Freydis Sharland (née Leaf; 22 September 1920 – 24 May 2014) was a pioneering woman pilot and one of the first women to get RAF wings.

When the war began, Leaf volunteered as a nurse in the Red Cross in Colchester, Essex while trying to get into the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) for over a year.

She also served in the Ferry Pools (FP) in Sherburn-in-Elmet in Yorkshire, Prestwick in Scotland and White Waltham, in Berkshire.

As an ATA pilot, Leaf learned to fly a wide range of planes from the Vickers Wellington and the Lockheed Hudson to the De Havilland Mosquito and Spitfire.

[2][3][4][5][6] Jean Bird, Benedetta Willis, Jackie Moggridge, Freydis Leaf and Joan Hughes were the first five women to qualify as pilots of the RAF.

[10][11] On the Edinburgh Castle liner to South Africa with her mother to visit her brother, Leaf met Tim Sharland, a former British Army officer.

After she retired from training young women pilots with the Girl's Venture Corps she began flying microlights until the end of the 20th century.