The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

to which all women in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

belonged from 1949 to 1992 except medical, dental and veterinary officers and chaplains, who belonged to the same corps as the men; the

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

, which recruited women from 1973, and nurses, who belonged to

Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC; known as ''the QAs'') was the nursing branch of the British Army Army Medical Services, Medical Services. In November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army Medical Corps and Ro ...

History

The WRAC was formed on 1 February 1949, by Army Order 6, as the successor to the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

(ATS) that had been founded in 1938. For much of its existence, its members performed administrative and other support tasks. In March 1952 the ranks of the WRAC, which had previously been Subaltern, Junior Commander, Senior Commander and Controller were harmonised with the rest of the British Army. In 1974, two soldiers of the corps were killed by the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

in the Guildford pub bombings. In October 1990 WRAC officers employed with other corps were transferred to those corps and in April 1992 the WRAC was disbanded and its remaining members transferred to the Corps they served with. Those who served with the

Royal Army Pay Corps The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the corps of the British Army responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992. History The first "paymasters" existed in the army before the fo ...

, the Corps of Royal Military Police, the

Military Provost Staff Corps The Military Provost Staff are the British Army's specialists in custody and detention, providing advice inspection and surety within custodial establishments. The MPS form part of the Adjutant General's Corps and are based at the Military Corre ...

, the

Royal Army Educational Corps The Royal Army Educational Corps (RAEC) was a corps of the British Army tasked with educating and instructing personnel in a diverse range of skills. On 6 April 1992 it became the Educational and Training Services Branch (ETS) of the Adjutant Ge ...

, the Army Legal Corps and the Staff Clerks from the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equi ...

were transferred to the newly formed

Adjutant General's Corps The Adjutant General's Corps is a corps in the British Army responsible for many of its general administrative services, named for the Adjutant-General to the Forces (now the Commander Home Command). As of 2002, the AGC had a staff of 7,000 peop ...

. The post of Director WRAC, which carried the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

, was also abolished and it was seven years before a woman, Brigadier Patricia Purves, again reached that rank.

Senior posts

The highest rank available to a serving officer was

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

, held by the Director WRAC, although the Controller-Commandant, a member of the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

, held a higher honorary rank. Princess Mary held the post from 1949 to her death in 1965 (beginning as a major general and being promoted

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

on 23 November 1956) and the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, Duchess of Kent ...

held it from 1967 to 1992 (with the rank of Major-General).

List of directors WRAC

Directors of the WRAC were: *Brigadier Dame

Mary Tyrwhitt Brigadier Dame Mary Joan Caroline Tyrwhitt, DBE, TD (22 December 1903 – 18 March 1997) was a British Army officer. She was the last director of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) and the first director of the Women's Royal Army C ...

, 1949–1950 *Brigadier Dame

Mary Coulshed Brigadier Dame Mary Frances Coulshed, DBE, TD (10 November 1904 – 28 September 1998) was a British Army officer who served as Director of the Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC). She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British E ...

, 1950–1954 *Brigadier Dame

Mary Railton Brigadier Dame Mary Railton, (28 May 1906 – 12 November 1992) was a senior British Army officer. She served as Director of the Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC) from 1954 to 1957, and its Deputy Controller Commandant from 1961 to 1967. She had jo ...

, 1954–1957 *Brigadier Dame

Mary Colvin Dame Mary Katherine Rosamund Colvin (25 October 1907 – 23 September 1988) was a British Army officer who was director of the Women's Royal Army Corps and president of the British Horse Society. She held the rank of Brigadier. Family Colvin ...

, 1957–1961 *Brigadier Dame

Jean Rivett-Drake Brigadier (United Kingdom), Brigadier Dame Jean Elizabeth Rivett-Drake, (1909 – 8 August 1999) was a senior British Army officer and politician. She served as director of the Women's Royal Army Corps between 1961 and 1964. After retiring from the ...

, 1961–1964 *Brigadier Dame Joan Henderson, 1964– 25 August 1967 *Brigadier Dame Mary Anderson, 1967–1970 *Brigadier

Sheila Heaney Sheila Anne Elizabeth Heaney, CB, MBE, TD (11 June 1917 – 1 February 1991) was a British Army officer. She joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service shortly before the Second World War and served in the UK, East Africa and Palestine. In 1949 ...

, 1970–1973 *Brigadier Eileen Nolan, 1973–1977 *Brigadier Anne Field, 1977–1982 *Brigadier Helen Meechie, 1982–1986 *Brigadier Shirley Nield, 1986–1989 *Brigadier Gael Ramsey, 1989–1992 *Brigadier Joan Roulstone, 1992–1994 (as Director Women (Army) during transitional period)

The Staff Band of the WRAC

The Staff Band of the Women's Royal Army Corps was an all female military band. It was formed in 1949, and was the only all-female band in the British Armed Forces by the time it was disestablished. The Central Band 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 ...

, which was one of only two all-female bands to exist, transferred some of its musicians to the Band of the AGC after it was disbanded in 1972. Since the mid-1990s, women have served in all British Army bands. The instruments, assets and personnel of the former WRAC Band became the new Band of the

Reunion meetings

The WRAC organizes Reunion Meetings to promote solidarity among its former members.

References

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