Britain's Pioneer Trans Woman

Roberta Cowell (1918 - 2011), on a beach, March 1954. Roberta was once a Spitfire pilot, prisoner of war, racing motorist, husband, she transitioned following hormone treatment and surgery. She was the first known British trans woman to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Original Publication: Picture Post - 7078 - Roberta Cowell's Own Story - 3: My Years of Crisis - pub. March 1954 (Photo by Maurice Ambler/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)