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Women's Auxiliary Air Force

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Poster

TheWomen's Auxiliary Air Force(WAAF), whose members were referred to asWAAFs(/ˈwæfs/), was the female auxiliary of the BritishRoyal Air Forceduring theSecond World War.Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak strength in 1943, (15.7% of the RAF)[1]with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.

History

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AWomen's Royal Air Forcehad existed from 1918 to 1920, but had been disbanded in the wake of the end of theFirst World War,alongside theWomen's Army Auxiliary Corp(1917–1921) and the first iteration of theWomen's Royal Naval Service(1917–1919).[1]

Second World War

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The Women's Auxiliary Air Force was created on 28 June 1939, absorbing the forty-eight RAF companies of theAuxiliary Territorial Servicewhich had existed since 1938, following theMunich Agreement.[2]Conscription of women did not begin until after December 1941 when the UK Government passed the National Service Act (No. 2), which was issued byRoyal Proclamationon 10 January 1942. It only applied to those between 20 and 30 years of age and they had the choice of the military auxiliary services, the civilianWomen's Land Armyor factory work in support of the war effort.[1]

Training

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Women recruited into the WAAF were given basic training at one of five sites, though not all of the sites ran training simultaneously. The five sites were atWest Drayton,Harrogate,Bridgnorth,InnsworthandWilmslow.[3]All WAAF basic recruit training was located at Wilmslow from 1943.[4]

Roles in the WAAF

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LACW Myra Roberts, Cpl Lydia Alford and LACW Edna Birkbeck, the first WAAF nursing orderlies selected to fly on air-ambulance duties to France, 1944

WAAFs did not serve asaircrew.(The use of women pilots was limited to theAir Transport Auxiliary,which was civilian, but 30 WAAFs did transfer to serve as pilots in the ATA).[1]Although WAAFs did not participate in active combat, they were exposed to the same dangers as any on the "home front" working at military installations. They were active inparachutepacking and the crewing ofbarrage balloonsin addition to performingcatering,meteorology,radar,aircraft maintenance, transport, policing,[5][6]communications duties including wirelesstelephonicandtelegraphicoperation. They worked withcodesand ciphers, analysedreconnaissance photographs,and performedintelligenceoperations. WAAFs were a vital presence in the control of aircraft, both in radar stations and iconically asplottersin operation rooms, most notably during theBattle of Britain.These operation rooms directed fighter aircraft against theLuftwaffe,mapping both home and enemy aircraft positions.[7]

Air Forcenursesbelonged toPrincess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Serviceinstead. Female medical and dental officers were commissioned into the Royal Air Force and held RAF ranks.

WAAFs were paid two-thirds of the pay of male counterparts in RAF ranks.

By the end of the Second World War, WAAF enrolment had declined and the effect ofdemobilisationwas to take the vast majority out of the service. The remainder, now only several hundred strong, was renamed theWomen's Royal Air Forceon 1 February 1949.

Flying Nightingales

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Nursing Orderlies of the WAAF flew on RAF transport planes to evacuate the wounded from the Normandy battlefields. They were dubbed the Flying Nightingales by the press.[8][9]The RAF Air Ambulance Unit flew under 46 Group Transport Command fromRAF Down Ampney,RAF Broadwell,andRAF Blakehill Farm.[10]RAFDakotaaircraft carried military supplies and ammunition so could not display theRed Cross.[11]

Training for air ambulance nursing duties included instruction in the use of oxygen, injections, learning how to deal with certain types of injuries such as broken bones, missing limb cases, head injuries, burns and colostomies; and to learn the effects of air travel and altitude.[12]Although supplied with parachutes, they were instructed not to use them if the plane was shot down on its return from Europe and instead stay with the wounded soldiers onboard and provide medical support should anyone survive the crash.[13]

The first three Flying Nightingales to arrive in France, a week after D-Day, wereCorporalLydia Alford,LACWMyra Roberts and LACW Edna Birkbeck.[14][11]

In October 2008 the seven known nurses still living were presented with lifetime achievement awards by theDuchess of Cornwall.[10]

Directors

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WAAF Recruitment poster

On 1 July 1939,Jane Trefusis Forbeswas made Director of WAAF, with the rank of Senior Controller, later, Air Commandant. On 1 January 1943 she was appointed to the rank of Air Chief Commandant with its creation. On 4 October 1943, while Forbes toured Canada, assessing theRoyal Canadian Air Force Women's Division,she was relieved byPrincess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester,who had been head of the WAAF since 1939, again with the rank of Senior Controller, then, Air Commandant, being gazetted to Air Chief Commandant on 22 March 1943. Forbes retired in August 1944, and the post of director was given to Mary Welsh, who was appointed Air Chief Commandant. After the war, the rank of Air Chief Commandant was suspended and in December 1946, the final director of WAAF, Felicity Hanbury, was appointed.

Ranks

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Initially, the WAAF used theATS ranking system,although the director held the rank of senior controller (equivalent to brigadier in the British Army and air commodore in the RAF) instead of chief controller (equivalent to major-general or air vice-marshal) as in the ATS. However, in December 1939 the title was changed to air commandant, when the ranks were renamed and reorganised.Other ranksnow held identical ranks to male RAF personnel, but officers continued to have a separate rank system, although now different from that of the ATS. From February 1940 it was no longer possible to enter directly as an officer; from that time all officers were appointed from the other ranks. From July 1941 WAAF officers held full commissions. On 1 January 1943, the rank of air chief commandant (equivalent to air vice-marshal) was created with the director's appointment to that rank.

Officers

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Air officers Field officers Junior officers
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
(1939-1940)
Senior Controller Controller Chief Commandant Senior Commandant Company Commander Deputy Company Commander Company Assistant


Women's Auxiliary Air Force
(1940-1949)[15]
Air Chief Commandant[note 1] Air Commandant Group Officer Wing Officer Squadron Officer Flight Officer Section Officer Assistant Section Officer


Royal Air Force[16]
Marshal of the RAF Air chief marshal Air marshal Air vice-marshal Air commodore Group captain Wing commander Squadron leader Flight lieutenant Flying officer Pilot officer
/acting pilot officer
NATO code OF-10 OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4 OF-3 OF-2 OF-1

Other ranks

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Rank group Senior NCOs Junior NCOs Enlisted
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
(1939-1940)
 No insignia No insignia
Senior Section Leader Section Leader Assistant Section Leader Aircraftwoman 1st Class Aircraftwoman 2nd Class


Women's Auxiliary Air Force
(1940-1949)
 No insignia No insignia
Warrant officer[note 2] Flight Sergeant[note 3] Sergeant Corporal Leading Aircraftwoman Aircraftwoman 1st Class Aircraftwoman 2nd Class
United KingdomRoyal Air Force
(1939–1950)
No insignia No insignia
Warrant officer Flight sergeant Sergeant Corporal Leading Aircraftman Aircraftman 1st Class Aircraftman 2nd Class
NATO code OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1

WAAFs serving with SOE

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Several members of the WAAF served with theSpecial Operations Executiveduring the Second World War.

Other notable WAAFs

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See also

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Notes[19]

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  1. ^created 1943 with first appointment.
  2. ^also called Under Officer
  3. ^also called Senior Sergeant

References

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  1. ^abcdeMILLER, SARAH-LOUISE (2023).WOMEN BEHIND THE FEW: the women's auxiliary air force and british intelligence during the... second world war.[S.l.]: BITEBACK PUBLISHING.ISBN978-1-78590-785-2.OCLC1349452266.
  2. ^Narracot, A.H. (1941). "9 - Woman in Blue".How The R A F Works.Frederick Muller Limited. pp.108(n115).Retrieved30 July2009.
  3. ^Escott, Beryl E. (1989).Women in air force blue: the story of women in the Royal Air Force from 1918 to the present day.Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 131.ISBN9781852600662.
  4. ^Pitchfork, Graham (2008).The Royal Air Force day by day.Stroud: Sutton. p. 258.ISBN9780750943093.
  5. ^"Ex-London Police Woman Trains W.A.A.F. Police", Imperial War Museum
  6. ^"Ex-London Police Woman Trains W.A.A.F. Police", Imperial War Museum
  7. ^Eileen Younghusband.One Woman's War.Cardiff. Candy Jar Books. 2011.ISBN978-0-9566826-2-8
  8. ^"The Flying Nightingales".RAF Broadwell website.Retrieved24 October2008.[dead link]
  9. ^Emily Retter (12 May 2024)."The forgotten story of the Nightingales – the first British women flown into a 1944 war zone".The Telegraph.Retrieved29 July2024.Closed access icon
  10. ^abJennifer Harby (24 October 2015)."Lilian West: The last of the Flying Nightingales".BBC News.Retrieved29 July2024.
  11. ^abTim Stokes (12 May 2024)."Flying Nightingales: Women who flew into WW2 battles celebrated".BBC News.Retrieved29 July2024.
  12. ^"The Flying Nightingales".Hampshire the County Magazine.Retrieved24 October2008.
  13. ^Jennifer Harby (28 October 2017)."Margaret Wilson: Flying Nightingale, 95, seeks fellow nurse's family".BBC.Retrieved30 July2024.
  14. ^Cheryl Dennis; Carys Nally (13 June 2024)."Flying Nightingales celebrated 80 years after first flight".BBC News.Retrieved30 July2024.
  15. ^Talbot-Booth, E.C. (1943).Ranks and Badges in the Navy, Army, RAF and Auxiliaries(PDF).London: George Philip & Son, Ltd. p. 31.
  16. ^"RAF Ranks".raf.mod.uk/.Royal Air Force.Retrieved21 September2021.
  17. ^"No. 38578".The London Gazette(Supplement). 5 April 1949. p. 1703.
  18. ^"WWII RAF Casualties buried in Ireland".
  19. ^Air Ministry,Women's Auxiliary Air Force: Notes for the Information of Candidates,5th edition, 1941.

Further reading

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  • Escott, Beryl,Women in Air Force Blue,Patrick Stephens, 1989.ISBN1-85260-066-7
  • Escott, Beryl,Our Wartime Days, The WAAF in World War II,Sutton Publishing Ltd, 1995.ISBN0-7509-0638-3
  • Escott, Beryl,The WAAF: A History of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force,Shire Publications, 2003.ISBN0-7478-0572-5(also quoted at[1][dead link]in context of Czech WAAFs)
  • Gane Pushman, Muriel,We All Wore Blue: Experiences in the WAAF,Tempus, 2006.ISBN978-0-7524-4130-6
  • Halsall, Christine,Women of Intelligence. Winning the Second World War with Air Photos,The History Press, 2012.ISBN978-0-7524-6477-0
  • Manning, Mick & Granström, Brita:Taff in the WAAF(English Association Award Winner), Janetta Otter-Barry Books (Frances Lincoln), 2010.ISBN978-1-84780-093-0
  • Miller, Sarah-Louise,The Women Behind the Few: The Women's Auxiliary Air Force and British Intelligence during the Second World WarBiteback Publishing, 2023.ISBN978-1-7859-0785-2
  • Rice, Joan,Sand In My Shoes: Coming of Age in the Second World War: Wartime Diaries of a WAAF,Harperpress, 2006.ISBN0-00-722820-1
  • Settle, Mary Lee,All the Brave Promises: The Memories of Aircraft Woman 2nd Class 2146391(1966)
  • Stone, Tessa. "Creating A (Gendered?) Military Identity: The Women's Auxiliary Air Force in Great Britain in the Second World War",Women's History Review,October 1999, Vol. 8, Issue 4, pp. 605–624, scholarly study
  • Turner, John Frayn (2011).The WAAF at War.Barnsley, Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Aviation.
  • Watkins, Elizabeth,Cypher Officer,Pen Press Publications, Brighton, 2008.ISBN978-1-906206-27-7A first-hand account by a young WAAF cypher officer on active duty in the Egypt, Kenya, the Seychelles and Italy in World War II.
  • Wyndham J.,Love is Blue,Heinemann, 1986.ISBN0-00-654201-8
  • Younghusband, Eileen,Not an Ordinary Life. How Changing Times Brought Historical Events into my Life,Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning, Cardiff, 2009.ISBN978-0-9561156-9-0(Pages 36–70, 251–55 and 265–67 describe the experiences of a WAAF radar Filterer in World War II.)
  • Younghusband, Eileen,One Woman's War,Candy Jar Books, 2011.ISBN978-0-9566826-2-8
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