Caryl Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 There is a fascinating programme on SBSOne at the moment about the women who flew fighter planes during the last world war. They had to fight hard against the males who claimed they were not capable of flying and should stay in the kitchen or do something "more befitting of their sex" :roll: Even in the years after, you never hear about these women and the odds they overcame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Wow that is interesting, I have never heard of the woman flying before. I like to hear or read about the world war flights made. Well anything about flying interests me really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 They were not allowed into combat but flew the fighters across country to where they were needed by the fellas. They are interviewing some of the survivors. What wonderful women they were! Real pioneers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 1 in 10 of them were killed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 1 in 10 of them were killed Thats pretty good odds compared to the men Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Of course but it was still the most dangerous occupation for women. It was not their fault the men wouldn't let them do more. The dreadful things said and done to them by their own side were atrocious! This book might interest you... Spitfire Women of World War II by Giles Whittell I am in awe of these ladies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Thanks caryl. I will check it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 They were not allowed into combat but flew the fighters across country to where they were needed by the fellas. They are interviewing some of the survivors. What wonderful women they were! Real pioneers. Yeah, Ferry pilots. Sounds like a pretty good job to me, I'd rather do that than get shot at. Though, spending 12 hours at a time over the middle of the ocean in a single engined, rushbuilt plane on its first flight...Takes balls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 things like that make me feel proud to be a woman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Ira I feel you are trivialising the work they did, just because they did not fly in combat missions. It was not just the job they did but the war (within a war) they had to fight to be able to do it in the first place and the attitude of the males who claimed they could not do the job. They certainly had bigger balls than many men at the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 They certainly had bigger balls than many men at the time! I am a pacifist and I can't understand why anyone would want to join the army, but I really admire their determination and drive to do what they felt passionately about despite their culture, religion, and legal system telling them that they couldn't do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Sara's grandmother was in the NZ WAAF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Ira I feel you are trivialising the work they did, just because they did not fly in combat missions. It was not just the job they did but the war (within a war) they had to fight to be able to do it in the first place and the attitude of the males who claimed they could not do the job. They certainly had bigger balls than many men at the time! Yes, me saying it's a risky and difficult job totally trivializes it. In the future I will never discuss the ways in which a job that's done by women can be life threatening again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Who let all these women out of the kitchen anyway Run KP Run :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 :nilly: +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 It was the "Yeah, Ferry pilots" that made me feel that way but I am sure you did not mean anything by it. It was not just the job but what they had to go through to be allowed to do it. One of the women had over 2000 hours flying experience before joining up, as an acrobatic stunt flyer, and they still didn't think she could do it. They said the hardest part was not knowing what sort of aircraft you were going to be flying at any time. They could fly anything from spitfires to the big bombers and no experience may have been had in some of them before taking off in it. One woman told how she flew a bomber into an RAF base. She got out of the plane to be greeted by a group of men with a staff car. She asked if it was for her and they said "No, it is for the pilot". She replied "I AM the pilot!" and they did not believe her. They actually searched the plane before finally realising she was indeed the pilot. After the war none of them could continue flying, unless they were rich enough to buy their own plane, as the jobs were given to the men. That went for all those women who had trained as engineers and mechanics etc to keep things running. My friend's dad was an RAF pilot (he was Canadian but lied about his age and joined up in the UK) and was flying missions over enemy territory aged 16. Can you 16 yr olds in here imagine doing that? I think the average life expectancy for the front line pilots was only a few months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 not the best situation i agree, at least they proved the men wrong eventually & did what they could. are you angry at this generation of men about what happened back then Caryl? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 It was the "Yeah, Ferry pilots" that made me feel that way but I am sure you did not mean anything by it. Yeah I did mean something by it, to use the name of one of their roles. A ferry flight is any flight to move a plane to where it's needed. A person that flies ferry flights to the front line would be called what? Is it trivializing someone who flies cargo planes to call them a cargo pilot? How about calling someone who flies airlines an airline pilot? Someone who flies bombers a bomber pilot? Google "Ferry pilots ww2" almost every single result is about women. Don't get pissy at me for how women were treated 40 years before I was born. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 I am not pissy at you! :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 are you angry at this generation of men about what happened back then Caryl? Now that is a seriously bizarre question! :facepalm: I think Ira's original post could be taken a number of ways, one way is very negative towards women, and the other is fairly positive. Unfortunately the written word is not good at conveying tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 it was the way things were back then lucky they have changed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Now that is a seriously bizarre question! :facepalm: seriously bizarre, ah well sorry about it being that way. that was the impression i got from Caryl making points about how the women had to fight the men to be able to help & do what they did in the war as i amagine it would have been very tough for anyone that participated no matter what they did. i was interested to find the answer to that thought as i didn't think that was the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Now that is a seriously bizarre question! :facepalm: I think Ira's original post could be taken a number of ways, one way is very negative towards women, and the other is fairly positive. Unfortunately the written word is not good at conveying tone. Which part is negative towards women? The part where I'd rather not be shot at or the part where being a ferry pilot is a risky job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 I wish to apologise to Ira as I read more into his post than was there. This was due to what was still going around in my head after watching the programme. He is not a mind reader! I took a more negative meaning when none was intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 I wish to apologise to Ira as I read more into his post than was there. This was due to what was still going around in my head after watching the programme. He is not a mind reader! I took a more negative meaning when none was intended. I forgive you then. And apologize for being grumpy back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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