During the Second World War, Nazi Germany employed the talents of two brilliant female aviators.

Hanna Reitsch was the first woman to fly a helicopter. She later tested rocket planes and even an experimental piloted version of the V1 flying bomb. A ‘fanatical Nazi’ to the end, in the final days of the war Hanna begged Hitler to let her fly him to safety from his Berlin bunker.

Melitta von Stauffenberg was an aeronautical engineer and test pilot for the Stuka dive bombers that were synonymous with the Blitzkrieg. She was also secretly part Jewish. In July 1944, Melitta was at the centre of an attempt on Hitler's life.

In this revealing talk, Clare Mulley will offer an insight into the lives of these two fascinating women who ended up on opposite sides of the war.

Clare Mulley is an award-winning author and broadcaster, primarily focused on female experience during the Second World War. Her books include The Woman Who Saved the Children, a biography of Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children, and The Spy Who Loved about the Polish-born British special agent Krystyna Skarbek aka Christine Granville.

Clare writes for various papers, reviews for the Spectator and TLS, and has twice been chair of the judges for the Historical Writers Association non-fiction prize. She is a recipient of the Bene Merito cultural honour of the Republic of Poland, and the Daily Mail Biographers’ Club Prize.

The Women who flew for Hitler