G'day Leigh and all, thanks for posting that.
Mardi was invited to the SGC's 50th anniversary last October but could not attend due to poor health, however Mary-Jane and her daughter came and both were taken for flights. Mary-Jane had a great time and spoke of fond memories of her time at Sunraysia. Dave Nugent WQS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Leigh Bunting" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Soaring List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Catherine Love" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Murray Poulsen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 8:59 PM Subject: [Aus-soaring] Unique woman soars to great heights > A while back I raised the issue of Richard Gething and his exploits. > > Well, another episode has closed with Mardi, his wife, succumbing to > that infernal clock stopping in our DNA. > > At the risk of the copyright police finding it, I have attached the > details of her obiturary, which appeared in 'The Age' on August 11th. I > guess the Vics on the List have seen it already, but others might be > interested. It was passed on to me by an ex-gliding friend. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > MARGARET "MARDI" GETHING > FERRY PILOT, > GLIDING INSTRUCTOR > 20-12-1920 - 16-7-2005 > > By MARY-JANE GETHING > > MARDI Gething, the only Australian among about 80 women pilots who flew > with the Air Transport Auxiliary in Britain during World War II, has > died at Warringal Private Hospital in Heidelberg. She was 84. > > The wartime role of ATA pilots was to ferry military aircraft from > British factories to RAF air bases around the country for use by > operational squadrons. They flew in radio silence and often in bad > weather, dodging balloon barrages and at risk of attack by enemy fighters. > > Between 1942 and 1944, Mardi ferried 42 different aircraft types, > including fighters such as Spitfires (she is pictured in the cockpit of > one of more than 300 Spitfires that she delivered), Hurricanes, > Tempests, Typhoons and Mustangs, as well as Wellington and Blenheim bombers. > > Margaret "Mardi" Helen Gepp was born in Melbourne, the youngest child of > Sir Herbert and Lady Jessie Gepp. Perhaps the 10 years separating Mardi > from her next sibling contributed to the freedom of choice allowed her > by her hitherto strict father. Light aircraft flights with him sparked > her lifelong dedication to aviation. > > By her own account, Mardi was not a highly committed scholar at Ivanhoe > Girls Grammar School and Merton Hall. However, despite her diminutive > size she was a gifted sportswoman, excelling in events as diverse as > diving (she was a schoolgirl champion) and dressage on her beloved > 17-hand horse, Royal Archer. > > Soon after leaving school in late 1938, Mardi, with eldest sister > Kathleen as companion and chaperone, embarked for Britain to be > "finished" by a social season in London that was to culminate in her > presentation at court. However, on the voyage she became close to RAE > Flight Lieutenant Richard Gething, the navigator and relief pilot of a > Wellesley bomber that had just set a new non-stop long-distance flight > record of 11,526 kilometres from Ismalia in Egypt to Darwin. > > On arrival in Britain, Mardi switched her plans for a London season; > with permission from her father, she enrolled in a flying school. After > earning her A pilot's licence, Mardi's further training was interrupted > by the approach of World War II. > > No passages to Australia were available via the Suez Canal or the Cape, > so Mardi and Kathleen took a ship to New York, and then travel led by > train to San Francisco, where they stayed for three months until berths > across the Pacific became available. > > Mardi took advantage of this delay to enrol in night instrument flying > and instructor's courses at the Boeing School of Aeronautics. Despite > having gained all the necessary qualifications, she was too young to > officially qualify for her B pilot's licence, commercial licence and > instructor's rating until late that year, back in Australia, when she > turned 19. > > Mardi's plans to train other young Australian women in fly ing and to > organise a flying nurses' corps were cut short when Richard telephoned > from Canada, where he was involved in setting up the Empire Air Training > Scheme, to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Mardi and Lady > Jessie soon were on their way to Toronto, where Mardi and Richard were > married in May 1940. > > At the end of 1941, Richard was posted briefly to the Air Ministry in > London, and then to Karachi. He spent the remainder of the war in the > Far East, his last war posting involving army liaison in Burma. > > Left behind in Britain, Mardi applied to join the ATA but was initially > rejected because she was considered too short. But her persistence won out. > > Towards the end of the air war, Mardi's ferry pool was disbanded and she > returned to Australia, where in early 1945 she joined the crew of > Lancaster bomber "G for George" (now on display at the Australian War > Museum in Canberra) as public relations officer on its tour of Australia > to raise money for the Third Victory Loan Appeal. > > In the 1940s, Mardi also worked briefly for The Age as a society reporter. > > When Richard returned to the Air Ministry in late 1945, Mardi joined him > to resume life together in a small village south of London. Their two > children were born there in 1947 and 1949, and Mardi continued her > flying career as a member of the RAF Volunteer Reserve until Richard was > posted for two years to Singapore. > > Later the family was stationed in Northern Ireland and then in Scotland > before Richard, now an air commodore, worked a final stint at the Air > Ministry in London. > > In 1959, the family returned to Australia, settling at Red Cliffs, near > Mildura, where Mardi's and Richard's interests turned from powered > aircraft to gliders. They became enthusiastic members of the Sunraysia > Gliding Club, joined during school holidays by their children, who > became solo pilots soon after their 15th birthdays. > > Mardi, a keen member of the Australian Women Pilots Association, became > the first female licensed gliding instructor in Australia, and for a > time held the women's altitude record for a glider flight (13,000 feet). > Mardi and Richard both became nationally accredited gliding instructors > and taught new club-level instructors around Australia. > > In 1966 they moved to the Gepp family property at Kangaroo Ground near > Melbourne, from where they continued their Australia-wide gliding > activities. In retirement they travel led widely overseas and in > Australia, visiting war time and service friends and colleagues and > dropping in on any gliding centre on their route. > > When Richard died in May last year, their wonderful partnership in > aviation had lasted more than 64 years. > > Mardi is survived by her children Tim and Mary-Jane, their spouses > Lindsay and Joe, and her grandchildren David and Honor Kathleen. > > > Mary-Jane Gething is emeritus professor of biochemistry and molecular > biology at Melbourne University. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Leigh Bunting > Colonel Light Gardens > South Australia > <Open Windows and let the bugs in> > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
