Talk

Talk: The Women Who Flew for Hitler

September 19, 2024

Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg were talented, courageous and strikingly attractive women who fought convention to make their names in the male-dominated field of flight in 1930s Germany. With the coming of war, both became pioneering test pilots and both were awarded the Iron Cross for service to the Third Reich. But they could not have been more different.

Hanna was middle-class, vivacious and distinctly Aryan, while the darker, more self-effacing Melitta, came from an aristocratic Prussian family. Both were driven by deeply held convictions about honour and patriotism, but while Hanna tried to save Hitler's life, begging him to let her fly him to safety in April 1945, Melitta covertly supported the assassination attempt on the Führer. The compelling story of their contrasting yet strangely parallel lives is told against the backdrop of the 1936 Olympics, the Eastern Front, the Berlin Air Club, and ultimately  Hitler's bunker.

Our speaker is award winning author and historian Clare Mulley. A regular contributor to TV and radio, with BBC appearances on Newsnight and The One Show, as well as work for Channel 4 and the History Channel,  Clare has written a portfolio of widely acclaimed books about lesser known women’s stories in the Second World War.  She also reviews non-fiction for the Telegraph, Spectator and History Today.

This event will be in person in the Clubhouse and broadcast on BM.tv Livestream

The Members' Bar will be open from 6pm and hot food will be available.