March 27

Elizabeth Muriel Gregory "Elsie" MacGill was born on the 27th in 1905 in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada. She was the first woman elected to the Engineering Institute of Canada. She was hired as Chief Aeronautical Engineer at Canada Car & Foundry, the first woman in the world to hold that position[i]. During World War II, she was selected to design and build the Hawker Hurricane[ii], a plane thought by many to be responsible for England’s success in the Battle of Britain. Her work earned her the nickname Queen of the Hurricanes. She was well aware of the unique position she held in the world of engineering and remarked, “My presence in the University of Toronto's engineering classes in 1923 certainly turned a few heads. Although I never learned to fly myself, I accompanied the pilots on all test flights – even the dangerous first flight – of any aircraft I worked on.”

[i] Her mother, Helen Emma Gregory MacGill, born on January 7, 1864, was British Columbia’s first female judge. At her death in 1947, she had served as a judge in Vancouver’s Juvenile Court for 23 years.
[ii] Several modifications were made to the Hurricane after it entered service. The modifications were not related to the overall performance of the plane but to the unique circumstances of battle. The fuel tanks were modified to enable them to resist leakage caused by bullet holes. A bulletproof plate was installed behind the pilot’s seat. The third modification was to the machine guns, which would freeze at altitudes above 15,000 feet. Heaters were added.