Thousands of books and films have been made over the past 80 years celebrating the bravery of American servicemen during World War II. But what about the 25 American women pilots who also risked their lives serving in the Royal Air Force's Air Transport Auxiliary?
Beginning in 1942, these professionally trained female pilots -- nicknamed "Atta-Girls," after their auxiliary's acronym (ATA) -- ferried new planes from factories in the United Kingdom to the front lines and flew badly damaged planes to air bases for repairs. They faced the threat of crashing in barely operable aircraft, extreme weather conditions and possible enemy fire, but they persevered.
Today, only one of these Atta-Girls is still alive -- Carlsbad, Calif., resident Nancy Miller Stratford, who turned 106 on June 12. A new book about Stratford and her 24 colleagues was published in May titled "Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II." Author Becky Aikman will discuss her book on July 28 at Warwick's bookstore in La Jolla.
Aikman recently answered some questions about her book, which she said was accomplished with some help from Stratford herself and the San Diego Air & Space Museum, which has the ATA pilots' service records and photos in its archives.
Q.: You've written two previous books about indomitable women like the Atta-Girls ("Saturday Night Widows: The Adventures of Six Friends Remaking Their Lives" and "Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge"). Is this a coincidence or do you love telling women's stories?
A.: “I do love telling stories about women who get out into the world to accomplish great things. Women of action, women who are trailblazers. Any pioneering achievement by anyone involves overcoming difficulties, but swimming against the tide of expectations for women adds an extra layer. Those who are willing to take that on make for great characters.”
Q.: How and when did you discover the story of the ATA pilots and what led you to decide this would be the subject for your latest book?
A.: “I was talking to my mother in 2019, telling her that I wanted to write a book about people who had accomplished something extraordinary but weren't widely known. She immediately said, ‘You should write about the American women who flew in England during the war.’ I looked around and at first couldn't find anything written about such women. But my mother had been a young child at the time and distinctly remembered seeing them in a newsreel or article. ‘I thought they were so noble and glamorous,’ she said. ‘I wished I could do what they did.’
“I finally found out that women weren't permitted to fly for the U.S. military during the war, but Great Britain was so desperate for help that it accepted foreign pilots and even women into the Air Transport Auxiliary of the Royal Air Force. Twenty-five American women bolted for Britain to serve in the ATA in 1942. They performed a dangerous job ferrying aircraft from factories to frontline air bases and returning damaged wrecks for repair. One in seven pilots died in crashes, usually due to faulty, untested aircraft or poor visibility in changeable weather. They were expected to fly up to 147 models of the world's most advanced aircraft, from fighters to bombers, on short notice with little training.
“I found the names of some American women who had served and set about trying to find out about them. A gentleman at a small museum devoted to ferry pilots in England echoed what my mother had said: ‘I hope you don't try to fictionalize this. Nothing could be as exciting and glamorous as the reality.’ That sounded promising!”
Q.: Did you spend time in England doing research for your book? Were the San Diego Air & Space Museum archives helpful in your discovery process?
A.: “The first trip I made to begin my research was to the San Diego Air & Space Museum. I had seen that the papers of a pilot named Mary Zerbel (later Mary Zerbel Ford) were kept there. The librarian told me that no one had ever asked to see them before. But when I opened the files, she came alive to me. The file was full of news clippings. Mary had been quite celebrated before the war as the youngest woman flying instructor in the United States at the age of 19. During the war, she made headlines around the world when she married her fiancé from home. They were the first Americans serving in the war zone to marry. She lived a life of ‘romance and tragedy,’ as one newspaper said, but persevered through it all by flying whatever aircraft was thrown at her.
“After the war, a movie was made based on Mary's life starring Lana Turner. But at the bottom of the file, I found Mary's obituary from decades later. It was only three sentences in a small Idaho newspaper. It didn't even mention that she knew how to fly. I vowed then that I would try to get these pilots the recognition they deserved.
“Later, I traveled throughout the United States to meet the pilots' families, many of whom went into attics to find diaries and letters no one had seen before. I also spent time in England, finding records and speaking with experts. I visited the airfields where the pilots lived out their adventure, and the hotspots in London where they blew off steam.”
Q.: How many women served in the RAF's Air Transport Auxiliary?
A.: “There were 168 women who served in the Air Transport Auxiliary. Twenty-five of them were Americans. Based on their success, the United States later started the Women Air Force Service Pilots, known as the WASP, a similar organization that delivered aircraft within the United States. But the American ATA pilots were the first American women to fly military aircraft.”
Q.: How did you choose the nine women you profiled in "Spitfires" and how many were you able to speak with in person?
A.: “There was a real mix of women who served -- crop dusters and debutantes, college graduates and stunt performers in flying circuses. I selected women who reflected that variety. One was a member of the family of the Western Union fortune. She saw the war as an escape from the world of debutante balls and a chance to live as she pleased. Another was a crop duster who earned extra money performing a mock striptease in an air show, where she tossed items of clothing out of the cockpit as she flew overhead. And every level of society in between.
“I also chose those who had left behind the most information so I could really capture their personalities and individual stories. Many families went into their attics and pulled out diaries and letters that were full of drama and emotion. There were dire instances in the air when the pilots crashed or made spectacular saves. They also revealed intimate thoughts about their personal lives. They felt free to live like women of today, making their own choices, some of them unconventional for the time.”
Q.: How many did you speak with in person?
A.: “Only one pilot was still living when I began, and I was fortunate to meet her. She is the former Nancy Miller, now Nancy Miller Stratford, whose 106th birthday was June 12. She still regards her service in the war as the highlight of her life. She lives in Carlsbad, so that's another reason the area played an important role in my research. I asked her whether she was ever afraid. I would have been! She answered, ‘No! I had a job to do!’”
Q.: What common personality traits did you find among these women?
A.: “They all loved to fly. They loved the freedom they felt in the air, the adventure of being pioneers. They loved the challenge of performing a difficult job well. They even loved the danger -- it gave them a thrill.
“There were eight of them still serving at the end of the war. Many were apprehensive at the beginning, but by the end what they had in common was absolutely steady nerves. They encountered many crazy situations -- engine failure, sudden clouds, a propeller falling off high in the sky. They stayed calm, studied their options and made the best decisions they could to get on the ground in one piece.”
Q.: Besides the physical challenges they faced in their jobs flying and delivering aircraft, did these women experience sexism or discrimination?
A.: “They were focused on doing the job and brushed aside whatever sexism they faced. But they felt they didn't encounter much of that in Britain. The British were grateful that the Americans had a valuable skill and came to help in a time of dire need. The pilots received equal pay and flew the same aircraft the men did.
“It was harder for the WASP back home. A large segment of the public opposed the idea of women flying, so much so that the WASP were disbanded at the end of 1944, when the war was still raging. The ATA women flew to the end.”
Q.: What was it like for these women to have to return to traditional women's roles post-war, and were any of them able to fulfill their dreams to be full-time professional pilots?
A.: “After the war, it was tough for women who wanted to fly. The U.S. military still would not accept women pilots. Passenger airlines wouldn't hire them either. They were some of the most skilled pilots in the world, and yet there was no place for them.
“Some did manage to continue flying. One (Mary Zerbel Ford) formed a company with her husband to deliver dicey aircraft to private customers around the world. Another (Ann Wood) became the first woman vice president of a major airline (Pan Am). Nancy Miller was only the second woman in the United States to earn a commercial helicopter pilots' certification. She and her husband started the first helicopter charter company in Alaska. The pilots had to be resourceful and lucky to continue doing the work they loved.”
"Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II" by Becky Aikman (Bloomsbury, 2025; 368 pages)
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