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The Ferry Pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary, 1939-1945

 This website is being developed in recognition of the outstanding achievements of the men and women ferry pilots who served with the Air Transport Auxiliary (The ATA) in WWII.

The ATA was formed in 1939 "upon the Declaration of War by Great Britain, for the purposes of delivering His Majesty's aircraft to the Royal Air Force, and the Royal Navy, and for Air Transport tasks auxiliary to the War Effort."

Without the 'ancient and tattered airmen' of the ATA, the RAF would not have been able to fight the Battle of Britain. By 1942 it was larger than all the U.S. commercial airlines added together.

This is a work in progress; the ultimate aim is to tell the story of the 1,154 men and 168 women ferry pilots, plus over 100 pilot cadets - before, during and after their time in the ATA.

Use the options in the Top Menu, (or here), to discover:

• • Details of Accidents and Incidents
  • Pilots A to Z -  individual biographies of All Pilots
  • Pilots by Country - biographies, sorted by the pilot's country (or countries)
  • Stories - articles illuminating different aspects of the ATA Story
  • Timelines - the biographies of all the pilots who joined in a particular year, in date order
  • Download Personnel Files - My photos of selected pages of ATA pilot and Flight Engineer files (from the RAF Museum)

 You can also find all references to a name, word or phrase; use 'Search ...' at the top of the page.

If you can contribute - if perhaps you are a relative of one of the pilots, or have researched any of them, I'd be delighted to hear from you. Click on 'Contact Me' at the top of any page.

 For more about civil aviation in the British Empire between the wars, see www.afleetingpeace.org

The material on this website has been derived from the public domain, from individuals who have kindly sent me information, and other material from sources including the Royal Air Force Museum, the ATA Museum and Royal Aero Club Archives.

If you use, or reference, any of this material for non-commercial purposes, please drop me an email to let me know; if you wish to use any of the material for commercial publication, please contact me and I will let you know how to get permission.

Similarly, if I have used any copyright material and you object, please let me know and I'll take the appropriate action. 

Terry Mace - Bedfordshire, UK

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