The Women's Royal Army Corps was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992, except medical, dental and veterinary officers and chaplains, the Ulster Defence Regiment which recruited women from 1973, and nurses.
In Great Britain just before World War I there were 24 million adult women and 1.7 million worked in domestic service, 200,000 worked in the textile manufacturing industry, 600,000 worked in the clothing trades, 500,000 worked in commerce, and 260,000 worked in local and national government, including teaching. The British textile and clothing trades, in particular, employed far more women than men and were regarded as 'women's work'. During WWII, in total, 6 million women were added to the workforce in what resulted as a major cultural shift. With the men fighting in the wars, women were needed to take on responsibilities that the men had to leave behind.
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs, was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.
The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942 by Pub.L. 77–554, and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States as the WAC on 1 July 1943. Its first director was Oveta Culp Hobby, a prominent woman in Texas society. The WAC was disbanded in 1978, and all units were integrated with male units.
Edith Nourse Rogers was an American social welfare volunteer and politician who served in the United States Congress. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts. Until 2012, she was the longest serving Congresswoman and was the longest serving female Representative until 2018. In her 35 years in the House of Representatives she was a powerful voice for veterans and sponsored seminal legislation, including the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, which provided educational and financial benefits for veterans returning home from World War II, the 1942 bill that created the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), and the 1943 bill that created the Women's Army Corps (WAC). She was also instrumental in bringing federal appropriations to her constituency, Massachusetts's 5th congressional district. Her love and devotion to veterans and their complex needs upon returning to civilian life is represented by the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford Massachusetts that is named in her honor.
The Auxiliary Territorial Service was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into the Women's Royal Army Corps.
Elizabeth Paschel Hoisington was a United States Army officer who was one of the first two women to attain the rank of brigadier general.
This timeline of women in warfare and the military (1900–1945) deals with the role of women in the military around the world from 1900 through 1945. The two major events in this time period were World War I and World War II. Please see Women in World War I and Women in World War II for more information.
Dame Emma Maud McCarthy, was a nursing sister and British Army matron-in-chief.
Dame Florence Edith Victoria Simpson, was the senior female British Army officer during World War I and Controller in Chief, later President, Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps.
Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan, was a prominent English botanist and mycologist. During the First World War, she served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and then as Commandant of the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) from 1918 to 1919. During the Second World War, from 1939 to 1941, she served as Chief Controller of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS).
Dame Louisa Jane Wilkinson, was a British military nurse and nursing administrator who served as Matron-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) from 1944 to 1948. She founded Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC), and was also president of the Royal College of Nursing.
The 1947 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 31 December 1946.
Alexandra Mary Chalmers Watson CBE,, known as Mona Chalmers Watson, was a Scottish physician and head of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. The first woman to receive an MD from the University of Edinburgh, she helped found the Elsie Inglis Hospital for Women, was the first president of the Edinburgh Women's Citizen Association, a staff physician and later senior physician at the Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children, and co-edited the Encyclopaedia Medica with her husband, Douglas Chalmers Watson. At the time of her death in 1936, she was president of the Medical Women's Federation, having been elected May 1935.
Phoebe Chapple was a South Australian doctor, decorated for her heroic service in France during World War I.
Emilie Hilda Dalton, was an English army officer and teacher.
This is a list of MBEs awarded in the 1919 New Years Honours.
Beatrice Ethel Lithiby was a British artist known as a painter and designer of stained glass and church furnishings. She served in both World War I and World War II in the British Army and in the former conflict also worked as a war artist for the Imperial War Museum.
Reginald George Shelford "Ginger" Bidwell, was a British Army officer and military historian.
The Women's Auxiliary Army Corps was a female auxiliary of the New Zealand Military Forces. Raised during the Second World War under the command of Vida Jowett, most of its personnel served on the Home Front, with several manning coastal and anti-aircraft defences. Many WAACs were sent overseas to serve in Europe and the Middle East, mainly providing medical and welfare services to the troops of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force. At its peak, it had a strength of nearly 4,600 serving personnel. After the war, some WAACs served with Jayforce, providing welfare services for the New Zealand troops doing occupation duties in Japan.
United Kingdom 
British Army 
