1. Joan Daphne Mary Pearson, was a Women's Auxiliary Air Force officer during the Second World War and one of only thirteen female recipients of the George Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry not in the face of an enemy that can, or could, be awarded to a citizen of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth.
Joan Daphne Mary Pearson was born at Christchurch, near Bournemouth.
Daphne Pearson later said that was the first time in her life she considered joining the Royal Navy.
Daphne Pearson boarded at St Brandon's School, Bristol, away from her parents who lived in the parishes her father looked after.
Daphne Pearson then had a variety of jobs while learning to fly in her spare time.
Corporal Daphne Pearson entered the burning fuselage, released the pilot from his harness and removed him from the immediate area around the aircraft.
Daphne Pearson flung herself on top of the pilot to protect him.
When she got him about 30 yards from the wreckage, a 120 lb bomb went off and Corporal Daphne Pearson threw herself on top of the pilot to protect him from the blast and splinters.
Daphne Pearson remained with him until a stretcher party arrived and then returned to the burning aircraft to look for the fourth member of the crew.
Daphne Pearson found him - the wireless operator - dead in the bomber.
Daphne Pearson's prompt and courageous action undoubtedly helped to save the pilot's life.
Several weeks after the incident, Daphne Pearson was commissioned as an officer in the WAAF and served in RAF Bomber Command until the end of the war, working mainly as a recruiter.
Daphne Pearson later worked at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and owned a shop in Kew, selling gardening equipment, produce and flowers.
Daphne Pearson visited Australia in November 1969, on the first flight of the Comet IV on the Heathrow to Darwin route.
Daphne Pearson decided to emigrate there, working in the Victoria region as a horticulturist, first at the Department of Agriculture and later at the Commonwealth Department of Civil Aviation.
Daphne Pearson attended reunions of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association until her late eighties.
Daphne Pearson died on 25 July 2000, aged 89, in Melbourne, Australia.
Daphne Pearson was interred in "The Garden of No Distant Place" located in the grounds of Springvale Cemetery, in south-east Melbourne.
Daphne Pearson was a member of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, Australian Red Cross Society, Women's Royal Air Force Officers Association, she was a Life Member of the Royal Air Forces Association and Honorary Life Member of the Returned Services League, Royal Air Force Club and the Royal British Legion.