Helen Kerly

Third Officer Ruth Helen Kerly was born in 1916 in London. She came to notice as a pilot who delivered aircraft including Spitfires during the Second World War.[1]

Helen Kerly in ATA uniform

Women were not permitted to fly or crew aircraft in combat, but could deliver aircraft from manufacturers to squadrons. Kerly had been a member of the Royal Aero Club in 1938. She became the 130th pilot employed by the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) on 23 August 1943.[2][3] Her job was to deliver aircraft from various factories, including the major Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory, to airfields around Britain.

Kerly's certificate of commendation

Kerly was one of only two women to be commended as pilots during the war, for landing a Mustang that had technical difficulties in a small field on 25 June 1944.[2][1] She had one other forced landing, on 4 May 1945, in Spitfire XIV TZ104, after a serious oil leak, landing on an unserviceable part of the airfield with only trivial damage as another aircraft was landing on the runway.[2]

After leaving the ATA on 30 September 1945[3] she married Charles Walter T Clark in 1947.[2]

Kerly's leather flying helmet

When she died on 26 May 1992[4] she left her leather flying helmet and goggles to a fellow pilot, Alec Matthews, who donated their joint memorabilia to Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum. The helmet and goggles went on display in the Spitfire Gallery, which opened in 2015.