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Women's Royal Air Force
Women's Royal Air Force
Active	1918–1920; 1949–1994
Country	United Kingdom
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Type	Women's organisation
Role	Support services
Size	Peak of ~25,000 (1918–1920)
Garrison/HQ	RAF Hawkinge
Motto	Per Ardua ad Astra (Through Adversity to the Stars)
Colours	Royal Air Force Blue
March	Royal Air Force March Past
Commanders
Last Director WRAF	Air Commodore Ruth Montague
Air Chief Commandant	Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester

The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of the Royal Air Force. It existed in two separate incarnations: the Women's Royal Air Force from 1918 to 1920 and the Women's Royal Air Force from 1949 to 1994.

On 1 February 1949,^[1] the name of the First World War organisation was revived when the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, which had been founded in 1939,^[2]^[3]^[4] was re-established on a regular footing as the Women's Royal Air Force.^[1] 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 forces 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 were only permitted to become aircrew as air loadmasters and air stewards until 1989, when all flying posts were opened to women,^[5] although they were not permitted to become aircrew on fast jets until 1994.

Strength

The target strength had been a force of around 90,000, figures are unreliable until 1 August 1918, when the strength was 15,433, approximately 5,000 recruits and 10,000 transferred from the predecessor organisations. The first incarnation never exceeded 25,000.^[6]

Depots

Depots were opened in 1918 at Handsworth College, in Glasgow, at RAF Flowerdown, RAF Spitalgate, near Grantham, and at York. In the 1950s the WRAF Depot and WRAF Officer Cadet Training Unit were opened at RAF Hawkinge in Kent.

Ranks

The WRAF inherited its rank structure from its predecessor, the WAAF. As with WAAF practice (from 1940), other ranks held standard RAF ranks, but officers used a separate ranking system until 1968, when they too adopted RAF officer ranks.

NATO code	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1
Women's Royal Air Force (1949–1968) v t e
Women's Royal Air Force (1949–1968) v t e				Air chief commandant^{[note 1]}	Air commandant	Group officer	Wing officer	Squadron officer	Flight officer	Section officer	Assistant section officer
Royal Air Force^[7] v t e
Royal Air Force^[7] v t e	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

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

List of Commandants WRAF

Gertrude Crawford, 1918
Violet Douglas-Pennant, May–September 1918
Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, September 1918 – 1920

List of Directors WRAF

Air Commandant Dame Felicity Hanbury, 1949–1950
Air Commandant Dame Nancy Salmon, 1950–1956
Air Commandant Dame Henrietta Barnett, 1956–1960
Air Commandant Dame Anne Stephens, 1960–1963
Air Commandant Dame Jean Conan Doyle, 1963–1966
Air Commodore Dame Felicity Hill, 1966–1969
Air Commodore Philippa Marshall, 1969–1973
Air Commodore Molly Allott, 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

Notes

↑ An honorary rank held only by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, who held it as a rank (until 1968) and later an appointment throughout the WRAF's existence. On 1 April 1994 her title changed to Air chief commandant for Women, RAF, by which time she held the rank of Air chief marshal.

References

1 2 Crang 2020, pp. 225–226, 228.
↑ Narracot 1941, p. 108 (n115).
↑ Mills 2006, p. 99.
↑ Welsh 1946, p. 376.
↑ "Female Aircrew in the RAF", Newscheck, Careers and Occupational Centre, vol. 1, no. 3, July 1990
↑ Escott 1989, p. 21.
↑ "RAF Ranks". raf.mod.uk/. Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 6 June 2026. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

Works cited

Crang, Jeremy A. (2020). Sisters in Arms: Women in the British Armed Forces during the Second World War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-01347-6.
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. ISBN 9781852600662.
Mills, Albert J. (2006). Sex, Strategy and the Stratosphere: Airlines and the Gendering of Organizational Culture. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-59570-5.
Narracot, A. H. (1941). "9 - Woman in Blue". How The R A F Works. Frederick Muller Limited. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
Welsh, Mary (1946). "The Women's Auxiliary Air Force in the War". RUSI Journal. 91 (563). Royal United Services Institution: 376–381. doi:10.1080/03071844609433943.

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