Women's Royal Air Force (World War One)
The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of the Royal Air Force, existing from 1 April 1918 until 1 April 1920, when it was disbanded. Its original intent was to provide female mechanics in order to free up men for front line service in World War I. However, the organisation saw high enrolment, with women also serving in a number of other non-combatant roles, including drivers, caterers, clerks and tailors, as well as filling other wartime needs. Its last veteran was for a time thought to be Gladys Powers, who died in 2008, but Florence Green, who died in February 2012, was subsequently found to be the last-known surviving WRAF veteran. The name was revived in 1949 for the Women's Royal Air Force, regular women's branch of the RAF. The auxiliary organisation in the Second World War had been called the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Strength The target strength had been a force of around 90,000. Figures are unreliable until 1 August 1918, when the strength was 15,433 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The WRAF On Parade In London At The End Of World War I, 1918
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a v ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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RAF Flowerdown
Royal Air Force Flowerdown or more simply RAF Flowerdown is a former Royal Air Force station located in Hampshire, England. The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) School for Wireless Operators moved from Farnborough to Flowerdown, later RAF Flowerdown in 1918. From April 1926 the Electrical and Wireless School, part of 23 Group, Inland Area, was located at Flowerdown. The apprentice training school moved from Flowerdown to Cranwell in 1929 and the RNAS moved into Flowerdown which remained as a wireless station until 1956. It was never an airfield but it was bombed twice in one week. During the Second World War, Flowerdown was one of a number of listening stations around the country that fed information into Bletchley Park with staff working 12-hour shifts listening to Morse code which was then used to decipher the German codes. In 1956 the site was taken over by GCHQ's Composite Signals Organisation as a large HF listening station. It closed in the late 1970s. In 1986 the site becam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1918 Establishments In The United Kingdom
This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – 1918 flu pandemic: The "Spanish flu" ( influenza) is first observed in Haskell County, Kansas. * January 4 – The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Soviet Russia, Sweden, Germany and France. * January 9 – Battle of Bear Valley: U.S. troops engage Yaqui Native American warriors in a minor skirmish in Arizona, and one of the last battles of the American Indian Wars between the United States and Native Americans. * January 15 ** The keel of is laid in Britain, the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier to be laid down. ** The Red Army (The Workers and Peasants Red Army) is formed in the Russian SFSR and Soviet Union. * January 18 - The Historic Conc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sex Segregation
Sex segregation, sex separation, gender segregation or gender separation is the physical, legal, or cultural separation of people according to their biological sex. Sex segregation can refer simply to the physical and spatial separation by sex without any connotation of illegal discrimination. In other circumstances, sex segregation can be controversial. Depending on the circumstances, it can be a violation of capabilities and human rights and can create economic inefficiencies; on the other hand, some supporters argue that it is central to certain religious laws and social and cultural histories and traditions.The World Bank. 2012. "Gender Equality and Development: World Development Report 2012." Washington, D.C: The World Bank. Definitions The term "sex" in "sex segregation" refers to the biological distinctions between men and women, used in contrast to "gender".Cohen, David S. 2010. "The Stubborn Persistence of Sex Segregation." ''Columbia Journal of Gender and Law'' for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Military Units And Formations Established In 1918
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms ''armed forces'' and ''military'' are often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular military forces, not belonging to a recognized state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are less often referred to as simply ''military''. A nation's military may f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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British Women In World War I
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in the United Kingdom or, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *''Brit(ish)'', a 2018 memoir by Afua Hirsch *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) See also * Terminology of the British Isles * Alternative names for the British * English (other) * Britannic (other) * British Isles * Brit (other) * Briton (d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Helen Gwynne-Vaughan
Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan, (née Fraser; 21 January 1879 – 26 August 1967) was a prominent English botanist and mycologist. During the First World War, she served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and then as Commandant of the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) from 1918 to 1919. During the Second World War, from 1939 to 1941, she served as Chief Controller of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). Early life and education Helen Charlotte Isabella Fraser was born on 21 January 1879 in Westminster, London, England. She was the elder daughter of Army Captain the Honourable Arthur Hay David Fraser (1852-1884; son of Alexander Fraser, 18th Lord Saltoun), and Lucy Jane (died 1939), daughter of Major Robert Duncan Fergusson, of the Rifle Brigade and the Royal Ayrshire and Wigton Rifle militia. Lucy Fraser was a novelist and extra lady-in-waiting to HRH Princess Beatrice; in 1887, having been widowed, she remarried, to diplomat Francis Hay-Newton. Due to her ste ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Violet Douglas-Pennant
Commandant Violet Blanche Douglas-Pennant (31 January 1869 – 12 October 1945) was a British philanthropist and supporter of local government who served as the second commandant of the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) until her dismissal in August 1918. Born into the aristocracy, Douglas-Pennant became interested in youth clubs for girls which led her to charity work with the unemployed and with disabled children. Working with the Workers' Educational Association led her to become involved in the establishment and reform of local government, and she eventually became a member of the London County Council Education Committee. After the establishment of the WRAF in 1918 she was suggested as a potential Commandant due to her experience in reform and management. She agreed to spend a month "looking round" the camp, and was so unhappy that she repeatedly tried to resign. Following her dismissal on 28 August 1918 by Lord Weir she wrote to several important political figures such as Win ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gertrude Crawford
Lady Gertrude Eleanor Crawford (née Molyneux) (1 July 1868 - 5 November 1937) was a British munitions worker and from April to May 1918 the first Commandant of the new Women's Royal Air Force. She was also one of the directors of The Stainless Steel and Non-Corrosive Metals Company Limited, formed by Cleone Benest. Family She was the eldest daughter and second child of William Molyneux, 4th Earl of Sefton and Cecil Emily Jolliffe (1838–1899), the fifth daughter of William Jolliffe, 1st Baron Hylton. On 25 April 1905 she married John Halket Crawford (1868-1936), who rose to be a Major in the 32nd Lancers, Indian Army. Life On 26 April she was admitted to the freedom of the Turners' Company and in 1909 she built a goathouse for Lady Arthur Cecil. From 1914 onwards she worked at a munitions factory at Erith Crawford was also a Director of The Stainless Steel and Non-Corrosive Metals Company Limited, set up in Birmingham in 1922 by Cleone Benest, at that time using the name ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Women's Royal Naval Service
The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War, remaining active until integrated into the Royal Navy in 1993. WRNS included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics. History First World War The Wrens were formed in 1917 during the First World War. On 10 October 1918, nineteen-year-old Josephine Carr from Cork became the first Wren to die on active service, when her ship, the RMS ''Leinster'' was torpedoed. By the end of the war the WRNS had 5,500 members, 500 of them officers. In addition, about 2,000 members of the WRAF had previously served with the WRNS supporting the Royal Naval Air Service and were transferred on the creation of the Royal Air Force. It was disb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government's foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security". The R ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |