SISTERS IN ARMS: British & American Women Pilots During World War II

by Helena P. Schrader

During World War II, a few, carefully selected women in the US and the UK were briefly given the unprecedented opportunity to fly military aircraft. Yet the story of these pioneer women pilots is made even more intriguing by the fact that, despite many notable similarities in the utilization and organization of the women in their respective countries, they experienced radically different fates.Throughout the war, the contribution of the women of the British ATA to the war effort was recognized and praised both from official quarters and in the press. By contrast, the American WASPs were first glamorized and made into Hollywood stars - and then subjected to a slander campaign. What accounts for this dramatic difference in the treatment of women pilots doing essentially the same job?This book seeks to answer these questions. The women who participated in the ATA and WASP have been allowed to speak for themselves. The story these women have to tell is exciting and intriguing.

Genres: History, Womens, Research, Aviation, World War II

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2006

About the author

Dr. Helena P. Schrader is a highly acclaimed author with a remarkable portfolio of six critically acclaimed non-fiction history books and twenty historical novels. A testament to her storytelling prowess, twelve of her novels have earned one or more prestigious literary awards, with three titles achieving Amazon best-selling status.

Helena's deep historical insight stems from her PhD in history from the University of Hamburg, where her ground-breaking biography of a leader of the German Resistance to Hitler earned her doctorate. Her rich experiences also include a distinguished career as an American diplomat in Europe and Africa.

Her expertise spans critical historical periods and subjects, including:

Aviation

The Second World War

Ancient Sparta

The Crusader States

Award Highlights:

Helena's dedication to historical accuracy and compelling narratives has been recognized with numerous accolades:

"Cold Peace" Won the Independent Press Award for Political Thrillers 2024 and was "Runner-Up for BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023" from the Historical Fiction Company

"Moral Fibre" won GOLD in the Global Book Awards for 20th Century Historical Fiction 2024

"Where Eagles Never Flew" won the Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction from Chanticleer International Book Awards 2021

"Envoy of Jerusalem": Book Excellence Award for Best Biography 2017.

As the highly respected Feathered Quill Reviews noted: "Helena Schrader’s in-depth stories, fantastic characters, and ability to write an unforgettable tale make her one of the best authors out there!”

For a comprehensive list of awards and more information, please visit her author website.

Reviews

[Lisa Marie Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

To use a time honoured cliche, I really wanted to like this book. I ordered it enthusiastically from Amazon and waited eagerly for it to arrive. Unfortunately it was not quite what I expected. That is not the writer’s fault of course, but I need to review honestly for anyone who might make the same mistake as I did.
This is not a light, easy, dip into read nor is it badly executed. It is a learned, exhaustive and highly factual dissertation that compares conditions and training of women pilots in Great Britain and the USA. The first quarter of the book is pretty heavy going. I often read at night when there are fewer distractions, sometimes I will read a book cover to cover, others I will get sleepy after a chapter or two. In the case of this book, the early chapters were so dry that I could not read more than a page or two without giving up. It is factually dense and very critical of the way women were treated in the USA and makes no attempt to pull you in to any sort of narrative in the early chapters. Having said this, the book gets better as it moves away from dry facts, figures and a personal critique of Jacqueline Cochran’s organisational failings with WASP . It improves when it begins to focus on the wartime flying tasks women actually undertook. It is at its best when the author lets the women themselves tell their stories. That anecdotal approach is what I hoped I was buying in the first place. It comes to life in the later chapters.
Often one of the hardest things to do, I find, is to review totally dispassionately. When you accord a rating to a book it is sometimes appropriate to consider the audience it may have been intended for as well as any personal impressions. It became obvious that I needed something more people orientated and less fact based. A historian might well find the direct opposite, so for me the final rating takes this into account and the fact that the book is extremely well researched is obvious. I would recommend this book to the military historian or feminist who is also interested in women’s roles in a time of war. I would think twice about recommending it to a casual reader.

[Lynnette Goebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book contained many facts which could become tedious; however, the insertion of quotes and personal stories kept it interesting. I especially enjoyed the comparison of the UK and the US programs. It was very educational!

Many of these women deserve the recognition for their service as outlined in this book or even more!

Her honesty and summary of the people involved who made the programs great and the ones who made the program more of a failure were well done and unbiased. No hegemony!

Did you even know that women were an integral part of the air support during WWII for Britain?

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. I shared part of it with members of Women Airforce Service Pilots and they confirmed that it is accurate. Would be an outstanding choice for anyone doing research.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring and fascinating read! Very recommended!