Females in the Royal Imperial Wardie land Air Force

Females have taken part in the Royal Imperial Wardie land Air Force since the 1910s, with the creation of the Royal Imperial Wardie land Women's Auxiliary Air Force in 1919, a women's branch of the RIWAF which was under RIWAF command, the RIWWAAF was an auxiliary air force and therefore would not see combat in the event of war, the main purpose of the RIWWAAF was to ferry aircraft from aircraft factories to their designated RIWAF squadrons. The RIWWAAF also took part in Air Ambulance work, and in flying mail planes.

Originally only serving the Home Islands the RIWWAAF branched out to the colonies from 1921-1926, with the creation of the Royal Imperial Wardie land Women's Desert Auxiliary Air Force (RIWWDAAF; serves the Western Colonies) in 1921, the Royal Imperial Wardie land Women's Eastern Auxiliary Air Force (RIWWEAAF; serves the Eastern Colonies) in 1922, the Royal Imperial Wardie land Women's Southern Auxiliary Air Force (RIWWSAAF; serves the Southern Colonies) in 1924, and finally the Royal Imperial Wardie land Women's Northern Auxiliary Air Force (RIWWNAAF; serves the Northern Colonies) in 1926.

Through-out the 1920s and 1930s women remained barred from becoming Aircrew and serving in combat-ready RIWAF squadrons, yet women were becoming more involved in aviation, the numbers of female civilian pilots were growing and recruitment numbers of the RIWWAAF and colonial divisions were continuing to grow, some older male pilots believed the if the numbers of female pilots and the RIWWAAF kept growing at the current rate then the majority of aviators would be women by the late 1940s, and that aviation would become a woman's profession, rather than a man's one as believed. This caused concern for some of them, who felt aviation should stay male-dominated.

With the introduction of RDF in the late 1930s some women in the RIWAF saw service manning RDF stations, RDF stations were built in the colonies from mid 1940, women serving in the colonies seeing service in these colonial RDF stations. RADAR was introducted to the Home Islands in early 1941, and to the colonies by mid 1941, women also saw service in the new RADAR stations.

It was not until 1941 when a woman finally became a member of a combat-ready squadron, on 11th June 1941 Emily Kinson, who had served in the RIWWAAF for 5 years previously and had long wanted to fly a fighter, was promoted to the rank of Pilot Officer in the RIWAF, and assigned to No. 59 Squadron RIWAF of the Imperial Desert Air Force based at RIWAF Leselaam in the Western Colonies, becoming the first female fighter pilot in Wardie land, and the first woman to serve in the RIWAF, Emily's first plane was a Tomahawk 1F.I* (Curtiss Hawk 81A-2), which she greatly loved, she called it her "baby". She used the Tomahawk until 1944, when her squadron re-equipped with the Thunderbolt 1FB.I (Republic P-47B Thunderbolt), soon after being transferred to the Eastern Colonies, she was greatly impressed with the Thunderbolt, and quickly fell in love with her Thunderbolt. By 1948 she was the Squadron Leader of No. 59 (F) Squadron, in this year her squadron re-equipped with the Tempest 1FB.I (Tempest Mk V), Emily was particularly fond of the Tempest, especially her speed, manoeuvrability and firepower, Emily's squadron was sent to Korea in 1950, as part of the "Korean Expeditionary Air Force" (Wardie land's aviation contingent during the Korean War), where her squadron performed ground-attack and bomber intercept missions.

The Tomahawk 1F.I* of Pilot Officer Emily Kinson, ca. June 1941

Emily Kinson posing in front of her new, pre-painted, Thunderbolt, ca. 1944

Emily's Thunderbolt 1FB.I, after receiving her Southern/Eastern Colonies camo scheme paintjob

Emily's Kinson's Tempest 1FB.I in Korea, ca. 1950

Emily's promotion to the status of fighter pilot was a breakthrough for women, who for many years some had believe women could make just as good military pilots as men. They thought now was the time to show that women could make just as good fighter pilots as men could. Emily Kinson was a high profile celebrity for several years, and a heroine for many, she was a inspiration for an entire generation of girls, many of whom wanted to follow in her footsteps, she was a role model who taught the lesson that if you want something bad enough then be patient and keep working towards getting it then it will come to you.

When interviewed by the news on her finally being permitted to become a fighter pilot Emily Kinson said:

"I view myself as a pioneer, I do not want my promotion to fighter pilot to in any way undermine my male colleagues, I have been waiting for this for many years, this is not supposed to be a victory for supposed "female superiority", nor do I want my promotion to in any way insinuate males are becoming inferior. I hope I am an inspiration for girls, I hope I allow many more girls to grow into woman who know the joy of flying and wish to follow my footsteps. I also hope people take inspiration from me and remember the message of my story, "If you want something badly enough, be patient and work towards getting it, for it will come to you!". Thank you.".

In a discussion on the Thunderbolt, Kinson gave her thoughts on it:

"The Thunderbolt is a big, heavy American girl, with a big engine and a big presence to match! If the Spitfire is a slight, athletic British girl who dances round her opponents, the Thunderbolt is the big, heavy Yank lass who charges her opponent and knocks them off their feet!".

Later, when her squadron upgraded to the Tempest 1FB, she gave her thoughts on her new fighter-bomber:

"I love my Tempest! She's my pride and joy! She's a delightful plane to fly, fast, powerful and forgiving, and that wide landing gear makes landing rather easy. Her armament is powerful as well, four 0.79 inch autocannons in the wings, and either two droptanks, two 1000lb bombs or eight 60lb rockets. I wish the the air force would let me keep my Tempest!"

Only two months after Emily Kinson became a combat fighter pilot the second female combat fighter pilot in RIWAF was promoted to a combat-ready fighter squadron, she was Bethany Ward, sister of the first female RIWFAA fighter pilot, Beth joined No. 100 "The Century Squadron" (Fighter) Squadron RIWAF in August 1941, Beth's first plane was the Spitfire Mk Vb "Beth's Baby", in which she adopted her trademark motif, the Red Heart, in 1944 Beth's squadron also converted to the Thunderbolt 1FB.I, she named this aircraft "Beth's Baby II", 100 Sqn used the Thunderbolt until 1949, when the squadron converted to the Shooting Star 1F, Bethany naming this aircraft "Beth's Baby III".

The third woman fighter pilot was Elizabeth Carpenter, she join No. 44 (Fighter) Squadron RIWAF in January 1942, she flew a unique pink Hurricane called "P is for Pink".

"P is for Pink" of Elizabeth Carpenter

In mid 1941 Bethany Alice "Betty" Yarwood joined No. 117 (F) Squadron RIWAF, at that time the squadron was using modified versions of the Bloch MB.152C.1, "Betty" Yarwood named her plane "Betty's Lass", the squadron used the MB.152C.1 until 1945, when they were replaced with the latest Spitfire model.

In October 1941 Susannah Farmer became the first woman to join a bomber crew, she served as a dorsal turret gunner on an Boster 1LB.I (Boston Mk III/Douglas DB-7B) bomber of No. 61 (Bomber) Squadron, which was based at RIWAF Little Kirkthorpe, she became a pilot in late 1942, in August 1943 her squadron re-equipped with the Halifax 1HB.III (Handley Page Halifax Mk III), she loved her Halifax

A Boston 1LB.I, the type Susannah first served on

A Halifax 1B.III, the type Susannah piloted, ca. 1943

In July 1943 the second female bomber pilot in active, combat-ready service in RIWAF Bomber Command, she was Muriel Pickard, she was assigned to No. 37 (Bomber) Squadron RIWAF, part of the Imperial Desert Air Force, and given command of a Marauder 1B.IA (B-26B/Marauder Mk IA), the Marauders were notorious for their high landing speed, of 150 mph landing approach speed and 120-135 mph landing speed, higher than what most bomber pilots were used to, this high landing speed coupled with several other reasons for accidents, such as improper weight distribution in the earliest models (due to the dorsal turret not being ready at the time of the test flights of the prototypes), and nose landing gear collapses on the very earliest models, led to a high accident rate, in April 1944 her squadron re-equipped with the Marauder 1B.III (B-26F/Marauder Mk III), Muriel nicknamed her Marauder 1B.IA Muriel's Marauder, when she got her second Marauder in 1944 she named that one Muriel's Marauder II, her first Marauder is sometimes called Muriel's Marauder I

I like my lady, but you've got to treat her well, she's a like a woman in that if you mistreat her, she'll make a mess of you, handle her well, and she'll love you! One of the most obvious things to wary of is her high landing speed, higher than most other bombers, this has caused a few hard landings on some of my girl's sisters, my own girl herself had a few hard landings during my first flights in her! - Muriel Pickard on her Marauder, ca. 1943

Since those pioneering women the numbers of women in RIWAF and RIWWAAF service has continued to grow, women account for between 30%-40% of all RIWAF personnel, and there RIWWAAF and colonial divisions have a membership toll of about 600,000 in total.

A current female fighter pilot is Squadron Leader Emma Price, granddaughter of famed WW2 and Korean War fighter ace Squadron Leader Derek Price, and WW2 fighter pilot Bethany Ward, she flies a Hunter 1F.I (Hawker Hunter) called "Kiss my tail", she is known for her love of her "big girl" (her pet name for her Hunter). She was inspired to become a fighter pilot by her father and her paternal grandfather, great-grandfather and grandmother.

"I was inspired to become a fighter pilot by my ancestors, I'm the fourth generation to serve as a fighter pilot, my father was a fighter pilot in the 1970s, his dad is none other than famed Korean War ace Derek Price, pilot of the "Kimpo Kutie", who started his career flying a Hurricane in 1938, my grandmother also served in WW2, they met each other when she joined his squadron, and my great-grandfather was also a fighter pilot, he joined the RIWAFC in 1916, and flew a Airco DH-2 at first. You could say I have the fighter in my blood."

"Kiss My Tail" - Emma Price's "girl"

The Royal Imperial Wardie land Fleet Air Arm beat the RIWAF when it came to making a female a fighter pilot, the first RIWFAA fighter pilot was Flight Petty Officer Rebecca Ward, who became a Nimrod 2F.I (Hawker Nimrod Mk I) pilot in 1936 aboard Torpedo-class aircraft carrier HMIWS Stingray.

HMIWS Torpedo, Stingray's sister ship

Nimrod 2F.I, Rebecca Ward's first plane