Violet Milstead Warren (1919–2014) Commemorative plaque, 2022.
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Original JPG File | 8400 × 6515 pixels (54.73 MP) 71.1 cm × 55.2 cm @ 300 PPI |
8.1 MB | Restricted |
Low resolution print | 2000 × 1551 pixels (3.1 MP) 16.9 cm × 13.1 cm @ 300 PPI |
1.4 MB | Restricted |
Screen | 1032 × 800 pixels (0.83 MP) 8.7 cm × 6.8 cm @ 300 PPI |
233 KB | Restricted |
Resource ID
10103
Access
Open
Credit Line
Heritage Toronto
Date of Creation
2022
Historical Themes
Military History, Women's History
Program Category
Historical Plaques
Rights
Heritage Toronto
Time Period
1900-1953, 1954-1998, 1999-today
Caption
Violet Milstead Warren (1919–2014) Commemorative plaque, 2022.
Description
Violet Milstead Warren was one of Canada’s first female bush pilots and one of a few Canadian women to ferry aircraft for the Allies during the Second World War.
Milstead left school at 15 to work in her mother’s wool shop, where she saved money for flight lessons. Within a year of her first lesson in 1939, she had earned both her private and commercial aviation licences.
In 1941, Milstead received her instructor’s licence. For several years, she taught flying at Barker Field, which operated here until 1953. At 21, she became one of the youngest flight instructors in North America.
In 1943, Milstead and another Toronto pilot, Marion Orr, travelled to Britain to fly for Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and transport aircraft from factories to military bases. Milstead flew 47 types of planes around the UK and Belgium.
She returned to Canada and worked as a flight instructor for Leavens Aviation Inc., also located at Barker Field. There, she met her future husband, Arnold Warren. In 1947, they began working for Nickel Belt Airways in Sudbury, Ontario.
In 2004, Milstead was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada, and she was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in 2010. She was a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient in 2012 and a role model to women in aviation.