F.H. Brotherton
loving memory of
Joyce Mary
Brotherton
Born 10th October 1899
Died 26th June 1963
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Miss Brotherton was a WAAF intelligence officer who was attached to RAF Spilsby in Lincolnshire. She was mentioned in despatches in 1944 and was awarded the Military MBE in 1949. Although 20 years older than the men flying from the base, she became a talisman figure, seeing off every aircraft and waving them back.
After the war she worked in Germany with the Council of British Societies for Relief Abroad, then returned to teaching.She came to Bishop Auckland to be cared for when dying from cancer.
Part of her story is told on the 207 squadron website.
This story and photo, and a photo of Miss Brotherton, appear in an (undated) newspaper cutting from the Durham Times.
