'A compelling narrative... An eminently readable book on an outstanding aviator.'  – The Aeroplane

'A magnificent and most readable effort' – Medal News


PAULINE GOWER was the leader of the Spitfire women during the Second World War. After gaining her pilot’s licence at 20, she set up the first female joyriding business in 1931 with engineer Dorothy Spicer and took 33,000 passengers up for a whirl, clocking up more than 2,000 hours overall. Pauline went on to command the inaugural women’s section of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and achieved equal pay for her women pilots. She enabled them to fly ‘Anything to Anywhere’, including Tiger Moths, Hurricanes, Wellingtons and – their firm favourite – the Spitfire.

Sisters in Spitfires

ALISON HILL's new WW2 biography -
Pauline Gower, Pioneering Leader of the Spitfire Women was published by The History Press in September 2022.


Pauline Gower's life and achievements in aviation, both in the pioneering age of the 1930s and as Commandant of the women's section of the ATA during WW2, deserve to be remembered. This book outlines her significant contributions and lasting legacy for women in aviation and features interviews with contemporary women pilots, highlighting achievements of members of the British Women Pilots' Association (BWPA).
– Sharon Nicholson, BWPA Chairwoman

Alison's poetry has appeared in a range of magazines, websites and anthologies. 'To a Girl on Platform Three' was nominated by SOUTH for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem and her first full collection, Slate Rising (Indigo Dreams, 2014) was nominated for the TS Eliot Prize.

Sisters in Spitfires was published in 2015, celebrating the lives and flights of the 164 women pilots of the ATA.

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