When did you begin flying? And why?

I wanted to fly from the age of ten. We were in Shoreham in Essex and some friends were going on a flight. I really wanted to go with them but I couldn't without my father's permission. In the end I went up with a pilot by myself at twelve and wanted to go again.

The Civil Guard subsidised clubs so they could train new members before the war so it was half price to fly. I didn't get in till 1939 and only got five and a half hours flying time - all we had to do was take off and land - so I got my A license.

Then when the Air Transport Auxilary Association asked who had A and B licenses (B being commercial) it was obvious I needed many more hours to be useful so I went to the WRENS instead. It was later that I moved to Thame private Airfield to have another go.

I had limited experience and fell short of the height requirement of 5ft 4inches so I was lucky the Chief Medical Officer overlooked some eye trouble and sent me to get some specialist goggles, instead.

What planes did you fly?

I loved the early Tiger Moths and had learned to fly in a Gypsy Moth. I was given a Gladiator once but these were few and far between. We flew a lot of Barracudas, and Airspeed Oxford Twin Engines, and of course, Spitfires.

Who did you work with?

Twenty two countries sent people to the UK to ferry planes during the war so I worked with people from all over the world.

Five countries sent women but there were also men who were too old to sign up, and 600 disabled men working alongside us and these people are often forgotten. I remember a man with one arm taking off in a Tomahawk.

What was a working day like?

The days were quite long although we started at about nine and then had to make sure we'd get back from where ever we'd flown to. Then every 10 days we would get two days off.

There were 18 to 20 ferry pools dotted around the countryside. I was at Hambourne but did spend three weeks as a taxi pilot in Cosford too. We flew planes from Eastleigh where they were made to Brize Norton where the planes were tested and had guns and so on added to them.

We had no wireless in our planes (only the planes with four engines had wireless) so all we had to help us land were the red and green lights at the end of the runway.

I remember we used to fly over The Solent and see the boats and landing craft practicing at night. So many of them were gathered together they were stacked up and then one morning they were all gone...for D-Day.

What did people think?

I think people were too busy with the war to think much about it. There was so much to do. My father was a parson who had up to 10 evacuees to look after and those people at home doing all the washing and organising should be recognised too. Everyone just got on with their own work.

There is a lot of interest now, however, with the book 'Spitfire Women of World War II by Giles Whittell out, following the 1946 book 'Brief Glory: The Story of ATA' by E. C. Cheesman.

Did you continue to fly after the war?

I did, I flew with the Royal Airforce Voluntary Reserves and kept up my license for a while. I even had a sea plane license when I was in Bermuda but eventually I took up sailing instead!

Q&A with Margaret Frost