No bed of roses

Details

Published on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 16:52

Being a woman pilot during the war years had it ups and downs, both literally and figuratively.

Some of their experiences were frustrating, some humorous, some downright dangerous.

One of the most poignant stories concerned Cornelia Fort, one of the first women pilots recruited by Nancy Love.

Fort had survived the attack on Pear Harbor by the skin of her teeth. She was a flight instructor and up in the air early that Sunday morning with a student pilot when all of a sudden they were caught in the middle of a swarm of Japanese planes. This was the first wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor. They managed to land unharmed in a hail of bullets. A number of other instructors and their student pilots weren't so fortunate. Their bodies washed ashore during the next few days.