"A heroine, who was one of the few women to work as a pilot during World War Two, has died at the age of 102. Jill Farquharson, from Gloucestershire, was one of the select gang of female pilots - known as the 'Ata-girls' - who flew Britain's fighters during the war. She marked her 100th birthday by taking to the skies in a Spitfire near Stroud. Ms Farquharson, who was an Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) during the war and ferried all kinds of planes across the country, died last Wednesday at the Wisma Mulia nursing home in Frampton-on-Severn, where she lived. Her nephew Tim Rees said: 'She had an extraordinary life and she loved going back up in the air in a glider on her 100th birthday. 'She was very much loved by her family and everyone at Wisma Mulia, the nursing home in Frampton-on-Severn where she lived.' The women fliers were among the first employees in the country to secure equal pay. Her passing comes after that of fellow ATA pilot Joy Lofthouse last month. At a presentation by Cotswold Gliding Club, who made her an honorary member after her flight in 2015, Ms Farquharson told her fellow residential home neighbours: 'I joined the ATA as a motorcycle dispatch rider but I wanted to be like my brothers, so I got a pilot's licence. 'The men didn't like us. They were just jealous.' Ms Farquharson started delivering aircraft including Mosquitoes, Spitfires and Lysanders in 1942 and the ATA girls became pin-ups of their time. She was stationed at one of the ATA ferry pool airfields, Aston Down, near Stroud, and ATA HQ in White Waltham, Maidenhead. Some 173 ATA flyers were killed in service, including pioneering female pilot Amy Johnson. She was introduced to young pilots when she visited Aston Down on August 29, advising them: 'If you follow the rules and do not do anything stupid, you may survive as long as I have.' Born in 1915, she may not have even entered the world if her parents had not missed a connection from Norway to the Titanic in 1912. Her father was working as a mining engineer there and a snowstorm meant their sailing was delayed." Spitfire pilot who was one of the Ata-girls dies aged 102 | Daily Mail Online
