Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) 1949-1994 - Part 1

The Women's Royal Air Force was reborn on 1 February 1949, offering women a full professional career in the air force for the first time. Although women had served alongside the Royal Air Force (RAF) before, it had always been in a temporary wartime capacity.

The passing of the Army and Air Force (Women's Service) Act in 1948 created the opportunity for a permanent peacetime role for women in the Armed Forces, in recognition of their invaluable wartime contribution.

From the outset, the WRAF was to be integrated as fully as possible with the RAF, a source of much pride for its members. All new entrants were commissioned or enlisted in the Royal Air Force, taking the same oath as the men, and subject to the same conditions of service and disciplinary code.

The only restriction placed on their employment was that they should not undertake combatant duties. King's Regulations were rewritten to include the WRAF and, except in issues of women's welfare, WRAF personnel were in principle to be treated like their male counterparts.

Initially, female entrants underwent basic training separately, joining their male colleagues for professional training in their chosen branch or trade.

On completion of training, WRAFs were posted to RAF stations both at home and overseas, serving as far afield as Singapore, Burma and Iraq. Despite their non-combatant status, the WRAF found themselves at the heart of Britain's numerous post-war conflicts in places such as Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus where they performed vital support roles, often in dangerous situations.

• Part 2