Women's Royal Air Force
Encyclopedia
The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was a women's branch of the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 which existed in two separate incarnations.

The first WRAF was an auxiliary organization of the Royal Air Force which was founded in 1918. The original intent of the WRAF was to provide female mechanic
Mechanic
A mechanic is a craftsman or technician who uses tools to build or repair machinery.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, motorcycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, general mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and...

s in order to free up men for service in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. However, the organization saw huge enrollment, with women volunteering for positions as drivers and mechanics and filling other wartime needs. This first WRAF was disbanded in 1920. The last veteran from this era was thought to be Gladys Powers
Gladys Powers
Gladys Stokes Luxford Powers was thought to be, at age 109, the last female veteran of the First World War following the March 27, 2007 death of fellow 109-year-old Charlotte Winters from the US. However the subsequent discovery of fellow Britons Ivy Campany, who died on December 19, 2008, and...

, who died in 2008, but Florence Green
Florence Green
Florence Beatrice Green is the last known living veteran of the First World War. She was a member of the Women's Royal Air Force.-Biography:...

 was recently found to be the last-known surviving WRAF veteran.

On 1 February 1949, the name was revived when the 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...

, which had been founded in 1939, was renamed 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 military 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
Women's Royal Army Corps
The Women's Royal Army Corps was the corps to which all women in the British Army except medical, dental and veterinary officers and chaplains and nurses belonged from 1949 to 1992.-History:The...

.

Ranks

Other Ranks
Other Ranks
Other Ranks in the British Army, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force are those personnel who are not commissioned officers. In the Royal Navy, these personnel are called ratings...

 held standard RAF ranks, but officers used a separate ranking system until 1968, when they too adopted RAF ranks.
WRAF rank Equivalent RAF rank
Pilot Officer Pilot Officer
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...

Flying Officer Flying Officer
Flying Officer
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...

Flight Officer Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...

Squadron Officer Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...

Wing Officer Wing Commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...

Group Officer Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...

Air Commandant Air Commodore
Air Commodore
Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

Air Chief Commandant Air Vice-Marshal
Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...


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

List of Commandants WRAF

  • Violet Douglas-Pennant
    Violet Douglas-Pennant
    Commandant Violet Blanche Douglas-Pennant was a British philanthropist and supporter of local government who served as the first commandant of the Women's Royal Air Force until her dismissal in August 1918....

    , May–September 1918
  • Helen Gwynne-Vaughan
    Helen Gwynne-Vaughan
    Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan, GBE , née Fraser, was a prominent British botanist and mycologist....

    , September 1918–1920

List of Directors WRAF

  • Air Commandant Dame Felicity Hanbury
    Felicity Peake
    Air Commodore Dame Felicity Peake DBE was the founding director of the UK's Women's Royal Air Force ....

    , 1949–1950
  • Air Commandant Dame Nancy Salmon
    Nancy Salmon
    Air Commodore Dame Nancy Marion Salmon, DBE , also known by her married name, Dame Nancy Snagge, was a British women's air force leader during World War II...

    , 1950–1956
  • Air Commandant Dame Henrietta Barnet, 1956–1959
  • Air Commandant Dame Anne Stephens, 1959–1962
  • Air Commandant Dame Jean Conan Doyle
    Jean Conan Doyle
    Air Commandant Dame Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle, Lady Bromet , DBE, AE, WRAF, ADC was best known as Jean Conan Doyle....

    , 1962–1966
  • Air Commodore Dame Felicity Hill, 1966–1969
  • Air Commodore Philippa Marshall, 1969–1973
  • Air Commodore Molly Allott
    Molly Allott
    Air Commodore Molly G. Allott was Director of the Women's Royal Air Force from 1973 until 1976. She is the first woman in the RAF Supply Branch to have been promoted to the rank of Air Commodore.-External links:*...

    , 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

External links

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