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Diana Barnato Walker MBE FRAeS (15 January 1918 - 28 April 2008) was an English aviatrix and horse...

Diana Barnato Walker MBE FRAeS (15 January 1918 - 28 April 2008) was an English aviatrix and horse rider, the first British woman to break the sound barrier. Her father was the famous car racing driver Woolf Barnato who was Chairman of Bentley Motors and also a leading member of their racing team. Her mother was Dorothy Maitland Falk of White Plains, New York. Diana Barnato was a 1936 debutante at the age of 18 and was presented to King Edward VIII at Buckingham Palace. From an early age, she became interested in aircraft and at age 20 she decided to become a pilot. Her initial training was in Tiger Moths at the Brooklands Flying Club, the airfield being located within the famous car racing circuit in Surrey. She showed a natural aptitude for flying and made her first solo flight after only six hours of dual instruction. Soon after the outbreak of World War II Diana volunteered to become a Red Cross nurse. In 1940 she was serving as a nurse in France before the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk and later drove ambulances in London during the Blitz. In early 1941 she applied to become one of the first women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and