The forgotten stories of the women in the RAF

Wings Unseen by Suzy Susan

Wings Unseen tells the story of four women—Officer Diana Buckingham, the brilliant Edith, fearless Australian pilot Wamsay, and skilled aircraft mechanic Florence—who serve at RAF Kenley during the Battle of Britain in 1939. Inspired by the real contributions of women in WW2, including the quarter of RAF ground crew who were women, the book depicts their stories as they face relentless Luftwaffe attacks and work to keep the airbase operational. After the war, they are dismissed and face a new battle against the silent trauma and isolation of their experiences, fighting to reclaim their place in a society eager to forget their wartime contributions.

You may notice that I’ve taken a bit of a leap forward chronologically for this one. WWII is slightly different from my normal pre-1800 selections. But I’ve been following the story of Wings Unseen for a while across Suzy’s Instagram, and it is a fascinating one.

This is historical fiction with a personal touch - Diana is Suzy’s mother. Suzy has retold Diana Buckingham’s story from her parents’ memoirs, both of whom served in the RAF during WW2. But it’s more than just one woman’s story.

I quickly realised that there are millions of of one-of-a-kind amazing Mums who did equally incredible things in the armed forces in World War Two. It made me so angry that their stories had been completely, and deliberatley buried.

Within the opening pages, we are caught up in a terrifying, heart-pounding air raid attack at the base Diana works in. As she leads her crew of women to safety with the bombs smashing down around them, we are immediately placed into their world. It is a far cry from the debutante balls and etiquette of the Edwardian age of Diana’s parents.

A scene in which Suzy demonstrates meticulous research and close attention to detail is through Edith’s story, a plotter in the control room. As the air raid continues around them, she and the women around her stay calm, clutching the table as they dive underneath it to preserve the carefully plotted positions that help them make key strategic decisions. As the ceiling of their bunker cracks and the power goes out in the onslaught, they fight on to save their boys in the skies. The staccato writing style and focus on military talk bring a thrilling sense of the hardcore operations that went on in this room and the skill needed to manage so many moving parts.

The women’s stories in this novel are inspiring. Diana defies the expectations of her strict parents to work her way up to becoming a Specialist Torpedo Attack Trainer in the WAF (Women’s Air Force). Wamsey carts planes across the seas but isn’t allowed to have bullets - a bit of a problem when she encounters a German Messerschmitt on one of her journeys…

Throughout, Suzy juxtaposes the powerful roles these women take against the restrictive world in which they live. They can’t take out a bank account without having a male signatory, they have to fight to be able to wear trousers instead of skirts, and when the war ends, their contributions are minimally recognised. She also touches on the effects of the war like PTSD and alcoholism, and the lack of support available— like therapy, a privilege only given to the male soldiers.

Suzy writes these women’s stories with immense pride, energy and a sense of adventure. As a woman reading this eighty years later, I also am inspired by these incredible figures who showed society that women can do anything.

Thank you, Suzy for telling her story.

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Thank you to Suzy for sending me a copy of this book for an honest review.