the subject and dedicated it in part to her friend Doris Lloyd, who served at Kenley during the Battle of Britain. Here is her story....
Gabrielle Patterson Born in London 1905, and was educated in many European cities including Paris, Berlin and Vienna. Gabrielle gained her aviator’s ...
In a moving tribute to RAF Kenley, this month, the Kenley Revival Project have brought to the stage the true ...
There were 750,000 Girl Guides in the UK when war broke out, which meant that there was a huge pool ...
When I first asked Mavis if I could interview her she told me there was nothing to tell, she wasn’t ...
Marion Wilberforce Following the lead of her two brothers; Marion too up flying and gained her private pilot’s licence in 1930. ...
Pauline Gower In 1931 Pauline, who was fascinated by flying, at the age of 21 formed a joy-riding and air taxi ...
On 1st September, 1940, Sonia Carlile-Straw, a 19-year-old secretary from Caterham, manned an ARP post alone and took care of shocked and wounded casualties for 13 hours un-aided.
The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a civilian organisation set up during World War II to ferry new, repaired and ...
It is well-known that during World War II many women took on jobs previously done by men, however, what is ...
Frances Cherry was a member of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and in 1994 she conducted an interview with Colin ...
In RAF Kenley by Peter Flint, the author recalls an interview with Pamela Rust, a W.A.A.F. A.C.W.2, who was eighteen ...
From the very outbreak of World War II all of the military services were eager to enlist women so that ...
‘The War Illustrated’ magazine article brought in by one of the Kenley Revival Project volunteers, the article is demonstrating the ...
Scanned from a copy of ‘The War Illustrated’ brought in by one of the Kenley Revival Project volunteers, the article ...
With the outbreak of WWII services looked towards the women of Britain to commit themselves for the war effort, similarly ...
