Image: IWM (CH 14211)
With the 80th anniversary of VE day just around the corner, a quick dive in BHS’s school archives brought up some old school magazines. One of which has an article about the departure of one of their staff members to join the WAAF. The article explains that one of the members of staff is joining one of the organisations which arguably helped in the victory of WW2 for the allied powers.
Founded in 1939 by King George VI, the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was formed to free up the RAF and let the men fight and focus on other combat roles. In the beginning they had been restricted to stereotypically feminine roles such as clerks, kitchen orderlies and drivers, however as the war progressed their role got more varied like the interpretation of aerial photographs and towards the end of the war there was an influx of female engineers and mechanics in the WAAF letting the male RAF soldiers focus on ending the war.
At the time the WAAF were seen as a new breed of female and their involvement with the military was extremely out of the norm, as well as not well received. After its creation a group Captain in the RAF said “In war, women could tackle the more quiet and comfortable civilian jobs, and leave it to the fathers and brothers and cousins to fill the fighting services” and called them “petticoats in the RAF”. Even though he had changed his mind towards the end of the war this viewpoint was widely shared throughout the country.
This viewpoint towards the WAAF caused a lot of controversy, especially at the end of the war when some of the women were awarded with medals that were traditionally reserved for men. Three WAAF members were awarded the Military Medal for Bravery they were: Elspeth Henderson, Helen Turner, and Joan Elizabeth Mortimer. This was a first for women, but a lot of people didn’t like this decision because it was seen as a “man’s medal”.
At its peak the WAAF had over a quarter of a million women serving in 110 different trades and supporting various different operations around the world along with its sister organisations the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) and the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) which were part of the army and navy. These women not only served their country and went against the gender roles of their time, they also began the revolution of a new working woman, leading to laws on greater gender equality in the workforce and the creation of the Women’s royal air force (WRAF) which further solidified women’s place in the military.
Mrs Carr of Boston High School was one of those who committed to the cause and supported the war effort.
Alice Yr9
Boston High School