From Saltwater Creek to wartime air traffic control
c. 1909–1997
One of New Zealand’s earliest women pilots
Edna Mabel Grant Obituary: (30 Dec 1997). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 22/08/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/3919
Before Timaru Airport developed at Levels, local flying activity could be seen at Saltwater Creek. It was there that Edna Mabel Grant began learning to fly during the late 1930s.
Edna came from the Hook and Waimate area before her family moved to Timaru. She attended Timaru Girls’ High School and trained with New Zealand Airways at Saltwater Creek, later continuing with the Otago Aero Club. She made her first solo flight on 3 November 1938.
Local records identify Edna as South Canterbury’s first licensed woman pilot and one of the earlier women in New Zealand to gain a pilot’s licence. An Aoraki Heritage Collection record preserves a 1982 Timaru Herald article devoted to that achievement.
When the Second World War began, Edna joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force and later served with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She was posted to Taieri, where her flying knowledge was put to use in airfield operations. Timaru District Council’s historical account records her as the station’s only woman air traffic controller.
Edna was also involved in horse riding and art, exhibiting through the South Canterbury Art Society. These activities show a broader creative and practical life, although each deserves its own evidence trail rather than being added merely as colourful detail.
Her importance is not simply that she entered a field dominated by men. She acquired a demanding technical skill and then applied that knowledge during wartime service. Her path connected a small South Canterbury airfield with a much larger period of change in aviation and women’s work.
Edna died in December 1997, aged 88. Her obituary and the surviving aviation clipping are held through the Aoraki Heritage Collection. Both remain useful starting points for locating her licence, service record, photographs and any surviving flight log.
Read the WuHoo story by Dianne Stewart: Edna Mabel Grant: South Canterbury’s First Woman Pilot
Sources
Resarchers Dianne Stewart
Timaru District Council: Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and Edna Grant
Supports her local background, training, solo flight, wartime service and air traffic control role.
Aoraki Heritage Collection: South Canterbury’s First Licensed Woman Pilot
Identifies the 1982 Timaru Herald article and the local precedence claim.
Aoraki Heritage Collection: Obituary, Edna Mabel Grant
Provides a pathway to her 1997 obituary and further biographical material.