Born: 18 February 1918, United Kingdom
Died: 14 March 2015
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: Lilian Bailey
This bio, written by Julia McFarland, has been shared with permission. Follow Julia on Instagram: @historys_heroines.
Lilian Bader (18.2.1918 – 14.3.2015) was one of the first Black women to join the British armed forces.
She was born in Liverpool. Her father was Barbadian, and her British born mother had Irish parentage. She was orphaned at nine and placed in a children’s home.
In 1939, she enlisted in the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) at Catterick Camp, Yorkshire and was dismissed after seven weeks when it was discovered that her father was not born in the United Kingdom. In 1941 she enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), after she heard that the Royal Air Force (RAF) were taking citizens of West Indian descent. She trained in instrument repair, which was a trade newly opened to women. She then became a Leading Aircraft Woman and was eventually promoted to the rank of corporal.
In 1943 she married and left the WAAF when she was expecting her first child. She studied in the evening and then went to London University successfully studying for a BA. She went on to become a teacher, a profession she followed well into her 80s. Her younger son flew helicopters in the Royal Navy and later became an airline pilot.