Mary Bell (aviator)
Encyclopedia
Mary Teston Luis Bell was an Australian aviator and founding leader of the Women's Air Training Corps (WATC), a volunteer organisation that provided support to the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) during World War II. She also helped establish the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
(WAAAF), the first and largest women's wartime service in the country, which grew to number more than 18,000 members by 1944. Born Mary Fernandes in Tasmania
, she married RAAF officer John Bell in 1923 and obtained a pilot's licence in 1927. Given temporary command of the WAAAF on its formation in 1941, she was passed over as its inaugural Director in favour of corporate executive Clare Stevenson
. Bell refused the post of Deputy Director and resigned, but subsequently rejoined and served until the final months of the war. She and her husband later became farmers. Nicknamed "Paddy", Mary Bell died in 1979 at the age of seventy-five.
, Tasmania, Mary Bell was the daughter of Rowland Walker Luis Fernandes, an English-born clerk, and his wife Emma. She attended Church of England Girls' Grammar School, Launceston
and St Margaret's School, Devonport
, before commencing work in a solicitor's office at the age of fourteen. She married John Bell (1889–1973), a Royal Australian Air Force
officer and World War I veteran of Gallipoli and the Australian Flying Corps, at St Andrew's Anglican Church in Brighton
, Victoria on 19 March 1923. They had one daughter.
From 1925 until early 1928, the Bells lived in Britain while John attended RAF Staff College, Andover
and acted as RAAF liaison officer to the Royal Air Force
. Interested in aviation since her teens, Mary learnt to fly in England and in April 1927 qualified for a Grade 'A' private pilot's licence. Returning to Australia, she was the first female to gain a pilot's licence in Victoria, on 20 March 1928. The following year, she became the first Australian woman to qualify as a ground engineer.
By 1939, the Bells had moved to Brisbane
, where John was Queensland manager for Airlines of Australia Ltd
, having left the RAAF in 1929. Mary became leader of forty or so members of the Women's National Emergency Legion
Air Wing who had volunteered to assist with aircraft maintenance during times of war. Determining that their objectives would not be met in their existing organisation, on 17 July they formed a new paramilitary
group, the Women's Air Training Corps (WATC), and elected Bell its commander. She soon expanded the WATC into a national organisation, with Commandants leading each state's chapter, and herself as Australian Commandant. Bell wrote to Air Vice Marshal Richard Williams, with whom she was acquainted via her husband and through aviation circles, advocating the establishment of a women's branch of the RAAF similar to the RAF's Women's Auxiliary Air Force
(WAAF). Among other things, she pointed out that female volunteers such as hers were already supporting the Air Force in driving, nursing and clerical duties. The WATC was one of a number of women's voluntary organisations whose members were keen to support the military, arguing that their personnel provided a ready-made pool of skilled staff for auxiliary services, saving the government time and money associated with training unskilled labour.
on 3 September 1939, the RAAF Air Board met in November to discuss Mary Bell's letter, but postponed taking any further action. Bell continued to lobby, however, as did various women's groups seeking to support the war effort and free male staff for overseas postings. In July 1940, the new Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal
Sir Charles Burnett
, invited her to produce a proposal for a women's auxiliary, supervised by her husband John, who had rejoined the Air Force at the war's outbreak and was now a wing commander
in the Directorate of Organisation at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne
. Mary recommended forming the new service under the Air Force Act to permit women to enlist for the duration of the war under conditions similar to RAAF members, rather than enrolling on a short-term contractual basis, a radical idea at the time which would not be put in place until 1943. She also suggested a volunteer reserve or 'citizen' force to augment the enlisted women, effectively the existing WATC, though this was seen as placing too much emphasis on her personal command. Various senior Air Force officers, including the recently promoted Air Marshal
Williams, and the Director of Personnel Services, Group Captain
Joe Hewitt
, opposed a women's service. Burnett, an RAF member who appreciated how the WAAF proved its worth during the Battle of Britain
, championed its establishment as the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
(WAAAF).
Bell was appointed to the RAAF's Personnel Branch as Staff Officer (Administrative) with the probationary rank of section officer
(acting flight officer
) on 24 February 1941, in order to "get the organisation going". Formally established on 25 March, the WAAAF was the first uniformed women's branch of an armed service in Australia, predating similar organisations in the Army
and Navy
. Bell led the WAAAF for the first three months of its existence, recruiting approximately two hundred women by June; of the first six officers she appointed, five were former members of the WATC. On 21 May 1941, Berlei
corporate executive Clare Stevenson
was appointed Director WAAAF with Bell as her Deputy Director, effective from 9 June. The Air Member for Personnel, Air Vice Marshal Henry Wrigley
, chose Stevenson on the basis of her management background and because she was not a "socialite". Notwithstanding her aviation experience and familiarity with the RAAF, he considered Bell to be "tangled up with the WATC", where she "waved the flag and obtained a great deal of publicity for herself". She may also have alienated Burnett by not including his daughter Sybil-Jean, a founding member of the WAAF, among the initial intake of staff.
Bell chose to resign on learning of Stevenson's appointment, rather than stay on and report to someone from outside the service fraternity; she later rejoined at Wrigley's request, on the condition that she received no promotion higher than flight officer. Two of her original officer appointees also resigned when Bell was passed over, later describing her as "a thorough and effective organiser" and the "obvious choice" as Director. After Bell returned to the WAAAF on 5 October 1942, she served at RAAF Headquarters in various directorates, mainly that of Medical Services. Despite her recommendation in July 1940 that they be enlisted into the WAAAF as permanent staff, women were at first enrolled only for renewable twelve-month contracts; they did not become part of the Permanent Air Force, with the benefits that entailed, until 1943. Pay was only ever two-thirds that of male equivalents. The organisation grew rapidly, however, peaking in strength at over 18,600 members in October 1944, or twelve per cent of all RAAF personnel. By the end of the war a total of 27,000 women had served in the WAAAF, comprising over thirty-one per cent of ground staff and filling sixty-one trades, all previously occupied by men.
when he left the RAAF on 15 October that year. The WAAAF, first and largest of Australia's wartime women's services, was disbanded on 30 September 1946. The Bells became farmers, first in Victoria and then in Tasmania, before retiring in 1968. Survived by her daughter, Mary Bell died in Ulverstone
, Tasmania on 6 February 1979. She was buried at Mersey Vale Memorial Park cemetery in Spreyton
, near Devonport, beside her husband, who had died in 1973.
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
(RAAF) during World War II. She also helped establish the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve and by the Chief of the Air Staff who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service overseas. The WAAAF was the first and largest of the World War II...
(WAAAF), the first and largest women's wartime service in the country, which grew to number more than 18,000 members by 1944. Born Mary Fernandes in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, she married RAAF officer John Bell in 1923 and obtained a pilot's licence in 1927. Given temporary command of the WAAAF on its formation in 1941, she was passed over as its inaugural Director in favour of corporate executive Clare Stevenson
Clare Stevenson
Clare Grant Stevenson AM, MBE was the inaugural Director of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force . As such, she has been described as "the most significant woman in the history of the Air Force"...
. Bell refused the post of Deputy Director and resigned, but subsequently rejoined and served until the final months of the war. She and her husband later became farmers. Nicknamed "Paddy", Mary Bell died in 1979 at the age of seventy-five.
Early life and WATC
Born on 3 December 1903 in LauncestonLaunceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, Tasmania, Mary Bell was the daughter of Rowland Walker Luis Fernandes, an English-born clerk, and his wife Emma. She attended Church of England Girls' Grammar School, Launceston
Launceston Church Grammar School
Launceston Church Grammar School is a co-educational private school in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia for years kindergarten through to Year 12....
and St Margaret's School, Devonport
Devonport, Tasmania
-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...
, before commencing work in a solicitor's office at the age of fourteen. She married John Bell (1889–1973), a Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
officer and World War I veteran of Gallipoli and the Australian Flying Corps, at St Andrew's Anglican Church in Brighton
Brighton, Victoria
Brighton is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Brighton had a population of 20,651...
, Victoria on 19 March 1923. They had one daughter.
From 1925 until early 1928, the Bells lived in Britain while John attended RAF Staff College, Andover
RAF Staff College, Andover
The RAF Staff College at RAF Andover was the first Royal Air Force staff college to be established. Its role was the training of officers in the administrative, staff and policy apects of air force matters.-Foundation:...
and acted as RAAF liaison officer to the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. Interested in aviation since her teens, Mary learnt to fly in England and in April 1927 qualified for a Grade 'A' private pilot's licence. Returning to Australia, she was the first female to gain a pilot's licence in Victoria, on 20 March 1928. The following year, she became the first Australian woman to qualify as a ground engineer.
By 1939, the Bells had moved to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, where John was Queensland manager for Airlines of Australia Ltd
Keith Virtue
Keith Allison Virtue MBE was a pioneer Australian aviator. Sir Lawrence Wackett, in the Foreword of Keith Virtue's biography, writes that he was an experienced airman himself but he marvelled at the ability and skill of Keith Virtue and counts him as one of the greatest of the Australians who...
, having left the RAAF in 1929. Mary became leader of forty or so members of the Women's National Emergency Legion
Women's National Emergency Legion
The Women's National Emergency Legion was an Australian female auxiliary and training organisation of the World War II-era that was based in Brisbane. It was established in 1938 and provided volunteers with training in first aid and other skills which were seen as being relevant to Australia's war...
Air Wing who had volunteered to assist with aircraft maintenance during times of war. Determining that their objectives would not be met in their existing organisation, on 17 July they formed a new paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
group, the Women's Air Training Corps (WATC), and elected Bell its commander. She soon expanded the WATC into a national organisation, with Commandants leading each state's chapter, and herself as Australian Commandant. Bell wrote to Air Vice Marshal Richard Williams, with whom she was acquainted via her husband and through aviation circles, advocating the establishment of a women's branch of the RAAF similar to the RAF's Women's Auxiliary Air Force
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force , whose members were invariably referred to as Waafs , was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II, established in 1939. At its peak strength, in 1943, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.A Women's Royal Air...
(WAAF). Among other things, she pointed out that female volunteers such as hers were already supporting the Air Force in driving, nursing and clerical duties. The WATC was one of a number of women's voluntary organisations whose members were keen to support the military, arguing that their personnel provided a ready-made pool of skilled staff for auxiliary services, saving the government time and money associated with training unskilled labour.
World War II and WAAAF
Australia having declared warMilitary history of Australia during World War II
Australia entered World War II shortly after the invasion of Poland, declaring war on Germany on 3 September 1939. By the end of the war, almost a million Australians had served in the armed forces, whose military units fought primarily in the European theatre, North African campaign, and...
on 3 September 1939, the RAAF Air Board met in November to discuss Mary Bell's letter, but postponed taking any further action. Bell continued to lobby, however, as did various women's groups seeking to support the war effort and free male staff for overseas postings. In July 1940, the new Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Sir Charles Burnett
Charles Burnett (RAF officer)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Stuart Burnett KCB, CBE, DSO was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the first half of the 20th century. During the Second World War, he served as Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Australian Air Force.-Early life:Charles Burnett was born in Browns...
, invited her to produce a proposal for a women's auxiliary, supervised by her husband John, who had rejoined the Air Force at the war's outbreak and was now a wing commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
in the Directorate of Organisation at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. Mary recommended forming the new service under the Air Force Act to permit women to enlist for the duration of the war under conditions similar to RAAF members, rather than enrolling on a short-term contractual basis, a radical idea at the time which would not be put in place until 1943. She also suggested a volunteer reserve or 'citizen' force to augment the enlisted women, effectively the existing WATC, though this was seen as placing too much emphasis on her personal command. Various senior Air Force officers, including the recently promoted Air Marshal
Air Marshal
Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Williams, and the Director of Personnel Services, Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
Joe Hewitt
Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer)
Air Vice Marshal Joseph Eric Hewitt, CBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force...
, opposed a women's service. Burnett, an RAF member who appreciated how the WAAF proved its worth during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
, championed its establishment as the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve and by the Chief of the Air Staff who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service overseas. The WAAAF was the first and largest of the World War II...
(WAAAF).
Bell was appointed to the RAAF's Personnel Branch as Staff Officer (Administrative) with the probationary rank of section officer
Flying Officer
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...
(acting flight officer
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
) on 24 February 1941, in order to "get the organisation going". Formally established on 25 March, the WAAAF was the first uniformed women's branch of an armed service in Australia, predating similar organisations in the Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
and Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
. Bell led the WAAAF for the first three months of its existence, recruiting approximately two hundred women by June; of the first six officers she appointed, five were former members of the WATC. On 21 May 1941, Berlei
Berlei
Berlei is a brand of women's lingerie and in particular bras and girdles.-History:The brand originated in Australia in 1917. Berlei undergarments are now sold in Australia by Pacific Brands and in the United Kingdom by Courtaulds Textiles....
corporate executive Clare Stevenson
Clare Stevenson
Clare Grant Stevenson AM, MBE was the inaugural Director of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force . As such, she has been described as "the most significant woman in the history of the Air Force"...
was appointed Director WAAAF with Bell as her Deputy Director, effective from 9 June. The Air Member for Personnel, Air Vice Marshal Henry Wrigley
Henry Wrigley
Air Vice Marshal Henry Neilson Wrigley CBE, DFC, AFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force . A pioneer aviator and theorist, he piloted the first trans-Australia flight from Melbourne to Darwin in 1919, and subsequently laid the groundwork for the RAAF's air power doctrine...
, chose Stevenson on the basis of her management background and because she was not a "socialite". Notwithstanding her aviation experience and familiarity with the RAAF, he considered Bell to be "tangled up with the WATC", where she "waved the flag and obtained a great deal of publicity for herself". She may also have alienated Burnett by not including his daughter Sybil-Jean, a founding member of the WAAF, among the initial intake of staff.
Later life
Ranked flight officer, Mary Bell was discharged from the WAAAF at her own request on 11 April 1945. Her husband John was acting air commodoreAir Commodore
Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
when he left the RAAF on 15 October that year. The WAAAF, first and largest of Australia's wartime women's services, was disbanded on 30 September 1946. The Bells became farmers, first in Victoria and then in Tasmania, before retiring in 1968. Survived by her daughter, Mary Bell died in Ulverstone
Ulverstone, Tasmania
Ulverstone is a town on the northwest coast of Tasmania, Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Leven River, on Bass Strait. It is on the Bass Highway, west of Devonport and east of Penguin....
, Tasmania on 6 February 1979. She was buried at Mersey Vale Memorial Park cemetery in Spreyton
Spreyton, Tasmania
Spreyton is a small town just south of Devonport, Tasmania, Australia. At the 2006 census, Spreyton had a population of 934.-References:...
, near Devonport, beside her husband, who had died in 1973.