ATA Girl

A collection of four one-hour audio stories, each built around the work of the Air Transport Auxiliary in WWII. This was the civilian service responsible for flying warplanes from factories to airfields, and similar “ferrying” duties. It's best known for employing female pilots (on equal pay, no less, which was more than the US did at the time). In reality, even towards the end of the war, only around one in five of ATA pilots were women but, since that's the thing that's most interesting about the organisation they are rightly the focus here. The stories are connected in the sense that they share some of the same supporting characters and have a common framing device set in the present day (2016), but they're otherwise standalone.

• Up in the Air – The first story in the collection has the additional burden of explaining what the ATA was for those unfamiliar with it. This it does a good job of, showing it through the eyes of new recruit Deborah. That takes up a good portion of the story, but it's done in an engaging way that helps to show what a unique opportunity it was at the time. In addition to this, of course, we have the episode's plot. This is partly a story of bereavement (plenty of that to go around in WWII) and ties in with the ramifications of the Battle of the Bulge. It's a bittersweet tale with some well-drawn characters that does a good job of drawing you in. 4 stars.

• Dancing with a Spitfire – Although this is set two years prior to the first episode, since the main characters in it are different, and there are no ongoing plotlines, it's barely noticeable. It's the story of two contrasting women, one a glamorous attention-seeker and the other an American tomboy wallflower, thrust together by circumstance as the US enters the War and sends some of their own women pilots over to join the ATA. Both are hiding secrets, although neither is particularly hard to guess. 1940s attitudes to women (at least by some men) play a significant role and, for all its short length, it's another good character piece peppered with the joy of flying. 4.5 stars.

• Flying Blind – There's rather less joy in this emotional tale of a widowed pilot with a young child having an affair with a married man. The impossibility of resolving the pair's situation is at the heart of it, as are the expectations of ‘40s society; flying is a theme, of course, but mainly as a metaphor for freedom rather than a direct element of the plot. There's also a subplot with a teenage pilot who may be making the same mistakes with her life as the central character once did with hers... and a particularly harrowing scene that might merit a trigger warning. It's not an easy listen at times, but it works very well. 5 stars.

• Grounded – The final story, as it names suggests, takes place entirely at the ATA airbase. At least to begin with, it's more introspective than the others, exploring the attitudes of the various characters to the war and the situation they've found themselves in. The pointless loss of life in air raids is a major theme, along with psychological strain, making this another relatively dark one. There are ties back to two of the previous episodes and the lead character in the framing device takes centre-stage for the first time... making it clear why (like so many veterans) she doesn't talk about her time in the service. 4.5 stars.