The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War, remaining active until integrated into the Royal Navy in 1993. WRNS included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics.
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-British air force-specific rank structure. Group captain has a NATO rank code of OF-5, meaning that it ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore, and is the equivalent of the rank of captain in the navy and of the rank of colonel in other services.
Air commodore is a senior rank in the air forces of the United Kingdom and other countries including Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. It is a one-star rank and is an air officer rank. It originated in, and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force.
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and RAF, and as FLTLT in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and has sometimes also been abbreviated as F/L in many services; it has never been correctly abbreviated as "lieutenant". A flight lieutenant ranks above flying officer and below a squadron leader and is sometimes used as an English language translation of a similar rank in non-English-speaking countries.
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs, was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps is the nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services.
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.
Royal Air Force Habbaniya, more commonly known as RAF Habbaniya, , was a Royal Air Force station at Habbaniyah, about 55 miles (89 km) west of Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, on the banks of the Euphrates near Lake Habbaniyah. It was developed from 1934, and was operational from October 1936 until 31 May 1959 when the RAF finally withdrew after the July 1958 Revolution made the British military presence no longer welcome. It was the scene of fierce fighting in May 1941 when it was besieged by the Iraqi Military following the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état.
Air Commodore Edward Alexander Dimsdale Masterman, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force in the first half of the 20th century. After retiring from the RAF, he served as the first ever Commandant of the Observer Corps.
Air Commandant Dame Felicity Hyde, Lady Peake was the founding director of the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) She started flying when her first husband took up the hobby in 1935, but in 1946 became the first director of the WRAF. She was Honorary Aide-de-camp to King George VI from 1949 to 1950.
Dame Joanna Margaret Cruickshank, was a British military nurse and nursing administrator. She founded Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service in November 1918 and served as its first Matron-in-Chief from 1921 until her retirement in November 1930.
Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) is the nursing branch of the British Royal Navy. The Service unit works alongside the Royal Navy Medical Branch.
Air Commandant Dame Helen Wilson Cargill, was a British nurse and Royal Air force officer. From 1948 to 1952, she was Matron-in-Chief of Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service.
Air Commandant Dame Mary Henrietta Barnett, known as Henrietta Barnett, was a senior officer of the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF). From 1956 to 1960, she served as its director.
The Princess Mary's Hospital, RAF Akrotiri,, was a military hospital located on the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus. The hospital was the last British military hospital to remain in operation after all other hospitals had closed down in the 1990s and 2000s. Originally the site was a dedicated RAF Hospital, but since 1996 it had been a Defence Medical Services asset. The hospital provided care for service personnel, their dependants and the local Cypriot population. It also treated many others from non-British and non-Cypriot countries. The setting of the hospital gave rise to the nickname Alcatraz, and it was staffed by personnel from the Royal Air Force and the British Army.
Air Commandant Dame Veronica Margaret Ashworth, was a British nurse, midwife, and Royal Air Force officer. From 1963 to 1966, she served as Matron-in-Chief of Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service.
RAF Hospital Ely, was a Royal Air Force staffed military hospital in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The hospital opened in 1940, and was one of a handful of Second World War era RAF hospitals that were kept open post Second World War, remaining a military asset until 1992, although it also treated non-service patients, usually those who lived locally. On closure, the hospital became a civilian hospital under the NHS. Although not located on an established RAF Base, RAFH Ely was located within 50 miles (80 km) of forty RAF bases in the Second World War.
The Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Hospital Halton, was the first Royal Air Force hospital to be built that was dedicated to air force personnel. Located on what was then the largest of the RAF camps at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire, England, the hospital treated over 20,000 patients during the Second World War and was the first place in the world to use penicillin on a large-scale. The hospital continued in use throughout the Cold War, only closing in 1996 due to defence cuts.
Iris "Fluffy" Bower was a British nurse who served in the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service during Second World War. She was one of only two women in Normandy during the first few days of the D-Day campaign, and attended patients at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Prior to D-Day, she had been in two different RAF hospitals which had suffered from bombing raids.
United Kingdom 
Royal Air Force 
