Flypast is history in the making

The first ever all-female RAF flypast symbolising the strength and power of women in aviation took place over Lincoln’s International Bomber Command Centre on Friday.

The flypast marked the opening of The Women in War exhibition, which pays tribute to vital but often overlooked contributions of women in wartime and featured a prefect from 57 Squadron at RAF Cranwell; and Atlas 400M from RAF Brize Norton and a Typhoon from XI (Fighter) Squadron at RAF Coningsby.

At the heart of the exhibition are ten striking steel silhouettes made by Standing with Giants and honouring remarkable women such as pioneering physicist Joan Curran, WWII pilot Lettice Curtis, and Special Operations Executive agent Madeleine Damerment.

The event was attended by the family of one of statue’s subjects Margaret Hourigan as well as a group of today's most distinguished female leaders, including Baroness Sarah Hogg, Dame Anita Frew DBE, Chair of Rolls Royce, and Cressida Hogg CBE, Chair of BAE Systems.

Nicky van der Drift, chief executive of the IBCC, said: "This exhibition is a testament to the IBCC's commitment to recognition, remembrance, and reconciliation. We are proud to honour the women who played such a vital role in protecting the freedoms we enjoy today.” 

Making the journey from Australia and Italy to the IBCC, David and Elizabeth Hourigan, children of Margaret Hourigan, WAAF, saw the matriarch of their family immortalised as a silhouette. Margaret attended the official opening of the IBCC in 2018 and but died on January 7, 2024 aged 101.

David Hourigan, said: “The family is intensely proud of our mother’s nomination to be a Woman of War silhouette. At such a young age, she chose to serve her country with personal qualities that she demonstrated throughout her life. She was a woman of great courage and dedication, dutiful and loyal, empathetic and decisive. The statue is a reminder of such a unique generation of women who served their country in World War II.” 

The tribute will remain a permanent installation at the IBCC's Memorial Spire.