24/05/2016 Maureen Dunlop de Popp Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9334827/MaureenDunlopdePopp.html 1/9
Accessibility links
Skip to articleSkip to navigation
Telegraph.co.uk
Search enhanced by OpenText
Tuesday 24 May 2016
HomeVideoNewsWorldSportBusinessMoneyCommentCultureTravelLifeWomenFashionLuxuryTechFilm
PoliticsInvestigationsObitsEducationScienceEarthWeatherHealthRoyalCelebrityDefenceScotland
CulturePoliticsMilitaryFinanceSportReligionRoyaltyScienceMedicineCelebrityLawTechnology
Advertisement
1. Home»2. News»3. Obituaries
Maureen Dunlop de PoppMaureen Dunlop de Popp, who has died aged 91, was one of a pioneering group of womenpilots who flew the latest fighter and bomber aircraft with the wartime Air TransportAuxiliary (ATA). She achieved national fame as a cover girl when a Picture Postphotographer captured her alighting from a Barracuda aircraft.
6:00PM BST 15 Jun 2012
Maureen Dunlop’s arrival in England from her home in Argentina coincided with a huge increase in aircraft production which led to an urgent need
The future of online learning
Fast, fun and fully interactive languagecourses available online.
View
Bank fees, pretty upsetting
Bank fees, pretty upsetting
Send money abroad over 8x cheaper withTransferWise.
View
Privacy and cookies Jobs Dating Offers Shop Puzzles Investor SubscribeRegisterLog in
24/05/2016 Maureen Dunlop de Popp Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9334827/MaureenDunlopdePopp.html 2/9
to expand the almost exclusively male ATA – irreverently dubbed “Ancient and Tired Airmen”. Already a qualified pilot, she joined in April 1942,one of a small pool of women ATA pilots, and rose to be a first officer.
Maureen Dunlop, cover girl, 1944
It was the task of the ATA pilots to deliver aircraft from factories and maintenance units to front line squadrons. Only during earlymorning briefingdid pilots discover what type of aircraft they would be flying and to which airfield they would go. The organisation had its own airborne taxiservice, piloted by fellow ATA pilots, to deliver or collect those detailed to ferry an aircraft.
Initially Maureen Dunlop flew with No 6 Ferry Pool at Ratcliffe near Leicester, but later moved to Hamble near Southampton, which was an allfemale pool. It was there that she delivered many Spitfires to squadrons. On one occasion, just after she had taken off, the cockpit canopy blew off –she made a successful landing. On another, the engine of her Argus aircraft failed and she was forced to land in a field where she discovered that apiston had shattered.
With all ATA pilots flying the same aircraft and facing the same risks, Sir Stafford Cripps arranged that the female pilots should receive equal paywith their male colleagues and this small group of women rightly considered themselves as pioneers of sex equality. Many, including MaureenDunlop, wished that they could have flown in combat, but this was considered a step too far and was forbidden. “I thought it was the only fairthing,” she remarked. “Why should only men be killed?”
She was one of 164 female pilots and, during her three years with the ATA, she flew 38 different types of aircraft, among them the Spitfire,Mustang, Typhoon and the Wellington bomber. However, when asked which her favourite was, she immediately responded: “The Mosquito”.
Related Articles
Brian Dowling
24 Jan 2014
Jadwiga PilsudskaJaraczewska
21 Nov 2014
The ATA had been founded in September 1939 by Gerard d’Erlanger, an airminded merchant banker and director of British Airways. But, with theend of the war, it was disbanded overnight. Its 600 pilots had delivered 308,567 aircraft and many felt that they were “The Forgotten Pilots”.Maureen Dunlop was one of the few female pilots to secure a flying job when she left the ATA.
The second daughter of an Australian who managed 250,000 hectares of sheep farms in Patagonia, Argentina, Maureen Adel Chase Dunlop wasborn on October 26 1920 in Quilmes, near Buenos Aires. She held dual British and Argentine nationalities and, though she was educated at anEnglish school in Buenos Aires for a short time, she received most of her education from a governess.
Growing up surrounded by animals, she became an expert horsewoman and would often gallop alongside trains and wave to their drivers as theycrossed the vast spaces of Patagonia.
During a holiday in England in 1936 she took flying lessons and then, when she returned to Argentina, backdated her year of birth in order that shecould legally continue her flight training. During the First World War, her father had travelled to England to join the Army, and with the outbreak ofthe Second, Maureen saw no reason why she should not follow his example. She travelled to England with her sister, who would work for the BBC.
After the war, Maureen Dunlop qualified as a flying instructor at RAF Luton before returning to Argentina, where she worked as a commercialpilot. She instructed and flew for the Argentine Air Force, as well as having a partnership in an air taxi company, continuing to fly actively until1969.
Her other great love was horses and she was fascinated by Arab ponies. After the war, she bought her first Arab and later built up a large breedingoperation known as Milla Lauquen Stud.
In 1955 Maureen met and married Serban Popp, a retired Romanian diplomat, and in 1973 they travelled to England where they bought a farm nearNorwich. She soon discovered that her Second World War driving licence had expired. Although her commercial pilot’s licence was still valid, sheneeded to resit her British driving test.
She surprised her children by taking five attempts to persuade the Norwich examiner that she was fit and able to drive on British roads. They weresurprised she passed so soon.
In England the stud grew to more than 50 horses. She worked tirelessly with her animals, carrying out physical work that men much younger thanher found exhausting. She built up an outstanding knowledge of Arabian bloodlines.
24/05/2016 Maureen Dunlop de Popp Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9334827/MaureenDunlopdePopp.html 3/9
In 2003 Maureen Dunlop de Popp was one of three female ATA pilots to receive the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigator’s Master Air Pilot Award.
Her husband died in 2000 and she is survived by their son and daughter, a second daughter having predeceased her.
Maureen Dunlop de Popp, born October 26 1920, died May 29 2012
Obituaries
Military Obituaries »
Air Force Obituaries »
In Obituaries
Dowager Duchess of Devonshire
Obituary: Lady Thatcher
Lucian Freud, OM
JD Salinger
Buy our collection of the greatest obits ever
Promoted stories
See the Best Luxury Real Estate in theWorld [Photos]
Mansion Global by Dow Jones
Cutting through the acronym: what cloud…brought to you by Oracle & Intel ®
The most addictive game of the year! Playwith 15…
Forge Of Empires
Recommended by
24/05/2016 Maureen Dunlop de Popp Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9334827/MaureenDunlopdePopp.html 4/9
Top news galleries
100 funny jokes by 100 comedians
Comedy
One hundred whipsmart wisecracks
Best quotes about Europe and Europeans
Culture
Europe has been a place of battles and political intrigue for centuries. As we approach a vote on the UK's membership of the European Union, welook at what 50 writers, actors, historians, artists and comedians have said about Europe and its nations.
Bob Marley: in pictures
Music
Reggae singer Bob Marley died of cancer on May 11, 1981
103yearold Groom Marries His 99yearold Bride…
TipsDrop
Kumamoto quakes' damage may hit 4.6tnyen: Cabinet
Economy
13 marketing strategies for corporate s tosucceed in…
Rural Marketing & Agricultural Marke…
The Amazing Reason Citi Is Shutting off theLights in…
Citi Blog
Top 10 Most Dangerous Dogs in the WorldWorld List
6 Dividend Stocks for New RetireesThe Motley Fool
Telegraph Sponsored
Do gardens add value to properties? The advantages of selling your home online How do estate agents value a property?
Recommended by
24/05/2016 Maureen Dunlop de Popp Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9334827/MaureenDunlopdePopp.html 5/9
40 great quotes about marriage
Culture
Martin Chilton looks at quotes about matrimony from Socrates to Sinatra
The best British political insults
Culture
A hilarious history of political insults and putdowns, from Churchill to Corbyn
US Presidents: 30 great oneliners
Books
Great quotes from White House incumbents: will Donald Trump be joining them?
30 great closing lines in films
Film
Casablanca actor Humphrey Bogart died on this day in 1957. Martin Chilton looks at some great final lines to movies
Culture stars who died in 2016
Culture News
We celebrate and remember the culture stars who have passed away in 2016
The Queen: in pictures
24/05/2016 Maureen Dunlop de Popp Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9334827/MaureenDunlopdePopp.html 6/9
Art
The Queen has been painted by artists from Andy Warhol to Lucien Freud
Comments
Google Street View: Funny images
We've pulled together the most amusing Street View images from around the world
Advertisement
The Telegraph3,3 M curtidasCurtir Página
Advertisement
More from the web
O DNS não conseguiu resolver o nome do host.
Verifique o nome digitado.
URL: http://widget.barnebys.com/widget.php?vi
Para assistência, entre em contato com o SAUTI (http://www.sauti.intraer ou 0800 722 0108).
AdvertisementAdvertisement
More from the web
Mostread Obituaries
Rob Ford, Canadian politician
24/05/2016 Maureen Dunlop de Popp Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9334827/MaureenDunlopdePopp.html 7/9
Populist Rightwing former Mayor of Toronto whose drunken antics scandalised his fellow citizens
Johan Cruyff, footballer
Proud and mercurial Dutch football star who developed a fastmoving and fluid style of play
Colonel Robert Hunter
Army officer who knocked out two Tiger tanks in Germany
Sir Peter Moores
Philanthropist and heir to the Littlewoods empire who became a generous patron of the arts
Garry Shandling, comedian
Standup comedian who broke new ground with his television series The Larry Sanders Show
More from The Telegraph
SPONSORED FEATURES
New Zealand
The best country in the world?
ViewHealthcare Innovation
Jenson Button: the perfect partnership
24/05/2016 Maureen Dunlop de Popp Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9334827/MaureenDunlopdePopp.html 8/9
ViewJesse Owens
The life and times of a 20th century icon
ViewGetaway inspiration
Five places to go on a daytrip adventure
View
Back to top
HOMENewsUK NewsPolitics
Long Reads
WikileaksJobs
World NewsEuropeUSAChina
Royal Family News
Celebrity newsDating
FinanceEducationDefence
Weird News
Editor's ChoiceFinancial Services
PicturesVideoMattAlex
Comment
BlogsCrossword
Contact usPrivacy and CookiesAdvertisingFantasy Football
Tickets
AnnouncementsReader Prints
24/05/2016 Maureen Dunlop de Popp Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9334827/MaureenDunlopdePopp.html 9/9
Follow UsAppsEpaperExpat
PromotionsSubscriberSyndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2016
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast