Amy Leigh

Leading Aircraftwoman Amy Leigh — Women’s Auxiliary Air Force

Postwar Burials at St. Hilary

Amy Leigh

The celebrations of VE Day in May 1945 and VJ Day in August 1945 marked the long-awaited end of the Second World War in Europe and the Pacific. Yet even in those months of relief and rebuilding, sorrow remained. St. Hilary’s Churchyard, Killay, continued to receive those who had served. Two more burials followed the war’s end, the first being that of Leading Aircraftwoman Amy Leigh in October 1945.

Early Life

Little detail survives about Amy’s life, but what is known paints a picture of a young woman from a large Lancashire family. She was born in 1924, the youngest daughter of Robert Leigh and Annie Elizabeth Huddleston, who had married in Manchester in 1902 before settling in Burnley.

Amy was the last of six children: Robert (1905), John (1908), Nellie (1910), Annie (1913), Ethel (1915), and Lilian (1918). As the youngest by several years, she grew up surrounded by older siblings, many of whom were already leaving school and beginning work as she was still a child.

The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)

When war broke out, Amy joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), established in June 1939. At its peak strength, the WAAF numbered more than 180,000 women, making it one of the largest support organisations of the RAF.

The WAAF’s contribution was wide-ranging and vital:

• Radar operators and plotters, guiding Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain.
• Communications and intelligence staff, ensuring information reached squadrons in time.
• Mechanics, armourers, and drivers, maintaining the RAF’s fighting capability.
• Administrative and clerical staff, forming the organisational backbone of the service.

Although barred from flying in combat, the WAAF worked on the front line of Britain’s air defence. Many were stationed at airfields under regular Luftwaffe attack, where their calm under pressure was crucial.

For women like Amy, joining the WAAF meant more than patriotic duty. It gave them the chance to take on roles and responsibilities previously closed to women, shaping both the outcome of the war and the future of women’s place in British society.

Death and Burial

 South Wales Daily Post

Western Mail

Herald of Wales 

On 15^th October 1945, just months after the war’s conclusion, Amy died suddenly of natural causes while staying in a bungalow at Parkmill, Gower. She was only 21 years old. The South Wales Daily Post, Western Mail, and the Herald of Wales reported her death, which came at a moment when families across Britain were still adjusting from the strain of total war to the uncertainties of peace.

Amy Leigh
St. Hilary’s Church, Killay
credit - findagrave

Amy was buried with honour at St. Hilary’s Churchyard, Killay, where her grave lies among those of airmen, soldiers, and sailors from across Britain and the Commonwealth. Her headstone bears the deeply personal inscription:

“LOVING THOUGHTS OF AMY, WORTHY OF EVERLASTING SWEET MEMORY. DAD AND FAMILY.”

Legacy

Amy Leigh is unique at St. Hilary’s. She is the only woman buried in the churchyard, her presence a poignant reminder that the war effort was not solely fought by men. Her headstone stands as a quiet tribute to the service of thousands of women in the WAAF, whose work—though often hidden from public view—was indispensable to Britain’s survival and victory.

Her resting place ensures that her contribution, and that of the women she served alongside, is remembered with equal dignity to her male comrades.