Glen Morton and Hilary Benn - Female Photographers WW2 (1943). Part One.
As a person who loves researching and writing about women and children and their contribution to their State I find so many interesting stories that lead me off on exciting journeys of discovery and amazing stories that need to be shared and told.
This story is about two young Australian women Glen Morton, aged 22 and Hilary Benn, aged 21 who made training films during World War Two.
The article is from Trove, the database of the National Library of Australia. No copyright infringement intended.
Western Mail, 30 December 1943.
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Unique Job for a WAAAF,
PARATROOPS leaping from a plane; a fighter attack on a bomber; supplies being dropped by parachute all sound like the ingredients for a 1943 movie. Actually they are a few of the subjects which have been photographed by F/Sgt Glen Morton, 22-year-old member of the WAAAF in the course of her work for the visual education section of the RAAF.
F/Sgt Morton, who was recently in this State, and Sgt Hilary Benn are the only two girls in the service employed on aerial photography before joining the WAAAP 17 months ago, Glen Morton worked at Kodak Pty, Ltd, and operated a projector. She enlisted as an office orderly, was posted to visual education and last December, when applications were called for the new mustering of cinematograph operator was one of the successful candidates.
On completing a 4-week school at a Sydney laboratory learning details of sound recording, the duplication of films and the operation of sound projectors, her work was to visit various units and show training films.
Training Films.
At the suggestion of the officer in charge of visual education P/S Morton started to learn how to take the films. Working under his direction she plunged into the intricacies of film work, which has led to her present unique and interesting job. In those early days she made a film showing details of the daily inspection of a bomber; another on how to recondition spark plugs. But more interesting work was to come. Before long this youthful photographer was out in a boat photographing details of the method of bombing used with such devastating effect in the Bismarck Sea battle and consequent raids on Japanese shipping. Her job, the F/Sgt said, was to photograph the course of the bomb from the time of its release until it had reached the target.
About this time experiments were being carried out with different types of chutes for dropping supplies from the air, and it was F/S Morton who secured the photographic record of these experiments.
Paratroops and Dentistry,
At the end of about 6 months, when quite familiar with her apparatus, it was suggested that she should try her hand at aerial photography; a much more difficult job. Her first assignment was to photograph para troops leaping from another plane, but her most exciting aerial task was to photograph a fighter attack on a bomber. For this she worked from the rear gunner's turret of a bomber while a fighter "attacked" it. The purpose of the film was to show the correct and incorrect methods of attack and to illustrate to trainee gunners exactly how attacking planes would look. Incidentally, both girls take a certain number of still photographs, chiefly aircraft, which are used to teach recognition.
The subjects which Glen has photographed are many and varied. A film of which she is most proud is a dental record showing the correct care of the teeth. Another, which is still in production, is a WAAAF training film. Much of her time is spent flying over courses which trainee-pilots cover on cross-country flights photographing what are known as "pin-points" that is features of the landscape by which they check their position. This is the work which brought her to Western Australia.
FLIGHT-SERGEANT GLEN MORTON (stepping info the plane) and Sgt Hilary Benn . . . only two girls with the WAAAF to do aerial photography . . . prepare to take off on a flight.
