Girlguiding and the RAF
Connected through the ages
Photo credit: Girl Guides of Canada archives. Girl Guides contribute to buy two air ambulances, 1940.
From World War Two to today, Girlguiding and the Royal Air Force (RAF) have a long and fascinating history together – including having lots of inspiring, brave members in common.
Did you know that Brownies were involved in a top-secret government project to help rescue prisoners of war during World War Two? In 1941, the RAF rang Girlguiding headquarters with an urgent request. They needed used cotton reels (the cylinders that thread is wrapped round). Keen to help the war effort, girls sprang into action, collecting 15,000 within months. The RAF never told Girlguiding why they needed the reels. Decades later, declassified files showed that M19, the secret department set up to help prisoners of war escape, put maps of Europe, German money, and contact details of people who could help prisoners flee inside them. They then got cotton companies to refill the reels with thread, and sent them into German prisoner of war camps to help people escape – a clever idea that likely saved many lives. This is just one of the amazing stories of how Girlguiding and the RAF came together during World War Two – and continue to collaborate to this day.
Photo credit : The Scouts Heritage Service. Scouts and Guides working together to put sandbags up as part of air raid precaution activities.
Maria Jasińska, a Guide from Nazi-occupied Poland, was part of the resistance.
Playing a vital role
With important skills learned earning badges in everything from first aid to mechanics, Girlguiding’s brilliant members stepped up to play a key role during World War Two, including supporting the RAF. Girlguiding companies everywhere were involved in national or local activities to help the war effort. Close to RAF Kenley near London, Guides raised money to buy Spitfire aircraft, laying a mile of pennies along the main road between Coulsdon and Purley. In 1940, Girlguiding members from across the British Empire raised over £46,000 in just a few months, which helped buy two air ambulances for RAF Hendon. And Guides didn’t just help in the UK. Maria Jasińska, a Guide from Nazi-occupied Poland, was part of the resistance there, helping save people’s lives by smuggling them abroad. Sadly, the Nazis executed her in 1943 for her role in trying to help three British officers get home. Her family received a certificate after the war to acknowledge her bravery and sacrifice, this was given by the RAF ‘in appreciation for the help given to the Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen of the British Commonwealth’.
Our connection today
In 2021 we’re still working closely with the RAF. Together, we’re developing activities to give girls an insight into STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects. Women only make up around a quarter of the STEM workforce in the UK – something girls have told us they want to change. Thanks to our partnership , girls have the opportunity to have interstellar adventures, learn how aircraft fly, decipher codes and discover how radar and rollercoasters work – to name just a few activities. We hope they feel inspired and empowered to do incredible things – just like their predecessors did during World War Two.
Women only make up around a quarter of the STEM workforce in the UK.
Our amazing joint members
Lots of inspiring women who were Girlguiding members have gone on to achieve remarkable things in the RAF.
Here are just a few:
Acting Corporal Avis Joan Hearn
Worked in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force as a Radio Operator, based at RAF Poling. On 18 August 1940, she received news of an imminent attack. Avis stayed at her post to receive vital messages as 87 bombs fell and the building around her started to collapse. She received the Military Medal for her bravery and devotion to duty.
You can see Avis’s medal bar and uniform jacket today at the RAF Museum in Cosford.
Elizabeth Harrison
Part of the French resistance during World War Two. Originally from Germany, she and her family, who were Jewish, fled to Belgium (where she was a keen Guide) then France as Hitler rose to power. There, Elizabeth helped distribute supplies and deliver messages to support the resistance movement.
She settled in the UK in 1968, becoming secretary for the RAF Escaping Society, an organisation that supported the people who had helped RAF personnel escape or evade capture during the war.
Flight Lieutenant Mandy Hickson
Hickson joined the RAF in 1994, and was one of the UK’s first female Tornado pilots, flying the £35m fighter jet in 45 missions over Iraq during the early 2000s conflict.
She’s written a book, An Officer, Not A Gentleman, about her pioneering journey in the RAF. But before her glittering aviation career began, she was a Guide, representing Girlguiding at a Buckingham Palace event in 1984 to celebrate 75 years of guiding.
Group Captain Anne-Marie Houghton
A trailblazer in today’s RAF. She graduated in 1991 as the RAF’s first female Navigator, going on missions alongside pilots to keep aircraft on course and on target.
She has flown in operations in Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, the Middle East and Far East. She became Group Captain in October 2017, and is currently one of the highest ranking female officers in the RAF.
Discover more at the RAF Museums
Your unit can hear more amazing stories like the ones above at the RAF Museums in London and Cosford, Shropshire. Both museums are welcoming Girlguiding units this winter.
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