With the Nazis knocking on the door, gender had become an irrelevance; this was war and everyone was in it together. The ATA women went some way to promoting equality. They were initially paid £230 a year, considerably less than the £310 enjoyed by male ATA pilots. The point was firmly made that if both sexes were flying the same planes to the same places, why were the women getting less? The authorities agreed. In 1943 the ATA women became the first in British history to receive equal pay.
