A woman who flew Spitfires and 37 other kinds of aircraft during the Second World War has been honoured at Downing Street.

Molly Rose, one of the female pilots known as the Spitfire Women, and other members of the Air Transport Auxiliary were awarded a special badge of recognition for their work during the war by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. They delivered more than 309,000 aircraft.

Before meeting Mr Brown yesterday, Mrs Rose, 87, from Bampton, West Oxfordshire, also attended a reunion at White Waltham airfield near Maidenhead, the original headquarters of the ATA, where there was a fly-past featuring Second World War planes.

She said: "It was a fantastic day and the noise of the planes' engines brought back so many memories.

"The whole day was very well planned and when I got to Downing Street I was determined to climb the staircase to see all the photographs.

"I have a little trouble walking but I refused to go in the lift because it would have meant missing out on an interesting look at all the previous prime ministers.

"I flew 38 different types of aircraft during the war and we were very lucky to fly so many different types.

"The heaviest aircraft I flew was a Hudson twin engine bomber and I had to have an engineer with me because the pilot could not get the landing gear down alone."

Based at Hamble airfield on the south coast during the war, Mrs Rose said the biggest danger she faced was not from enemy aircraft but wet weather.

"Before taking off, we always consulted the Met Office," she added.

Mrs Rose's son, Graham, 62, who lives in Appleton, near Abingdon, said: "My mother had a fantastic day out and one of the highlights was the Spitfire and Hurricane fly-past at White Waltham.

"She also got to meet female and male pilots and support staff she had not seen since the war.

"Gordon Brown spoke for about 10 minutes and shook my mother's hand."

Mr Brown said: "I am honoured to have this opportunity to give thanks to the men and women of the ATA.

"It was a privilege to meet so many of them and to hear of the work they undertook and the sacrifice they made to ensure the delivery of aircraft to the front line."

The ATA was a civilian unit founded in 1939, and included pilots, flight engineers, ground engineers, flying instructors, and air cadets. It was situated at 14 delivery bases across the country.

Tragically, 173 air crew personnel lost their lives on missions, including Amy Johnson, the pioneering civil aviator.

By 1945 there were 650 ATA pilots from 22 countries around the world, including Chile, South Africa and the United States.