Spitfire Women of World War II by Giles Whittell
Soundings, unabridged, 10 CDs, £47.50 Buy the book here

Sisters in Arms: British Army Nurses tell their Story by Nicola Tyrer
Orion, abridged, 4 CDs, £14.99 Buy the book here

Two enthralling new audiobooks give well-deserved recognition to the dauntless and doughty women who did a good deal more than their bit in the Second World War: Giles Whittell's Spitfire Women of World War II is read by Nicolette McKenzie; Nicola Tyrer's Sisters in Arms: British Army Nurses tell their Story has a dual narration by Barbara Flynn and Sian Thomas.

Whittell reveals that flying in the 1930s was dangerous but immensely glamorous, a new sport for daring socialites who wanted to follow in the footsteps and fame of Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson. When war became inevitable, and every able-bodied male pilot was needed for combat, well-heeled women who could fly were admitted to the Air Transport Auxiliaries.

Equipment failure, vile weather and friendly fire meant that one in ten died. Whittell draws a charismatic cast deftly. Dorothea Furey was “the bewitching, violet-eyed daughter of a New Orleans banana millionaire” who had tucked a red evening gown she called her Gone With the Wind dress in with her flying gear; “Ice Queen” Lettice Curtis, “tall and slim, with angular features and tentative smile” was “a triple Oxford blue (in tennis, swimming and lacrosse) with a degree in mathematics”.

There are just as many vividly drawn characters in Sisters in Arms, Tyrer's account of the ordeals of the Queen Alexandra nurses in France, Italy, Egypt, India, Singapore and Burma. Becoming a nurse might seem a tamer wartime option than flying, but its perils were, if anything, greater. By the end of hostilities, some were haggard skeletons in Japanese prisoner-of-war-camps, others had abandoned their prim grey uniforms and were serving in battledress, boots and helmets on the outskirts of Montecassino, and too many were dead. But this is ultimately an inspiring, rather than depressing tale.

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