Jean Batten

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Jean Batten, CBE OSC

In 1937, at just 28 years old, Jean Batten was 'the Queen of the Skies'. The aviator had just completed a solo flight from Australia to England. Taking five days and 18 hours to complete the journey, she established a record (for pilots of either sex), and in doing so also became the first person to simultaneously hold England to Australia solo records in both directions! 

Although she drifted in and out of public view for the rest of her life, Jean Batten had an illustrious career as the finest woman pilot of the golden age of aviation.

This excerpt from The Garbo of the Skies shows Jean Batten arriving at Croydon airport, in the United Kingdom, in 1937 and the thousands who came to greet her.

Find out more about Jean Batten:

Read Jean Batten's entry in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. 

Find out more about Jean Batten on NZHistory.net. 

Listen to Jean Batten speaking on the radio after her historic 1936 flight from England to New Zealand. 

Image: Screengrab, The Garbo of the Skies.