Pauline Alice Bennett, pilot

Pauline (Susie) Alice Bennett was born in 1906 to Ida and Dr. James Freeborn Bennett. She attended St. Mary’s School in Blenheim.

Pauline Bennett, pilot. Image supplied by author

Flying was a family passion with Pauline gaining her Commercial Pilot’s licence and taking her first flight with a passenger in 1930. She was the first woman to gain this licence with aero club training in New Zealand.

Pauline Bennet, with fellow pilots. Image supplied by author

She often took passengers on sightseeing flights as well as attending air pageants all over the country.

Her brother was also a pilot with the RAF.

She married Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Knocker in Calcutta in 1934 and later remarried RNZAF pilot J.M. Buckeridge in 1955.

Story by: Marlborough Museum and Archives