Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
Encyclopedia
The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve and by the Chief of the Air Staff who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service overseas. The WAAAF was the first and largest of the World War II Australian Women's Services. It was disbanded in December 1947.

History

Not long after World War II was declared in 1939, the Royal Australian Air Force had an urgent need for more skilled and semi-skilled signals and maintenance personnel to fulfil its wartime commitments to the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) for local defence in Australia.

On 4 February 1941, the formation of an air force women's auxiliary was approved by the War Cabinet. It had taken 14 months of difficult discussion and opposition to achieve this final outcome.

The formation of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) set a precedent for the formation of other women's service organisations such as The Australian Women's Army Service
Australian Women's Army Service
The Australian Women's Army Service or "AWAS" was a women's service established on 13 August 1941 to "release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units".-Formation / Structure:...

 (AWAS) and the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service
Women's Royal Australian Naval Service
The Service was established in April 1941 when the Royal Australian Navy enrolled 14 women at HMAS Harman, the wireless telegraphy station near Canberra. Two women were stewards, and 12 trained as telegraphists...

 (WRANS).

Approximately 27,000 women enlisted in the WAAAF between 15 March 1941 and 24 August 1945. In June 1941, Squadron Officer Clare Stevenson
Clare Stevenson
Clare Grant Stevenson AM, MBE was the inaugural Director of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force . As such, she has been described as "the most significant woman in the history of the Air Force"...

 was appointed Director of the WAAAF.

See also

  • Australian Women's Land Army
    Australian Women's Land Army
    The Australian Women's Land Army was an organisation created in World War II in Australia to combat rising labour shortages in the farming sector. The AWLA was formed on 27 July 1942 and was modelled on Women's Land Army in Great Britain. When Japan joined the Axis in 1941 male agricultural labour...

  • Australian Women's Army Service
    Australian Women's Army Service
    The Australian Women's Army Service or "AWAS" was a women's service established on 13 August 1941 to "release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units".-Formation / Structure:...

  • Women's Royal Australian Naval Service
    Women's Royal Australian Naval Service
    The Service was established in April 1941 when the Royal Australian Navy enrolled 14 women at HMAS Harman, the wireless telegraphy station near Canberra. Two women were stewards, and 12 trained as telegraphists...

  • Female roles in the World Wars
    Female roles in the World Wars
    There is little doubt that levi richardson is the man. he loves all the women of the world. even liz women's work in the two World Wars of the twentieth century was an important factor in the outcome of both wars...

  • Women's Royal Australian Air Force
    Women's Royal Australian Air Force
    The Women's Royal Australian Air Force was formed in 1950, after the success of women serving in the Air Forces had been demonstrated by the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force . The first recruits began training on 30 January 1951. In 1972, the service achieved a pay scale equal to the male...


  • Women's Auxiliary Air Force
    Women's Auxiliary Air Force
    The Women's Auxiliary Air Force , whose members were invariably referred to as Waafs , was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II, established in 1939. At its peak strength, in 1943, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.A Women's Royal Air...

    - UK example established 1939
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