The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of 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 ...

. 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 name of the First World War organisation was revived when 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 ...

, which had been founded in 1939, was re-established on a regular footing as the Women's Royal Air Force. The WRAF and the RAF grew closer over the following decades, with increasing numbers of trades opened to women, and the two services formally merged in 1994, marking the full assimilation of women into the British forces and the end of the Women's Royal Air Force. The Central Band of the WRAF, one of only two all-female bands in the British Armed Forces, was disbanded in 1972. Some of its musicians transferred to the Band of the

Women's Royal Army Corps The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992, except medical, dental and veterinary officers and cha ...

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, approximately 5,000 recruits and 10,000 transferred from the predecessor organisations. The first incarnation never exceeded 25,000.

Depots

Depots were opened in 1918 at Handsworth College, in Glasgow, at

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 ...

RAF Spitalgate Royal Air Force Spitalgate or more simply RAF Spitalgate formerly known as RFC Grantham and RAF Grantham was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station, located south east of the centre of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England fronting onto th ...

, near Grantham, and at York. In the 1950s the WRAF Depot and WRAF Officer Cadet Training Unit were opened at

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 ...

in Kent.

Ranks

The WRAF inherited its rank structure from its predecessor, the WAAF. As with WAAF practice (from 1940), other ranks held standard RAF ranks, but officers used a separate ranking system until 1968, when they too adopted

RAF officer ranks The officer ranks of the Royal Air Force, as they are today, were introduced in 1919. Prior to that Army ranks were used. Ranks Notes Origins Lieutenant General David Henderson originally proposed that Royal Air Force officers use a comb ...

. These ranks were introduced in 1949. The First World War service used different ranks.

List of Commandants WRAF

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 ...

, 1918 *

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 Augu ...

, May–September 1918 *

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 Commanda ...

, September 1918 – 1920

List of Directors WRAF

* Air Commandant Dame Felicity Hanbury, 1949–1950 * Air Commandant Dame Nancy Salmon, 1950–1956 * Air Commandant Dame Henrietta Barnett, 1956–1959 * Air Commandant Dame Anne Stephens, 1959–1962 * Air Commandant Dame Jean Conan Doyle, 1962–1966 * Air Commodore Dame Felicity Hill, 1966–1969 * Air Commodore Philippa Marshall, 1969–1973 * Air Commodore Molly Allott, 1973–1976 * Air Commodore Joy Tamblin, 1976–1980 * Air Commodore Helen Renton, 1980–1986 * Air Commodore Shirley Jones, 1986–1989 * Air Commodore Ruth Montague, 1989–1994

Strength

Depots

Ranks

List of Commandants WRAF

List of Directors WRAF

See also

Notes

References

Further reading