EQUIPPED with only a map, compass and stopwatch, wartime pilot Mary Ellis delivered around 1,000 aircraft to the RAF, from Spitfires to Wellington Bombers — and now she has been granted the Freedom of the Isle of Wight.
A presentation to honour 100-year-old Mary was held at Wednesday's full council meeting. 
Her dangerous work in the Second World War's Air Transport Auxiliary was vital to the war effort as she made sure squadrons were kept replenished with aircraft in the fight against Nazi Germany and she and her female colleagues were trailblazers for today's generation of women RAF pilots.
As the highest honour a local authority can bestow, Mary joins an elite group of people - including the late Oscar-winning film director Antony Minghella, record-breaking yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur and Hovertravel founder Sir Christopher Bland - who have received the Freedom of the Isle of Wight.
Council leader Cllr Dave Stewart said: "Mary is a national, international and Island heroine and she is quite simply most deserving of the Honorary Freedom of the Isle of Wight.
"I am sure I speak on behalf of the entire Island community when I say how proud we are of everything she has done for our country and the Isle of Wight. She is one of the last of the finest generation who did so much to guarantee our freedom 70 years ago."
For an interview with Mary, see the County Press on Friday, January 19.