Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps

The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), known as Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC) from 9 April 1918, was the women's corps of the British Army during and immediately after the First World War.[1] It was established in February 1917 and disbanded on 27 September 1921.

The WAACs marching in London at the end of World War I, 1918
The winning Queen Mary's Auxiliary Army Corps tug-o-war at the New Zealand Infantry and General Base Depot, Etaples, France, 3 August 1918

History
Recruitment poster

The corps was formally instituted on 7 July 1917 by Lieutenant-General Sir Nevil Macready, the adjutant-general, who appointed Dr Mona Chalmers Watson the first chief controller.[2] More than 57,000 women served between January 1917 and November 1918.

On 31 March 1917, women in the WAAC were first sent to the battlefields in France, just fourteen cooks and waitresses.[3] Helen Gwynne-Vaughan was the chief controller overseas, and Florence Leach was the controller of the cooks. In 1918, women medical personnel were sent to the front in France; one such was Dr Phoebe Chapple, who was awarded the Military Medal for her actions during an air raid on the WAAC shelter trench outside Abbeville in May 1918.[4]

The corps was disbanded on 27 September 1921. The last surviving QMAAC veteran was Ivy Campany, who died in 2008.

Ranks and rank insignia

This system was authorised by Army Council Instruction No. 1069, 1917. All insignia was worn on epaulettes unless otherwise specified.[5]

Rank Rank insignia
Chief ControllerDouble rose
Deputy Chief Controller
Chief Controller (Overseas)		One fleur-de-lys and two roses
Deputy Chief Controller (Overseas)
Section Controller		One fleur-de-lys and one rose
Assistant Section ControllerTwo fleur-de-lys
Area ControllerOne fleur-de-lys
Clothing Controller
Unit Administrator (i/c large hostel)		Three roses
Deputy Administrator (i/c small hostel)
Quartermistress Class I		Two roses
Technical Assistant Controller
Deputy Administrator (2i/c large hostel)
Assistant Administrator
Quartermistress Class II		One rose
ForewomanRose and laurel wreath on right upper arm
Assistant ForewomanLaurel wreath on right upper arm

List of controllers
Chief controllers
Controllers

Records

After a German air raid in September 1940, most of the service records did not survive. Those which did have suffered fire, water and mould damage. The National Archives digitised these to prevent further damage and they can be searched and viewed online.[8]

See also
  • Women in the First World War

References
  1. Pennington, Reina (2003). Amazons to Fighter Pilots - A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women (Volume 2). Westpoint, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 464–465. ISBN 0-313-29197-7.
  2. Spiers, Edward M., ed. (2011). A Military History of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780748633357. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  3. Bidwell, Shelford. The Women's Royal Army Corps, p. 1.
  4. "Military Medal: Dr Phoebe Chapple, Royal Army Medical Corps". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  5. War Office, Army Council Instruction No. 1069, 7 July 1917.
  6. "Horniblow [married name Dalton], (Emilie) Hilda". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/62131. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. Bidwell, Shelford (1997). The Women s Royal Army Corps. Pen & Sword. p. 28. ISBN 9780850520996. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  8. Women's (later Queen Mary's) Army Auxiliary Corps (1917–1920) – DocumentsOnline research guide
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