Soroptimists group hear 'inspiring' stories of women in the RAF
Cannock and District Soroptimists enjoyed an excellent talk this month given by Jess Boyden-Juckes based on inspiring stories of women in the RAF. The meeting was organised and presided over by club President Carole Holdcroft.
Jess works as a Historian on the RAF’s Centenary Project, RAF Stories, begun in 2018. This is a digital and online project which aims to collect and share historical, contemporary and very personal experiences of real people related to the RAF. The presentation focused on the role of women in the RAF. Today there are many women carrying out a variety of roles within the RAF including piloting aircraft; but this has only been possible because of the pioneering work of the women who went before them.
Jess shared the stories of three women. Katherine Du Plat Taylor volunteered for the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) aged 18 during WW2 much to the dismay of her mother. At the time her role was top secret but she spoke of working in the operations room of Dover Castle plotting incoming planes and locating crashed pilots so that a rescue could be mounted. Katherine spoke emotionally of those young men who could not be saved.
Jackie Moggridge was a pioneering young woman. Born in South Africa, she had already trained as a pilot and did a parachute jump early in her career – demonstrating her daredevil ways! She came to Britain in 1938. When war broke out she joined the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary) where she ferried aircraft such as Spitfires. Jackie’s story was told affectionately by her daughter who described her mother as a “daredevil”.
More recently, we heard the harrowing experiences of Michelle Partington an RAF Paramedic in Afghanistan. She faced prejudice as she was one of the first women in that role. She witnessed many horrors which had an impact on her mental health, leading to PTSD. She went on to compete in the Invictus Games.
Hearing and seeing these personal and emotional accounts really brought home what many woman have gone through in order for women today to enjoy relative equality. However, we were shocked when Jess told us that it wasn’t until 1991 that Julie Gibson became the first female pilot in the RAF. Thanks to RAF Stories these women are getting the recognition they deserve.
Information about the club can be found on the Facebook page: facebook.com/SICannock and on their website: sigbi.org/cannock-and-district.
If you would like to know more about the club, please email soropscannock@gmail.com.
