Air Transport Auxiliary
| Air Transport Auxiliary | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | 15 February 1940–30 November 1945 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Size | 14 ferry pools (1944) Air Movement Flight Unit 2 Training Units 1,152 pilots (male) 166 pilots (female) 151 flight engineers 19 radio officers 27 ATC and Sea cadets 2786 ground staff |
| Command HQ | White Waltham, Maidenhead |
| Nickname(s) | call sign: Lost Child Ferdinand (overseas) |
| Motto(s) |
Latin: Aetheris Avidi "Eager for the Air" Unofficial: Anything To Anywhere |
| Decorations | 2 Commander British Empire (CBE) 13 Officer British Empire (OBE) 36 Member British Empire (MBE) 6 British Empire Medal (BEM) 1 George Medal 6 Commendations 5 Commended for Gallantry 18 King’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air |
The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up during the Second World War and headquartered at White Waltham Airfield that ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, Maintenance Units (MUs), scrap yards, and active service squadrons and airfields, but not to naval aircraft carriers. It also flew service personnel on urgent duty from one place to another and performed some air ambulance work. Notably, many of its pilots were women, and from 1943 they received equal pay to their male co-workers, a first for the British government.
The initial plan was that the ATA would carry personnel, mail and medical supplies, but the pilots were immediately needed to work with the Royal Air Force (RAF) ferry pools transporting aircraft. By 1 May 1940 the ATA had taken over transporting all military aircraft from factories to Maintenance Units to have guns and accessories installed. On 1 August 1941 the ATA took over all ferrying jobs. This freed the much-needed combat pilots for combat duty. At one time there were 14 ATA ferry pools as far apart as Hamble, between Southampton and Portsmouth, and Lossiemouth near Inverness in Scotland.
A special ATA Air Pageant was held at White Waltham on 29 September 1945 to raise money for the ATA Benevolent Fund, supported by the aircraft companies that had been served by the ATA. It included comprehensive static displays of Allied and German aircraft, including a V1, aero engines, and even an AA gun and searchlight complete with crew. Pilots taking part included Alex Henshaw in a Supermarine Seafire.
Lord Beaverbrook, gave an appropriate tribute at the closing ceremony disbanding the ATA at White Waltham on 30 November 1945:
During the war the ATA flew 415,000 hours and delivered more than 309,000 aircraft of 147 types, including Spitfires, Hawker Hurricanes, Mosquitoes, Mustangs, Lancasters, Halifaxes, Fairey Swordfish, Fairey Barracudas and Fortresses. The average aircraft strength of the ATA training schools was 78. A total of 133,247 hours were flown by school aircraft and 6,013 conversion courses were put through. The total flying hours of the Air Movement Flight were 17,059, of which 8,570 were on domestic flights and 8,489 on overseas flights. About 883 tons of freight were carried and 3,430 passengers were transported without any casualties. Total taxi hours amounted to 179,325, excluding Air Movements.
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