Today we present one in a series we like to call 'Planes and Dames'. This time 'round the plane is an RAF Mustang, likely a Mk.I or IA, while the dame is a Dane named Vera Elise 'Toni' Strodl, one of just two female Danish pilots to see service during the Second World War and the only one to fly under the Union Jack.
Strodl flew as a 1st Officer with the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) from 1941 to 1945, having previously served as an inspector and test pilot for Taylorcraft Aeroplanes Limited (later Auster) in Rearsby, Leicestershire, England. She may have picked up the nickname 'Toni' at Taylorcraft, though we're not entirely certain on that. Whatever the case, the photo below (taken in November of 1942 by Reuben Saidman) appears in the Summer 1975 ish of 'Auster Quarterly', and she is identified as 'Toni Strodl'.
Anyhoo, while with the ATA she was assigned to No. 15 Ferry Pilot Pool at Hamble, then to No. 4 Ferry Pilot Pool at Prestwick, and mainly ferried birds that had come from across the pond to their ultimate destinations with operational RAF units. She also undoubtedly flew many aircraft to and from repair depots, and logged more than 200 flights with the ATA during the war.
Tip of the hat to this lovely lass from Danernes Land...
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