Jackie Moggridge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jackie Moggridge
Jackie Moggridge.jpg
Born
Dolores Theresa Sorour

1 March 1922
Pretoria, South Africa
Died7 January 2004(2004-01-07) (aged 81)
Known forFirst woman airline captain

Jackie Moggridge (born Dolores Theresa Sorour; 1 March 1922 – 7 January 2004) was a pioneering pilot and the first woman airline captain of scheduled passenger services.[1][2]

Early life[]

Born Dolores Theresa Sorour in Pretoria, South Africa, she decided to call herself Jackie after her sports heroine Jackie Rissik. She learned to fly and got her ‘A’ flying licence, starting to fly aged fifteen. She became the first woman to do a parachute jump in South Africa aged seventeen. She moved to the United Kingdom in 1938 with the intention of getting her ‘B’ flying licence with the Aeronautical College, Witney, Oxford.

War-service[]

Like many women interested in flying for the war effort, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force until she could join the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). Initially she was based in Rye at a radar station. She was recruited to the ATA by the Women's Commandant, Pauline Gower in July 1940. Moggridge was the youngest of the female pilots at the time. She flew more than 1,500 aircraft of 83 different types.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

Post-war[]

She left flying when the ATA disbanded. Moggridge then married an army Lieut. Colonel and engineer, Reginald Moggridge, in Taunton, Somerset in 1945 with whom she had two daughters. She was involved with the local amateur dramatics societies but still wanted to fly.

In 1949 she was commissioned into the Women's RAF Volunteer Reserve (WRAFVR), as a Pilot Officer, and qualified for her RAF wings in 1953. As a result of her involvement in both amateur dramatics and the RAF Reserve, Moggridge was interviewed in 1950 by Richard Dimbleby for his radio show Down Your Way. Moggridge went on to gain her commercial pilot's licence in the 1950s, and ferried Spitfires from Cyprus to Rangoon, to the Indian Air Force and to Burma, before looking for more flying opportunities. In 1957 she worked for LEC Refrigeration, co-piloting demonstration versions of their fridges to South Africa for potential customers to view, a trip of 15,000 miles. Next she applied to be a pilot with Channel Airways based at Southend Airport, she neglecting to mention she was a woman. She got an interview and managed, using her impressive flying record, to get the job. Over time, she worked the Isle of Wight, Jersey and Guernsey routes.[3][4][9][5][6][7][8]

Awards and legacy[]

For her war-service, the recently married First Officer Moggridge was awarded the King's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air,[10] in addition to campaign medals. In 1953 she was awarded the Coronation medal, not a universal issue at the time, and therefore a further recognition of merit.

She was awarded the Jean Lennox Bird Trophy by the British Women Pilots’ Association in 1959. She created the Jackie Moggridge Cup, which is awarded to a British woman pilot for achieving excellent qualifications. Moggridge wrote a book about her experiences, originally published in 1957 as Woman pilot. Michael Joseph. 1957., now republished as Spitfire Girl – My Life in the Sky.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

First five[]

Jean Bird, Benedetta Willis, Jackie Moggridge, Freydis Leaf and Joan Hughes were the first five women to be awarded their wings. The next didn't gain wings until Julie Ann Gibson in 1991.[11][12][8]

References[]

  1. ^ National Portrait Gallery 1953.
  2. ^ samilitaryhistory.org 2012.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c solentaviatrix 2014.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c RAF Museum 2018.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Imperial War Museums.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Dickens 2017.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c BBC News 2014.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d South African Military History Society 1938.
  9. ^ South African Military History Society 2007.
  10. ^ "No. 37412". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 January 1946. p. 338.
  11. ^ Patrick Sawer; Helena Horton (8 July 2018). "Women RAF pilots 'forgotten' in centenary celebrations, say relatives".
  12. ^ "Celebrating 100 years of British women pilots". British Women Pilot's Association. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2017.

Sources[]

Retrieved from ""