Elsie Joy Davison

Elsie Joy Davison (born March 14, 1910 in Toronto , Canada , † July 8, 1940 in Upavon , England ) was a British pilot . She was the UK's first female airline manager.

Life

Davison moved with her mother and sister from Canada to the UK after their father's fatal accident. Interested in aviation and mechanics since childhood , she began flying in 1929 and acquired her aircraft in 1930. At the age of 23 she was registered with a "Commercial-B" license from the Department of Aviation. She was a member of the Women's Engineering Society and initially worked for de Havilland Aircraft Company Limitedand several other companies as a mechanic before flying for Comper Aircraft Company. In 1933 she married William Frank Davison (1899–1949), whom she met while flying for his photographic work for the Liverpool Dock Board. Frank Davison bought Hooton Airfield on the Wirral Peninsula in 1934 and founded Utility Airways Ltd. in 1936 . which he ran with his wife. The couple divorced in 1939. That year Davison worked for a company that flew from Portsmouth to Cardiff . When the Second World War broke out, she started working for National Air Communications (NAC). Davison was one of the pilots - known as "Atagirls" - who was admitted to the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), which was stationed at the Whitchurch Aerodrome in Bristol during the war . Davison joined the Women's Division of the Air Transport Auxiliary on July 1, 1940 . The ATA was hired to transport newly produced aircraft from the factories to their respective Royal Air Force bases. As a seasoned pilot, Davison was sent on a retraining course in flying fighter jets. She attended the Central Flying School in Upavon and received an experienced instructor named Sergeant Francis L'Estrange. Davison and L'Estrange flew a Miles Master on July 8, 1940 , but on their return to base the plane spiraled and crashed into the ground. Both Davison and L'Estrange died during that training flight, making Davison the first female aviator in the country to die during World War II. No reason for the crash was ever found. One theory was that carbon monoxide leaked into the cockpit. Davison was cremated and her ashes scattered from an airplane.

Web links

• UK woman pilot dies
• The Remarkable Ann Davison
• Letters from Elsie Joy Davison
• Accident report
• Remembering Elsie