Intrepid woman : Betty Lussier's secret war, 1942-1945 / Betty Lussier.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lussier, Betty.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lussier, Betty.

Great Britain. Air Transport Auxiliary--Biography.

Great Britain.

Great Britain. Air Transport Auxiliary--History.

World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, British.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.

Air pilots, Military--United States--Biography.

Air pilots, Military.

Air pilots, Military--Great Britain--Biography.

Women air pilots--United States--Biography.

Women air pilots.

Women air pilots--Great Britain--Biography.

World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Female.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A college student in Maryland when World War II began, Betty Lussier went to England to help the British fight off an impending invasion. Armed with a private pilot s license, she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary and was soon ferrying planes and pilots for the RAF, and her memoir describes those days in thrilling detail. After the Normandy invasion, when women pilots were barred from delivering planes to the combat zones on the continent, she complained to Sir William S. Stephenson, who was in the RAF with her father in World War I and headed British intelligence in the States. He steered her to the newly formed American Office of Strategic Services, which was recruiting field agents. Her experiences with a special liaison unit in Algeria, Sicily, Italy, and France helping to set up a chain of double agents and transmit misinformation to the enemy are described in compelling detail as she takes the reader step-by-step through some memorable cases that helped bring the war to an end.

Contents:

pt. 1. Flying with the Air Transport Auxiliary

Life in Maryland : the early years

Betty's favorite day : crossing the ocean to England

Welcome to London and Maidenhead

It's official : I'm an ATA student pilot!

Duty pilot adventures

Old loves, new friends

Adventures and misadventures on land and in the air

Accidents will happen

The seeds of discontent : no continental service for the women

A well-deserved break

Ferry pool number five

Kenny, Cousin Jack, Scotty, and Stephenson

D-Day nears

Time for a change : resignation

pt. 2. Counterespionage

On the ground with the X-2

Epilogue

Appendix A: Abbreviations and acronyms

Appendix B: Some of the ATA cross-country routes.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-61251-396-4

OCLC:

857079472