Memorial for WW2 pilot who died averting disaster

4 hours ago

Maisie Lillywhite

BBC News, Gloucestershire

Cadets flank a memorial for pilot Susan Slade as it is unveiled in an airfield

CI Jonathan Huband A group of 10 military cadets in uniform stand at either side of a black gravestone-type memorial for Flight Captain Susan Shaw on a tarmacked spot on an airfield. Several poppy wreaths lay at the foot of the memorial. Sun-baked yellow grass can be seen behind them. — Cadets flank a memorial for pilot Susan Slade as it is unveiled in an airfield

A pilot whose last act was to swerve a malfunctioning plane away from houses has been honoured with a memorial 81 years after her death.

Flight Captain Eleanor Isabella "Susan" Slade was flying a Wellington Bomber as part of her work for the Air Transport Auxiliary, a Second World War civilian service, in July 1944 when the plane began to fail.

As the aircraft descended towards homes in the Cotswolds village of Great Rissington in Gloucestershire, Flt Capt Slade, 40, veered sharply away before crashing on farmland. Her body was found in the wreckage.

A memorial has now been unveiled at Upper Rissington, in view of the RAF Little Rissington runway where the pilot took off for the final time.

Flight Captain Slade died aged 40 when a Wellington Bomber malfunctioned

Jeff Harrison Flight Captain Susan Slade in black and white. She has short, combed back hair, round dark glasses and is slightly smiling. The collar of her shirt and jacket can be seen. — Flight Captain Slade died aged 40 when a Wellington Bomber malfunctioned

A Gloucestershire Special Police Sergeant witnessed the tragedy, which took place shortly after the Wellington Bomber had been repaired.

RAF Air Cadet Sergeant Bailea Harrison, from 136 (Chipping Norton) Squadron, told the BBC last year she had been "heartbroken" when she discovered no mention of the pilot alongside the names of male counterparts at Little Rissington's church.

Sgt Harrison said: "Women were discriminated against heavily [in the 1940s]. I want to do something about that because it did upset me a lot to see no mention of her at all, anywhere."

The unveiling of the memorial, which Sgt Harrison raised money for through crowdfunding, was attended by family members, military veterans, serving military, and cadets.

A spokesperson for the 136 Squadron Air Cadets said a memorial to a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary was "extremely rare, especially to a female member, as only 15 died in wartime service".

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