Helen Kerly

Helen Kerly or Ruth Helen Clark (6 January 1916 - 1992) was a British civilian female pilot officer who was one of only two such women commended for their work.

Helen Kerly
photo from Royal Aero Club in 1938
Born	Ruth Helen Kerly 6 January 1916 London, England
Died	1992 (aged 75–76)
Nationality	British
Employer	Air Transport Auxiliary
Known for	female commended ATA pilot
Title	Third Officer
Spouse(s)	Storm Clark

Life

Third Officer Ruth Helen Kerly was born in 1916 in London and she came to notice as an officer who delivered Spitfires during the Second World War.[1] Women were not permitted to be fighter pilots during the war, but they were allowed to deliver aircraft to replace those lost during either training or combat missions. Kerly had been photographed as a member of the Royal Aero Club in 1938, but although the ATA were desperate for pilots she was the 130th employed in 1943.[2]

Kerly's certificate of commendation

Kerly was one of only two women to be commended as pilots during the war. Her commendation was given for landing a Spitfire that had technical difficulties in a small fleld on 25 June 1944.[1] She was in the Air Transport Auxiliary and it was her job to deliver aircraft from various factories including the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory which was one of the main factories for assembling the aircraft. She would deliver the aircraft to airfields around Britain. She left the ATA in September 1945[2] and in 1947, she married Storm Clark.[1]

Legacy

Kerly's leather flying helmet

When she died in 1992 she left her leather flying helmet and goggles to a fellow pilot, Alec Matthews. He in turn donated their joint memorabilia to Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum. The helmet and goggles are now on display in the Spitfire Gallery which opened in 2015.

References

1. Cole, Paul. "Mystery of the Spitfire Heroine". Birmingham Evening Post.
2. Helen Kerly, A Fleeting Peace, retrieved 6 March 2015

External links