81 Interview by Steph Woolvin


Tilda Woodard


A Lieutenant Commander, RAF pilot, triathlete and wife of Captain of the BRNC


In years gone by some might have expected a Royal Naval Captain’s wife to be seen and not heard – on the arm of her husband politely chatting to important guests at formal dinners. Not Tilda Woodard! She is a tough, headstrong Lieutenant Commander who spends time on training exercises in the mud on Dartmoor and is an accomplished triathlete with numerous trophies to her name. Steph Woolvin went up to the Royal Naval College to meet her…


When she was at school, Tilda wanted to be an


astronaut, stuntwoman, secret agent or pilot: “My teachers said I couldn’t possibly be any of those things and I should pick a sensible career. I remember my father wrote a letter to the head saying his daughter could be anything she wanted to be.” Ten years later she became a Royal Air Force pilot. Tilda was one of the first female RAF


pilots: “In the military we tend to use only our rank and surname on paper so people don’t know whether we’re male or female. When I arrived at one base some people were a bit surprised, as they hadn’t realised I was going to be a girl! I think the older generation found it a little harder to get used to.” She was desperate to fly helicopters so, after completing her Basic Flying Training at RAF Linton-On-Ouse, she did her ‘Rotary Wing’ training in Shropshire. From there she had wanted to fly Support Helicopters, but was sent to Search And Rescue: “It wasn’t most people’s first choice. It’s where the older more experienced pilots end up and I was worried it might be a bit dull! However, it was probably some of the most challenging and diverse flying that I have done.” She started as a junior pilot and progressed to Operational Captain. Along the way she helped stranded climbers, rescued fishermen from sinking vessels, and even airlifted a cow from a cliff edge! After a few years in the role, Tilda finally got to see


“ When I arrived at one base some people were a bit surprised was


going to be a girl!”


King Mk4 in support of the Royal Marines. During her tour she deployed to Bosnia, the Caribbean, Cyprus, Oman and the Indian Ocean. Her main role in Bosnia was troop support and serving as an air ambulance, operating out of a field hospital: “If people got stranded in a minefield, the best way to extract them was to winch them out by helicopter.” It was during this time that she met and married Jolyon, Captain of the Royal Naval College. After completing her three-year tour with the Royal Navy, she was offered a job flying Pumas in Northern Ireland, which is where Jolyon was also going to be stationed: “We didn’t actually see that much of each other as he worked in an office Monday to Friday


and I generally worked shifts on the border.” They did, however, see enough of each other to have their first


life on the front line when she undertook an exchange on a Royal Navy Commando Squadron flying the Sea


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