Duty Calls
Today women serve in the Royal Air Force and all roles are now open to them. This has not always been the case.
Object number : X003-2646-a
Flight Lieutenant Julie Gibson, the first female pilot to serve in the regular RAF
Copyright : Crown
Back into action
On 28 June 1939 King George VI approved the formation of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) for duty with the RAF in a time of war. However, it was not the first time that women had served alongside the air force during a major conflict.
The Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) had been established at the same time as the RAF on 1 April 1918. Its members had demonstrated the important contribution women could make to the air war. The WRAF however, suffered in the post-war defence cuts and was abolished in 1920.
Object number : PC98-164-24
The WRAF undertook a range of work including aircraft maintenance
Copyright : Crown
Preparing for the worst
With the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, in 1919, the potential of a future war was a possibility but was not anticipated for another 10 years. The idea of forming a peacetime reserve of women who could be employed if war did take place was discussed. Various voluntary groups formed during the 1930s.
Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, former Commandant of the WRAF, was instrumental in the formation of the Emergency Service. She had approached the War Office and the Air Ministry for support with drill and lectures to train officers. On one occasion it is reported that a sergeant found among his audience the wife of a Marshal of the RAF, the wife of the Chief of the Air Staff and the wife of the Air Member for Personnel.
Formal recognition
With war clouds gathering, it was decided to form a new combined uniformed women’s organisation. It was to be called the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). The Air Council gave its support on 23 August 1938 but asked that women enrolled for duty with the RAF should serve in separate companies and wear a distinctive badge on the collar incorporating wings. On 9 September, recruitment got under way. It was agreed that any new ATS Company formed in London should be attached to No. 601 Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force (AAF). This unit had their base at RAF Hendon, (site of the RAF Museum, London) And, having already trained, Emergency Service Volunteers were ready to welcome the recruits.
Object number : X007-5523
Auxiliary Air Force hangars at RAF Hendon, 1930s
Copyright : [to be completed]
A new service is founded
During the autumn, this idea was extended to the whole country. RAF Companies of the ATS, which had been working with the Territorial Army, were attached to units of the AAF and from January 1939 these Companies, 48 in total, became the responsibility of the Air Council. In March, separate RAF courses were started at the ATS School of Instruction for officers at the Duke of York’s HQ in Chelsea and alternated with Army courses until the outbreak of war.
Blue cloth was also ordered for the RAF Companies and the Director of Personal Services recommended that RAF badge and badges of rank should be worn. In April 1939, the Air Member for Personnel, later MRAF Viscount Portal, proposed breaking from the Army completely and forming a new service. The Air Council agreed and the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force came into being. Jane Katherine Trefusis Forbes was appointed its first Director.
Royal approval
The National Defence Rally of All Women’s Services took place on 2 July 1939. This was the first public display for the new force just a few days after it had formed. King George VI took the salute of the airwomen as they marched past.
A vital contribution
When war was declared on 3 September 1939, the WAAF had 1,734 members. Just four years later its strength would peak at 182,000. The type of work undertaken by the women also expanded from the initial traditional clerical and domestic roles to a broad range of jobs which included specialist work and technical trades. The WAAF went on to provide vital service with the RAF during the Second World War.
The formation of the WAAF, together with the contributions and sacrifices made by its members, represent major steps taken towards the fully integrated RAF of today.
