Ginny is feeling left behind. Like her friends, she too wants to help stop Hitler from invading Britain. But the US Army Air Corps doesn't accept female pilots. Cap Aretz, her flying instructor, tells Ginny he has a job for her, dusting crops.
At the home of Professor and Mrs. Abernathy, where Ginny rents out their spare bedroom, she tells them about Cap's offer. It will help because her family back in Newfoundland is struggling. Her father only has part time work in Toronto and can't send money home, so her mother and younger brother Billy are just getting by. Ginny receives a short letter from Matt that offers few details about his posting.
The next day Ginny and another pilot, Frank Bracken dust crops at two nearby farms. They continue this work throughout August, earning more flying hours. In late August, Cap informs Frank about the Clayton Knight Committee's search for experienced pilots to fly bombers to Britain. The pilots need to be instrument rated with three hundred hours of logged flying. The pay is substantial: five hundred dollars for an aircraft captain, four hundred dollars for copilots and three hundred for radio operators. While both Frank and Ginny have the requirements, Cap tells her it's "Men only."
Undeterred by this, Ginny formulates a plan. She approaches Mrs. Abernathy telling her she wants to look like a boy so she can fly for the military. At first Clara Abernathy refuses to agree and becomes upset, telling Ginny it's too dangerous, that she could crash or be caught. When her husband, Charles returns home and learns of Ginny's plan, initially he too is shocked. Ginny explains how her plan might succeed: she looks like her brother Billy and that with a haircut and some of the Professor's old clothing it could work. She would also need to change her name to Jimmy Ross which would require the Abernathy's to readdress her letters, so that her family didn't know what she was doing. She would also need to open a bank account so she could send money to her family.
The next morning the Abernathy's agree to help Ginny. And they also decide to hide this plan from their housekeeper, Mildred, who likes to talk! Cap also decides to help Ginny. And in a stroke of luck, Frank Bracken's wife refuses to allow him to go to Canada to fly bombers. Over the following three weeks, Clara alters her husband's suit and clothing to fit Ginny. Cap teachers her how to walk like a man and how to defend herself. With her new identity and a plan in place, Ginny, now Jimmy Ross, sets out for Montreal, Canada and the adventure of a lifetime.
Discussion
Heather Stemp uses the real life event of the RAF Ferry Operation initiated by Britain in 1940, to bring Hudson bombers to the country in the fight against Nazi Germany. The novel covers the period from November 1940 to February 1941.
As Ginny Ross does in Beyond Amelia, there are many records of women disguising themselves as men to participate in war as soldiers. It's possible that up to one thousand women fought as soldiers in the American Civil War. Others fought in the Revolutionary War or the American-Mexican war.
In the novel, Ginny disguised at Jimmy meets Jacqueline (Jackie) Cochran who discovers her secret. Jackie Cochran was a real female pilot and friend of Amelia Earhart. She was a well known pilot who had won several airplane races and had set several speed records. Jackie was considered the best woman pilot in the United States by 1938. Jackie was the first woman to fly a bomber, the American built Lockheed Hudson V, across the Atlantic Ocean. Jackie reached out to Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939 to propose that the Army Air Force create a women's pilot division. These women pilots could take on the non-military flights, freeing up men for combat flights. Eventually the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squad was created in 1942 headed by Nancy Harkness Love. It should be noted that the only country in which women flew combat missions was the Soviet Union. They became known as the "Night Witches".
Ginny is motivated to disguise herself as a male pilot by her desire to both help Britain fight Hitler and also support her struggling family during the end of the Depression. She also keenly feels the injustice of having the same qualifications of pilots like Frank Bracken, yet being disqualified because she's a woman. However, what seems to be a workable plan soon reveals to Ginny that the risks she's taking are enormous and could have serious consequences.
Most of the tension in the novel centers around one the risk of Jimmy's true identity being discovered. It is one of the men, Wright who senses that there is something different about "Jimmy" and he becomes obsessed with finding out what that something is. This sets up a sort of "cat and mouse" game between Wright and Jimmy, as Wright moves from making sarcastic remarks to watching Jimmy's every move. Ginny's cover is almost blown when Matt Baker shows up at Newfoundland Airport. He warns her that it's only a matter of time before she's discovered. "I saw danger in flying the North Atlantic in the winter, but I didn't see danger in the men around me. Was I being naïve?"
Stemp builds the backstory as to why Wright is focused on Jimmy. It's evident that he resents Jimmy was made co-pilot when he's only eighteen years old. After one too many drinks, Wright reveals that he is struggling with resentment and jealousy over his overachieving younger brother who is at West Point. To compensate, he's lied to his parents about being a pilot in the ferry service.
When the Hudson she's crewing crashes at the Newfoundland Airport, Jimmy reveals his true identity to Joan Parsons and her mother. This leads to a set up with Joan becoming Jimmy's girlfriend, but even that doesn't stall Wright. Eventually the situation between Jimmy and Wright escalates to the point that he grabs Jimmy and tries to put his hand down his shirt.
Ginny eventually comes to realize the true nature of the danger she's in after Tex, a pilot she respects refuses to accept that women can do the job too. She realizes that it's the attitude of men that will need to change before women can take their place in the world of aviation. "As we walked, a new understanding crept into my mind. I was in danger from the men around me. Wright's attack was a shock, and my first realization that Matt was right. Tex had just shocked me again with his opinion of female pilots. He'd been Jimmy's friend and mentor, but if he knew his co-pilot was a girl, how would he react? At this point, I didn't know."
While Jimmy's identity is eventually discovered, the people who know keep the secret, preserving Jimmy/Ginny from any serious consequences, although one wonders how the situation with income tax would have been worked out!
Beyond Amelia is well-written and engaging. Stemp has created the possibility of a fourth novel with Ginny flying for the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squad in the United States. Although the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) did form a Canadian Women's Auxiliary Air Force, it did not allow women to work as pilots, as in the United Kingdom or in the United States. The author has included a short note at the back detailing some information about the ferrying operation and there are several black and white photographs of Amelia Earhart and Jackie Cochran, a Hudson bomber, and the Newfoundland Airport as it existed during this era.
Book Details:
Beyond Amelia by Heather Stemp
Halifax: Nimbus Publishing Limited 2024
249 pp.
249 pp.
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