Margot Duhalde, who flew Spitfires in World War II as the first female Chilean military pilot, has died at the age of 97. She defied traditional gender norms in Chile and learned to fly at just 16.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Bernetti
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After a life in which she flew missions for forces under threat from Nazi Germany but was rejected for commercial pilot jobs back home, Chile's first female military pilot, Margot Duhalde, died late Monday at 97 years old. A southern country girl of French-Basque ancestry, she became the only female aviator from Chile to join French liberation forces when President Charles de Gaulle's government-in-exile called the diaspora home to fight.
"Ever since I can remember, I wanted to fly," Duhalde told the French news agency AFP in 2017. "According to my mother, I started saying 'plane' before I could say 'mummy.'"
Duhalde left her family's home in the town of Rio Bueno at age 16 to go to Santiago to train as a pilot. She lied about her age and enrolled in a flying school.
France: A Pocket of Resistance in WWII
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'Swallow their pride'
After graduating and finding herself shut out of Chile's domestic aviation labor market for being a woman, in 1940 Duhalde volunteered at the Free France consulate and, at just 20 years old, ended up a military pilot. She headed to Buenos Aires and from there by ship to brave the war in Europe.
Duhalde, who never saw combat, flew planes from base to base for Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF), keeping the fleet one flight ahead of Nazi German attacks. As a Spanish and French speaker and one of the RAF's very few female pilots, she faced the dual barriers of language and misogyny.
"The men always said that women were never going to be able to fly airplanes," Duhalde told AFP. "But they had to swallow their pride — because really we flew just as well as they did."
Duhalde returned to Chile in 1947, but the labor market for pilots was still shut to women, and she did not find work for many years until a regional airline took her on. She worked as an aircraft controller for 40 years and ascended to the rank of colonel of aviation in the air force for her ability to monitor radar. Margot Duhalde last flew a plane in 2007.
"We regret the death of Margot Duhalde, Chile's first female pilot," the Women's Ministry wrote on Twitter late Monday. "We are grateful for the great contribution that she made to Chilean aviation and recognize her courage to follow through with her dream for all of her life, breaking stereotypes and showing the way for other women." The ministry also tweeted Spanish-language footage of Duhalde.
Britain, Chile and France, which inducted her into the Legion of Honor, have decorated Duhalde for her service in the war.
Russia marks 75th anniversary of Stalingrad with parades and nostalgia
Moscow has increasingly capitalized on the unifying memory of the Soviet Union’s defeat of the Nazis at Stalingrad. The 75th anniversary comes ahead of presidential elections in two months.
Image: Reuters/M. Shemetov
One of Soviet Russia's greatest World War II triumphs
Russia celebrated the 75th anniversary of the defense of Stalingrad on Friday with somber memorials and patriotic military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin was a highly visible presence throughout the day, laying wreaths, addressing veterans and attending military parades. He is seen here in front of 85-meter The Motherland Calls statue in what is now called Volgograd.
Image: Reuters/M. Shemetov
Putin calls on Russians to measure up to their ancestors
Putin told veterans the Soviet victory at Stalingrad was an inspiration. "The unified resistance and readiness for self-sacrifice were truly undefeatable, incomprehensible and frightening for the enemy," Putin said. "Defenders of Stalingrad have passed a great heritage to us: love for the motherland, readiness to protect its interests and independence, to stand strong in the face of any test."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/M. Metzel
Military parade
Official figures said 30,000 spectators watched a military parade through the streets of Volgograd despite sub-zero temperatures. The parade included about 1,500 troops, armored vehicles and jets flying ahead.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/D. Rogulin
Armored vehicles
The parade featured 75 tanks — one for each year since the victory — as well as an Iskander ballistic missile system and an advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile system. Ground forces included T-90 tanks and armored Tigr infantry mobility vehicles.
Image: Reuters/T. Maleyeva
Red Army nostalgia
The memorial parade included people (traffic controllers according to some sources) dressed up in Red Army winter uniforms and felt boots. The Soviet Union’s defeat of the Nazis forms a pillar of modern Russian identity and has been increasingly celebrated by Moscow to stoke patriotism. Putin will almost certainly be reelected in presidential elections in two months.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/M. Metzel
Soviet style banners
Other displays of communist nostalgia included members of the Yunarmiya (Young Army) military patriotic movement as well as soldiers parading with images of Soviet war heroes and Soviet-style banners.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/D. Rogulin
A crushing defeat
The battle of Stalingrad started in July 1942 and lasted five months and was the bloodiest battle in history. About 2 million soldiers and civilians perished in the fighting there, many from starvation and exposure. The final group of Nazi troops under Marshal Friedrich Paulus finally surrendered on February 2, 1943, in the first surrender by the Nazis since the war began.
