Danish WW2 Pilots

ACW1 Ann Gimlinge

(1915 - 2003)

ACW1 Ann Gimlinge was one of the Danish women who served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during the Second World War. One in seven of the Danish volunteers in the Allied air forces was a woman.

Mary Ann Gimlinge (née Smith) was born on 25 December 1915 in Banff, Scotland, the daughter of engineer Stephen Revell Smith and Mary Ann Smith (née Jess).[1] Gimlinge was born British, but married the Danish serviceman Kay Gimlinge on 14 August 1942, thus becoming a Danish national.[2]

Gimlinge volunteered for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during the Second World War (447972).[3] The exact date is not known, but the service number indicate that it was between February and June 1941 in Gloucester.[4] The material suggest that she may have served as a nurse.[5] In 1943, she was wounded or injured while on active service, however, the circumstances are not known.[6]

Gimlinge was awarded King Christian X Memorial Medal after the war.[7]

Endnotes

[1] Ancestry.co.uk: British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920.

[2] PRO: Marriage certificate, Kay Gimlinge and Mary Ann Smith.

[3] The Royal Air Force. The Roll of Honour, The Aeroplane, 20 August 1943.

[4] Gimlinge’s service number is part of a block of numbers (440001 to 450000) allotted for WAAF enlistment in Gloucester in February 1941. The next block (from 450001) was allotted in June 1941.

[5] Ancestry.co.uk: UK & Ireland, Nursing Registers, 1898-1968.

[6] The Royal Air Force, The Roll of Honour, Aeroplane, 20 August 1943.

[7] Frihedsmuseets database over søfolk og soldater i allieret tjeneste, 1939-45, http://allieret.natmus.dk/person.aspx?84360 (accessed on 2 January 2021).