The Battle of Britain

Women's Services in the First World War

Recruiting poster for Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps, c. 1918; The jolly image depicted on this poster shows the khaki gabardine coatfrock uniform worn by members of the QMAAC. The different type of work undertaken by the women was indicated by a colour inset on the shoulder strap – the colour red here indicates the Household Section (domestic workers).

Recruiting poster for Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps, c. 1918

posters

The jolly image depicted on this poster shows the khaki gabardine coatfrock uniform worn by members of the QMAAC. The different type of work undertaken by the women was indicated by a colour inset on the shoulder strap – the colour red here indicates the Household Section (domestic workers).

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Pressure from women for their own uniformed service to assist the war effort began in August 1914. Many organisations sprang up, such as the Women’s Volunteer Reserve and Lady Londonderry’s Women’s Legion, which provided cooks for Army camps....

Pressure from women for their own uniformed service to assist the war effort began in August 1914. Many organisations sprang up, such as the Women’s Volunteer Reserve and Lady Londonderry’s Women’s Legion, which provided cooks for Army camps.

The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was established in December 1916. Its formation was largely due to a War Office investigation which showed that a large number of non-combatant tasks were being performed by soldiers in France.  It was clear that women could do many of these jobs, potentially freeing up 12,000 men for service in the front line. The first party of 14 women arrived on the Western Front on 31 March 1917. Eventually, 9,000 women served with the unit in France.

In April 1918, the WAAC was renamed Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC). Over 57,000 women served with it, at home and abroad, before it was disbanded on 27 September 1921.

The Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) was formed in November 1917, with 3,000 women.  This doubled in size with 'Wrens' working in over 100 different roles.

The Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) was born on 1 April 1918 with the Royal Air Force. Members of both the WAAC and WRNS transferred to the new service, which grew to 32,000, serving at home and in Germany and France. They undertook mechanical and technical roles as well as cooking, driving and administration.  The WRAF and WRNS were both dissolved in 1920, but all three women’s services were reformed just before the outbreak of the Second World War.

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  • Recruiting poster for the WRNS

    posters

    Recruiting poster for the WRNS; Recruiting poster for the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS), designed by Joyce Dennys, c. 1918

  • A member of the WRAF at work

    photographs

    A member of the WRAF at work; Photograph showing a member of the Women’s Royal Air Force working on an aircraft propeller, c. 1918

  • Ratings in the WRNS

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    Ratings in the WRNS; Ratings in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) wire together glass floats as part of their work as mine net workers. The view offers a good contrast between the ratings’ uniform – note the summer hats, and their naval collars – and the officers' uniform.

  • The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps

    photographs

    The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps; Members of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, France, 1917. This picture was taken in Abbeville on 15 September 1917 when the formation was still called the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. It shows the women clustering around a notice board to read their orders for the day. The Nissen huts in which they lived and some worked can be clearly seen.

  • Clothing being issued by the WAAC

    photographs

    Clothing being issued by the WAAC; Clothing being issued by the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) from a Nissen hut damaged by an air raid at Abbeville, France, 1918. Although the women of the WAAC were based behind the front lines in France, they were not entirely out of danger. This photograph shows a Nissen hut that has been badly damaged in an air raid at Abbeville on 22 May 1918. Clothing continues to be issued despite the state of the building. Nine members of the unit died as a result of an air raid on Abbeville on the night of 29 May 1918.

  • Members of the WRAF in Cologne

    photographs

    Members of the WRAF in Cologne; Members of the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) boarding Air Force tenders to go to their billets in Cologne, 1919. About 300 members of the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) served in Cologne when the Rhineland was occupied after the end of the First World War.

  • Dame Katharine Furse Director of the WRNS

    photographs

    Dame Katharine Furse Director of the WRNS; Photograph showing Dame Katharine Furse at work as the Director of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, 1918. Before taking up this role, Dame Katharine Furse had been the Commandant-in-Chief of Women Voluntary Aid Detachments, and so brought a great deal of practical experience to the role. She is pictured with her secretary, Miss M Butcher.

  • Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, by William Orpen

    art

    Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, by William Orpen; The First Chief Controller, QMAAC in France, Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, CBE, DSC, 1918, by William Orpen. Sir William Orpen’s portrait of Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan shows her in full uniform. She became the First Chief Controller of Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps in France – the title was changed from the Chief Women Controller, because she felt her authority would be undermined by being known as the Chief WC. She was headhunted to lead the new Women’s Royal Air Force in April 1918. Many of the prominent female figures served with a variety of different organisations during the war.