Air Force Museum of New Zealand

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On 19 April 1951, the ship SS Atlantis left Southampton, carrying 100 British women bound for New Zealand. These were not typical immigrants, however, but part of a tradition of personnel transferring between the RAF and RNZAF and vice versa, which still exists today.

The group had been recruited from serving and former members of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), the women’s element of the Royal Air Force. This was because after World War Two, the New Zealand version of the WAAF had struggled to maintain a sufficient level of recruitment and retention. The British women were carefully selected and encouraged by the opportunity of an exciting new career and life in Aotearoa New Zealand.

An RNZAF Flight Lieutenant attached to the High Commission in London wrote to Squadron Officer Lawson, Director of the WAAF in Wellington on 25 April 1951: “The girls when they left Southampton were extremely fit and were brimming with enthusiasm and the spirit of adventure”.

All went well until they arrived in Malta. One of the young women, LACW Josephine Bell, suffered a sudden blood clot, ending up in hospital and the ship had to leave without her. The hundred was now ninety-nine, and “the Ninety-Nine” became a nickname for the group in the RNZAF. After a long voyage, they reached Wellington on the evening of 5 June 1951 and after a visit to RNZAF Headquarters were taken to Woodbourne for their training before being posted to stations around the country and beginning their new lives. Further drafts from Britain also arrived during the 1950s to serve with the WAAF and, later the Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force (WRNZAF).

📸: No. 1 Draft of ex-English WAAFs at RNZAF Station Woodbourne, circa June 1951. This group is commonly known as "The 99ers". Image ref MUS22013, Air Force Museum of New Zealand.

Edit: We attached a different photo to this post previously, thank you to those who alerted us to this! 😉 ... See MoreSee Less