Skip to content

Remarkable women of WW2 to be celebrated

Emma Petrie
BBC News
IBCC Four rusted steel figures are fixed to the grass and look like steel versions of cardboard cut-out figures. Each shows a woman in uniform, including pilots and an army sergeant.IBCC
Four of the 8ft steel silhouettes to be unveiled for the Women in War exhibition

Women who played vital roles during World War Two are to be celebrated in an exhibition at the International Bomber Command Centre.

Ten women have been chosen by the centre, in Lincoln, "to represent the contribution, courage and leadership shown by women at all levels" during the conflict.

They have been immortalized as 8ft-tall (2.4m) steel silhouettes, which will go on show on 14-15 March, in recognition of what the centre describes as their "previously unacknowledged qualities and capabilities".

The statues have been created by Standing with Giants – the team behind the D-Day display at the British Normandy Memorial, which was unveiled last year.

IBCC On the left of the picture is a black and white, post-war photo of Joan, and to the right is a picture of the top part of her steel silhouette, in which she is holding a pen and a clipboard.IBCC
Joan Curran and her steel silhouette

By 1943, 90% of single women of working age, and 80% of married women, were working outside the home in the armed forces, industry or other wartime organisations, the centre said.

One of the sculptures is of Joan Curran, a physicist. She graduated from Cambridge's Newnham College in 1937, but was not awarded a degree because the university refused to grant them to women at the time.

Ms Curran, who secured funding to study for a higher degree, played a critical role in many technical developments.

Most notably, she was involved in the invention of "Window" – a radar countermeasure designed to jam German radar equipment.

IBCC A black and white photo of Dorothy who carries a black leather bag, gloves and wears a black coat with a brooch. Her hair is styled in the short and curly 1940's fashion and she smiles for the camera.IBCC
Dorothy Robson developed the tools for precision targeting

Dorothy Robson was also a physicist and engineer who was responsible for developing the tools for precision bombing.

She joined up with the Royal Aircraft Establishment and was known as "the girl with laughing eyes".

Dorothy died aged 23 on a mission to check the bombsight on a new aircraft.

IBCC A head and shoulders picture of Lettice Curtis, who has dark curly hair and is smiling broadly.IBCC
Lettice Curtis was the first woman to fly and deliver operations in a Lancaster bomber

Another of the statues commemorates Lettice Curtis, who was the first woman to fly and deliver operations in a Lancaster bomber.

As a pilot with the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) between 1940 and 1945, Ms Curtis was said to have flown "13 days on, two days off" for 62 consecutive months, in a range of aircraft.

The unveiling of the Women in War exhibition will mark the opening of a two-day Women in War book festival, also taking place at the centre.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

More on this story
Related internet links