This week’s story relates to a @CWGC headstone I discovered in the quiet hamlet of Britford, Nr Salisbury. St Peter’s churchyard contains just the one war grave, that belonging to Third Officer Bridget Grace Marion Ledger Hill who was a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary. 1/15
She died on 15 March 1942, aged 27 yrs. Her headstone is unusual in that the religious emblem is that of the Baha’i faith. Bridget Hill was born on 7 May 1914 in Camberley. Bridget had earned her RAeC Certificate (flying licence issued by the Royal Aero Club) in Feb 1939 in 2/15
Wiltshire. The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was the idea of Gerard d’Erlanger who asked the Government in 1938 what private flyers who weren’t eligible to join the RAF could do in the event of war. The ATA was given the urgent task of ferrying trainers, fighters & bombers 3/15
from storage units to RAF squadrons. With its ever-increasing demand for ferrying services, it was proposed that the ATA open its ranks to women. Pauline Gower, a commercial pilot with over 2000 hours' experience was given the task of forming a pool of 8 women pilots 4/15
Within a fortnight of war being declared, Bridget Hill wrote to Marion Wilberforce (one of the original 8) "I am writing to know if you have any sort of flying job to offer me. I had almost completed my instructor's course, during which I did some blind flying - this was 5/15
interrupted by the outbreak of war. I do hope you can find some use for me, as I adore flying and have spent everything on my training as an instructor." Her letter was filed as she did not have the 250 hours flying experience, however she persisted & was eventually accepted 6/15
on 15 Aug 1941. She was seconded to No 15 Ferry Pool (Hamble) on the 19th Jan 1942 & made 75 ferry flights, totalling 129.35 hrs, in the following few weeks. She flew Tiger Moths, Puss Moths and a Wicko. ATA pilots faced serious risks in performance of their ferrying duties. 7/15
They were not trained to be instrument rated, so bad weather was a constant danger. Although they had to abide by very detailed bad weather flying restrictions, the changeable English weather made for rather dicey decision-making. Sometimes a few degrees' drop in temperature 8/15
could turn clear skies into a cloud-filled nightmare. Barrage balloons and friendly fire from anti-aircraft batteries were also a hazard. Pilots were not allowed to mark their maps with the location of defensive positions, lest their maps fall into enemy hands. 9/15
On the 15 Mar 1942, at 12.20pm, when flying as a passenger in Fairchild Argus HM178, Bridget was tragically killed when the plane stalled & crashed onto a bungalow when returning to land at White Waltham in bad weather. Flying Officer Graham Lever, 3rd Officers Bridget Hill 10/15
& Bessie Sayers were killed. 3rd Officer Pamela Duncan was thrown clear. 26 people were injured when they rushed to the house to extricate the passengers in the plane. It is believed that the petrol tank in the machine exploded. Third Officer Bridget Hill is buried in the 11/15
churchyard of St Peter’s, Britford, her older brother, Brigadier James Hill, DSO & Two Bars, MC, wrote to Pauline Gower: "My Dear Miss Gower, I must write and tell you once again how happy in, and proud of, her Corps Bridget was. It was all one great adventure for her, and 12/15
her purpose in life was to make it a success...The man who stood next to me at her graveside would have been her husband and it is so sad to think that they were deprived of that great happiness. I wouldn't have had my darling in any other service...it was a wonderful life 13/15
and she was so supremely happy." When he died aged 95, James Hill's ashes were interred at St Peter's, Briford where his sister had been buried 64 years earlier. AFA pilots ferried a total of 309,000 aircraft of 147 different types.
The ATA's total pilot complement 14/15
comprised 1,152 men and 166 women. Other aircrew included 151 flight engineers, 19 radio officers, and 27 ATC Cadets. 129 men and 20 women from the Air Transport Auxiliary were killed in service.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2709832/hill,-bridget-grace-marian-l./
15/15. Thanks to @RAFMUSEUM and http://afleetingpeace.org 
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