Barbara Erickson London

London was born on July 1, 1920, in Seattle, Washington. In 1940 at the University of Washington in Seattle,{{Cite book|title=Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II|last=Nathan|first=Amy|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=2001|isbn=0792282167|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/14 14]|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/14}} she enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training program, while working at Boeing on B-17s.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wai.org/pioneers/2005/barbara-erickson-london|title=Barbara Erickson London|website=Women in Aviation International|access-date=2016-12-04|archive-date=2016-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220053821/https://www.wai.org/pioneers/2005/barbara-erickson-london|url-status=dead}} She soon became a flying instructor, flying sea planes as well as land planes. Approximately one woman was admitted for every ten men to this program. Her mother was very supportive of her decision to fly.

At the start of World War II, London joined the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron which was later called Women's Airforce Service Pilots, a program which delivered military aircraft across the country. At 22 years old, London was the youngest of them all.{{Cite book|title=Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II|last=Nathan|first=Amy|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=2001|isbn=0792282167|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/24 24]|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/24}} She was the 14th one to join.{{Cite book|title=Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II|url=https://archive.org/details/nancylovewaspfer00rick|url-access=limited|last=Byrn Rickman|first=Sarah|publisher=University of North Texas Press|year=2008|isbn= 9781574412413|location=Denton, TX|pages=[https://archive.org/details/nancylovewaspfer00rick/page/n117 97]}} Her first mission was in late October 1942. London and five other women were given the task to deliver Piper Cubs from Delaware to an aircraft factory in Pennsylvania in order to prove to the Army that they could fly airplanes. London along with the others succeeded in this mission.{{Cite book|title=Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II|last=Nathan|first=Amy|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=2001|isbn=0792282167|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/49 49]|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/49}} Another mission London flew was with the five other women and seventeen male pilots in delivering several PT-17s. They each took a plane from Montana to fly and deliver to an airbase in Tennessee. On the second day, London and the rest of the women had arrived at the airbase while the majority of the men had not. This proved to the Army that women were not only capable of flying, but could fly larger planes.{{Cite book|title=Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II|last=Nathan|first=Amy|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=2001|isbn=0792282167|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/50 50]|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/50}} In 1943, she became commanding officer of the Long Beach 6th Ferrying Group at Daugherty Field and the program was renamed to the Women Air-force Service Pilots. In one ten-day period in 1943, London flew a total of 8,000 miles. For these accomplishments, she was awarded the Air Medal.{{Cite news|url=http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/?p=20207|title=Woman aviator Barbara Erickson London remembered for playing pivotal role in Long Beach aviation history|date=12 July 2013|work=Signal Tribune|access-date=4 December 2016}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.gazettes.com/news/obituaries/aviation-icon-barbara-london-passes-away-at/article_ab37605a-e9a3-11e2-ba47-0019bb2963f4.html|title=Aviation Icon Barbara London Passes Away At 93|last=Saltzgaver|first=Harry|date=10 July 2013|work=Gazettes}}

London was moved to an Army airbase in Long Beach, California, and became a squad commander and was there along with Cornelia Fort, Evelyn Sharp, Barbara Towne, and Bernice Batten.{{Cite book|title=Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II|last=Nathan|first=Amy|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=2001|isbn=0792282167|location=Washington,D.C.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/50 50]|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/50}} She took many long trips from this base of picking up and delivering planes. She once left her base in California to deliver a plane in New Jersey. "They sent me up to Buffalo. I picked up an airplane there and delivered it to Montana. They sent me from there to Kansas City, where I picked up another plane and took it to Alabama, which put me on the East Coast, and so they sent me up to Long Island for another plane that I took back to California. I was gone a month—with one change of clothes!" Female pilots like London typically carried a small bag of clothes due to a lack of room in the planes they flew.{{Cite book|title=Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II|last=Nathan|first=Amy|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=2001|isbn=0792282167|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/54 54]|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/54}}

In March 1944,{{Cite book|title=Sisters in Arms: British & American Women Pilots During World War II|last=Page Schrader|first=Helena|publisher=Pen & Sword Ltd.|year=2006|isbn=1844153886|location=South Yorkshire, UK|pages=150}} London became only woman who had received the Air Medal after flying 8,000 miles. These 8,000 miles consisted of four separate 2,000 mile trips flown in just five days during the summer of 1943. She first delivered a DC-3 from her base in California and flew it to base in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She then picked up a P-47 Thunderbolt at that base and delivered it to California. Then she picked up a P-51 Mustang and delivered it back to Fort Wayne. Finally, she picked up another P-47 Thunderbolt and took it back to her airbase.

London made her final trip on December 19, 1944, from Long Beach to Sacramento, California, delivering a P-61. She was then picked up by military transport and brought back to Long Beach.{{Cite book|title=Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II|url=https://archive.org/details/nancylovewaspfer00rick|url-access=limited|last=Byrn Rickman|first=Sarah|publisher=University of North Texas Press|year=2008|isbn=9781574412413|location=Denton, Texas|pages=[https://archive.org/details/nancylovewaspfer00rick/page/n236 216]}}

London married Jack London Jr. in April 1945,{{Cite book|title=Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II|last=Nathan|first=Amy|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=2001|isbn=0792282167|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=236|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn|url-access=limited}} who was also a pilot. Her daughter, Terry London Rinehart, became an airline pilot. Her grandson, Justin Rinehart is a captain at United Airlines.

Both granddaughters are also pilots as well. {{Cite news|last=Djurklou|first=Alessandra K.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46184940/the-los-angeles-times/|title=Sky Queen|date=1995-01-22|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-03-07|pages=407}}

After the war, London wanted to continue to fly, but she was turned down by airlines that forwarded her stewardess applications instead.{{Cite book|title=Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II|last=Nathan|first=Amy|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=2001|isbn=0792282167|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/78 78]|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeedoodlegals00amyn/page/78}}

Barbara London ran a flight school and charter service, and later worked at the Long Beach Airport. She also assisted in the founding of the All Woman Transcontinental Air Race and the Long Beach chapter of the Ninety Nines.

In 2010, London received the Congressional Gold Medal.

She died on 7 July 2013, in Los Gatos, California.

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvbWrlpbTqQ This is Us! Barbara Erickson London], news report from KTEHTV
• [http://www.avweb.com/news/profiles/182939-1.html Interview with Barbara Erickson London] from AVweb.com

{{reflist}}

;Bibliography

• Merryman, Molly. Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II. New York: New York University Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0814755674}}
• Rickman, Sarah Byrn. WASP of the Ferry Command: Women Pilots, Uncommon Deeds. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press, 2016. {{ISBN|9781574416374}}

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Category:Women Airforce Service Pilots personnel

Category:1920 births

Category:2013 deaths

Category:Military personnel from Seattle

Category:Recipients of the Air Medal

Category:American women flight instructors

Category:Aviators from Washington (state)

Category:University of Washington alumni

Category:American flight instructors

Category:21st-century American women