The Women of the Air Transport Auxiliary in Second World War Newsreels

A small, but revealing, set of Second World War newsreels exist that feature the pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). Newsreels are an important source of knowledge about the ideology of authorities in wartime Britain. The immense popularity of the cinema meant that newsreels became an important way for the government to communicate with the general public about the progress of the war and also to recruit them into war service. The war was labour intensive, and the government followed a number of initiatives to maximise combat personnel, most notably the widespread employment of women in supporting military roles. The ATA was established to provide a pool of pilots to undertake essential, but not combat, flying during the war. It was made up of pilots who were deemed unfit to serve in the Royal Air Force, a determination that allowed women, by dint of not being male, to join its ranks. The British government was keen to utilise women yet at the same time retain social norms that position employment outside the home as “man's work”. An examination of extant Second World War newsreels reveals that women pilots were initially positioned as a novelty, undertaking lighter, less serious duties than their male counterparts whilst dressed in feminine attire. As the war progressed this shifted rapidly to a recognition that the women were undertaking serious work on par with their male colleagues.