The women who flew for Hitler

About this event

Prepare to be swept into one of the most gripping and unlikely true stories of the Second World War. The Women Who Flew for Hitler (longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Prize) uncovers the astonishing lives of two trailblazing female test pilots women who soared to the very top of Nazi Germany’s aviation programme, yet ultimately found themselves on opposite sides of history.

Meet Hanna Reitsch: a brilliant, fearless aviator and Germany’s first woman to fly a helicopter. She went on to test rocket planes and even a manned version of the V1 flying bomb the infamous “doodlebug.” Devoted to Hitler until the bitter end, Hanna spent the final days of the war desperately trying to convince him to let her fly him out of besieged Berlin.

Then meet Melitta von Stauffenberg: a gifted aeronautical engineer and the chief test pilot for the notorious Stuka dive bombers. Behind her cool professionalism lay a secret Jewish heritage in a regime that condemned it. In July 1944, she became entangled in the most famous plot to assassinate Hitler. Arrested almost immediately, Melitta’s fate took a dramatic and unexpected turn.

Join us for this riveting online event as Clare unravels the intertwined lives of these extraordinary women pioneers, patriots, rivals, and, in the end, symbols of two very different Germanys.

Boundless members: stay tuned until the end of the event for a chance to win a copy of Clare’s book!