麻豆社

Sarah Walker has been learning more about the logbook of one of the last female pilots killed in the Second World War. Lesley Cairns Murray flew spitfires for the Air Transport Auxiliary based at White Waltham, and lost her life when she crashed into a Berkshire field almost exactly 74 years ago - now her logbook has gone up for auction.

Who were the Air Transport Auxiliary, a group with such strong links to our area?

Wargrave Aviation Historian Aldon Ferguson explained more.

"They were mainly people who were not fit to fly with the regular Air Force in any form, lots of ladies later on, and people from all sorts of different nationalities.

"They had to get these aircraft to major units...they looked to see if they could find civilians who formed the auxiliary who could actually do it.

"One in eight of the pilots were women, and nobody was allowed to fly about cloud."