I’m really grateful to the RAF Historical Society for awarding me this bursary, which will support the ongoing pursuit and dissemination of my research over the next couple of years.
15 May 2025
FASI PhD Candidate awarded the 2025 Henry Probert Bursary
FASI PhD Candidate Sophy Higgins is the recipient of the 2025 Henry Probert Bursary, helping to further support her research focusing on elite women and their influence on the culture of the interwar Royal Air Force.
The Bursary, named after Air Commodore Henry Probert, is awarded by the RAF Historical Society and intends to support research that will add value and expertise to the historiography of the Royal Air Force.
Sophy’s research utilises archival material to answer the research question ‘How did the role of women intersect with high society class structures to influence the development of the Royal Air Force and the culture of aviation more widely in the interwar period?’
The key argument of her thesis is that it was social class that allowed women access to and influence towards the RAF and aviation circles.
The thesis aims to uncover the key contributions of elite women by explicitly evidencing that women were present and influential in the early years of the RAF. It also seeks to understand how and why women in aviation have been remembered and argues that better representation of all these women is needed to present a more rounded view of the RAF’s history.
Congratulations to Sophy on this great achievement.