Obituaries (1 Viewer)

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LONDON — D-Day veteran George Chandler, who sought to counter sometimes glamorous depictions of the landings by recalling the horrors he witnessed escorting U.S. troops to the beaches of northern France as a young Royal Navy gunner, has died, his family said. He was 99.

Chandler, who served aboard a British motor torpedo boat during the invasion of Normandy that began June 6, 1944, was one of the dwindling cohort of D-Day survivors who gathered last summer to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the landings.

[...]

He was on board as the sun rose June 6, revealing an armada of ships "of all shapes and sizes" stretching from horizon to horizon as waves of aircraft flew overhead. Unfortunately, he said, a navigation error meant the troops he was escorting landed too far to the west and they were mowed down as they hit the beaches, Chandler said.

"It's a very sad memory because I watched young American Rangers get shot, slaughtered — and they were young. I was 19 at the time. These kids were younger than me."


UK D-Day vet who escorted US troops to Normandy beaches dies at 99

George Chandler was one of the dwindling cohort of D-Day survivors who gathered last summer to commemorate its 80th anniversary.
www.airforcetimes.com

 
I do not remember any mention of this lady on the forum. She died on July 24 aged 101.

In Memoriam: Mary Ellis - Pilot

The legendary ATA Spitfire pilot Mary Ellis has died aged 101
pilotweb.aero

Obituary: Mary Ellis the air pioneer

Mary Ellis, who has died aged 101, delivered Spitfires and bombers to RAF bases in World War Two.
www.bbc.com
The Aeroplane magazine fumed in a 1940 editorial: "Women anxious to serve their country should take on work more befitting their sex instead of encroaching on a man's occupation."
Another editor wrote: "The menace is the woman who thinks that she ought to be flying in a high-speed bomber when she really has not the intelligence to scrub the floor of a hospital properly."

Mary Ellis (pilot) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org
After the war the Air Transport Auxiliary was disbanded. However, Ellis was seconded to the Royal Air Force and continued to ferry aircraft.[6]​ She was one of the first women to fly the Gloster Meteor, Britain's first jet fighter.[4]​ She later moved to the Isle of Wight.

WW2 Spitfire pilot Mary Ellis dies

The 101-year-old was one of the last surviving female pilots from World War Two.
www.bbc.com
While she was commonly known as the last-surviving female pilot from the war, in fact there are three others.
Mr Webster said that one, Eleanor Wadsworth, lives in Bury St Edmunds, another, Nancy Stratford, lives in the US and the other, Jaye Edwards, lives in Canada.
 
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It'll be nice when that sort of sexism dies out too.

 
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