Taxi Charity gives two heroines, who played important roles during World War II, an unforgettable experience.
On 12th September 2024, Dorothea Barron, aged 99, and Queenie ‘Robbie’ Hall, aged 101, were taken to the Biggin Hill Heritage hangar by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans for an unforgettable flight in a Spitfire. Taxi Charity Vice President, Dick Goodwin, writes about this unforgettable day.
A day to remember
Next month, Dorothea will celebrate her 100th birthday and when our ambassador, Johnny Gallagher, asked her what she might like as a present from him, she said she would love to fly in a Spitfire. A first attempt to get Dorothea in the sky earlier in the summer had to be aborted due to unsuitable weather. So, when we were told that two Spitfires would be available on the 12th September, the charity invited Queenie Hall, or Robbie as she prefers to be known, to take to the skies too.
We were delighted that the long range weather forecasts looked promising for our new flight date and having kept my fingers crossed, on the morning of the 12th, we were assured by the team at Biggin Hill that the weather was OK and the Spitfires would be able to take off.
Cab driver Tony Forecast collected the excited ladies and brought them to the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar; they were like two young girls giggling about what they were about to do. After putting on flying suits, they had a safety briefing from pilot Anna Walker and made their way to the aircraft. Dorothea flew in the Spitfire aptly called ‘Dorothy’ piloted by Anna and Robbie flew in ‘Grey Nurse’ with Jason.
The flight over Kent lasted just under an hour, during which both ladies enjoyed spectacular views of the Kent countryside, took control of the Spitfire and enjoyed a victory roll.
Two heroines
Both ladies played important roles during WWII, and this was such a wonderful experience for these two heroines. Dorothea taught troops how to use semaphore and transmit morse code ahead of D-Day and was involved in testing the Mulberry Harbour, a prefabricated port used to bring reinforcements and equipment during the landings. Robbie joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force aged 17, having lied about her age. She was one of the plotters based with Bomber Command at High Wycombe which was known as ‘Southdown’ to preserve its secrecy. Each plotter was responsible for aircraft movements in a particular sector, changing the plots regularly so that the whole picture of a raid could be monitored by the Group controllers who were stationed in a gallery above the plotting table.
The flight was very pertinent for both veterans; Dorothea’s husband, Andrew, was a navigator
during the war and Robbie’s airman fiancé was killed.
For me this day epitomises the work the charity does; giving veterans wonderful experiences
to enrich their lives.