Florence Nagle's wartime contribution

摘要

In the early 1980s, I was commissioned by Sporting Life to do a photo feature on Florence Nagle, the first lady to be given a licence by the Jockey Club to train racehorses. In her house were many photographs of winning horses she had bred and trained, and also pictures of her award-winning Irish Wolfhounds. Nevertheless, it was a framed photo of Spitfire Mk.IIb P8S21 that took pride of place - she had paid £5,000 to purchase this aircraft for the RAF. As she was born in the family home of Sulhamstead Abbots in Berkshire, the name was used as a prefix on all her hounds and some of the horses. Similarly, the Spitfire carried the name Sulhamstead.