Air Commandant Dame Mary Henrietta Barnett (16 February 1905 – 11 September 1985), known as Henrietta Barnett, was a senior officer of the

Women's Royal Air Force The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of the Royal Air Force. It existed in two separate incarnations: the Women's Royal Air Force from 1918 to 1920 and the Women's Royal Air Force from 1949 to 1994. On 1 February 1949, the ...

(WRAF). From 1956 to 1960, she served as its director.

Military career

In 1938, Barnett joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service as a volunteer (IE

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

), and was assigned to No. 45 County of Oxford Company. She transferred to the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

(WAAF) when it was established on 28 June 1939. She was commissioned into the WAAF as a company assistant (equivalent to a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

in the

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 ...

), with seniority from 5 December 1938. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she served at RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire, at

RAF Feltwell Royal Air Force Feltwell or more simply RAF Feltwell is a Royal Air Force station in Norfolk, East Anglia that is used by the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. The station is located about 10 miles west of Thetford, and i ...

in Norfolk, and at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

in London. Barnett was present for the London Blitz and witnessed the destruction of the House of Commons as well as other places. At that time, she was stationed there and air women like herself worked on various tasks at the

. Barnett states "Never once did they speak of their secret work, seldom were they late for duty, even after a raid. They were known as the Whitehall Warriors." After the end of the war, in the summer of 1945, Barnett was posted to RAF Mediterranean Command in

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

, Italy. There, she served as the " staff officer responsible for all WAAF personnel working in the RAF Mediterranean and Middle East command". She traveled to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to seek out the possibility of stationing air women there. In October 1947, she returned to the United Kingdom and was appointed as an WAAF staff officer at

Flying Training Command Flying Training Command was an Command (military formation), organization of the Royal Air Force; it controlled flight training units. The command's headquarters were at Shinfield Park, Reading, Berkshire, Reading in Berkshire. History Flying ...

headquarters. On 13 November 1947, she was appointed to an extended service commission as a flight officer (equivalent to

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

) with seniority in that rank from 3 March 1943. In October 1948, she appointed the WAAF Inspector; this job required her to travel extensively, inspecting all the bases within

RAF Home Command RAF Home Command was the Royal Air Force command that was responsible for the maintenance and training of reserve organisationsJohn D. Rawlings, 'The History of the Royal Air Force,' Temple Press Aerospace, Feltham, Middlesex, 1984, p.180 from fo ...

that had WAAF personnel. In 1949, the

(WRAF) was created. On 1 February 1949, Barnett was made a group officer (equivalent in rank to a

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

in the RAF) in the Secretary Branch of the WRAF. From 1949 to 1952, she served as one of two Deputy-Directors of the WRAF: in that role, she had responsibility for the "selection, promotion, and career and personal problems of WRAF officers". On 1 November 1952, she was appointed

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

RAF Hawkinge Royal Air Force Hawkinge or more simply RAF Hawkinge is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Ashford, north of Folkestone, Kent and west of Dover, Kent, England. The airfield was used by both the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal ...

; as such, she became the only female

station commander 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 ...

in the RAF. From 1 August 1956 to March 1960, she served as Director of the Women's Royal Air Force, holding the rank of air commandant (equivalent to air commodore).

Honours

In the

1956 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1956 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 2 January 1956 to celebrat ...

, Barnett was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE). In the 1958 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was promoted to

Dame Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mil ...

of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), and therefore granted the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

Dame ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Henrietta Military personnel from Winchester 1905 births 1985 deaths Women's Royal Air Force officers Auxiliary Territorial Service soldiers Women's Auxiliary Air Force officers Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire