Women's Royal Air Force

The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was a women's branch of the Royal Air Force 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 mechanics in order to free up men for service in World War I. However, the organization saw huge enrolment, 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 Gladys Powers, who died in 2008.

On 1 February 1949, the name was revived when the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, 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.

Ranks

Other Ranks held standard RAF ranks, but officers used a separate ranking systerm until 1968, when they too adopted RAF ranks.

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

List of Commandants WRAF

*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 Barnet, 1956–1959
*Air Commandant Dame Anne Stephens, 1959–1962
*Air Commandant Dame Jean Conan Doyle, 1962–1966
*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–

Notes