Catherine Burns

Catherine Burns worked at the Rolls-Royce factory at Hillington near Glasgow, which produced Merlin engines for Spitfires, Hurricanes, Lancasters, and Mosquitoes. At its peak, the factory employed over 26,000 workers, many of them women. Catherine was an engine tester, a highly skilled role requiring precision and attention to detail — a faulty engine could mean the death of a pilot. She worked through the Clydebank Blitz of March 1941, when the nearby town was virtually destroyed. The factory was never hit, and production continued uninterrupted throughout the war. She later said the Merlin engines were the most beautiful machines she ever touched.