Lilian Bader - RAF Technician

Lilian Bader was born in Liverpool on the 8th February 1918. Her father Marcus Bailey, was a merchant seaman from Barbados who’d served in World War I and her mother was Irish. Unfortunately, Lilian faced rejection and isolation from an early age. After being orphaned at age nine she spent much of her youth in a convent separated from her siblings and told she was ‘different.’

When the Second World War was declared, Lilian was ready to do her bit. She applied to join the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) but was quickly dismissed when it was discovered her father was Black. “They said they didn’t take coloured girls” she recalled later.

Lilian trained as an instrument repairer. She became one of the first, if not the first, Mixed Race/Black women to become an instrument repairer - a skilled role typically off-limits to women. Her job was essential to keeping RAF aircrafts in the skies. “I was one of the first women to be trained in that trade,” she said. “I was just proud to be doing a job for my country.”

After the war Lilian left the RAF and turned her attention to education, by this time she’d married and had a family. While raising her children she studied for her O-Levels and A-Levels, before eventually earning a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of London, a fantastic achievement. She went on to become a teacher.

Lilian Bader passed away on the 14th March 2015.

However, as Britain’s need for service personnel grew urgent due to the number of casualties, she tried again in 1941 — this time with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). She was accepted.

“I was one of the first

women to be trained

in that trade”

Lilian Bader

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