OUR HISTORY
The history of The WAAC, The QMAAC, The ATS and The WRAC
The WAAC & QMAAC
In 1917 during the Great War, women were recruited for service with the army in a non-nursing capacity for the first time. The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was formed, later becoming the Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC) when Queen Mary became its patron. Members of the QMAAC served with the British Expeditionary Force in France winning 3 Military Medals for gallantry before it was disbanded in 1921.
The ATS
The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) was formed on 9 September 1938 by order of George VI. More than 250,000 women, one of the most famous being the then Princess Elizabeth who was commissioned in March 1945, wore the uniform of the ATS during World War II. They served in most of the overseas theatres of operation as well as in the defence of the United Kingdom, particularly in Anti Aircraft Command. They also served as drivers, orderlies, store women and cooks. 72 service women were killed in action and 313 were wounded.
By the end of World War II it was acknowledged that women would be a valuable asset to a peacetime army. Women continued to serve on emergency engagements in the ATS whilst plans were formulated for a regular Women’s Corps.
The WRAC
In 1948 the Secretary of State, Mr Emmanuel Shinwell, made a formal submission to the Crown for permission to raise a corps of women for the Regular Army and Territorial Army. This received the Royal Assent on 1 February 1949 and the Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC) came into being. For the first time women in the Army became subject to all sections of the Army Act. Dame Mary Tyrwhitt DBE TD was the first Director of the WRAC.
The WRAC was initially organised into battalions and companies, later into independent companies and platoons, and gradually became integrated with their employing military units. The initial Corps Charter stated that it was ‘to provide replacements for officers and men in such employment as may be specified by the Army Council from time to time’. Women served in over 40 different trades in 20 different Arms and Corps.
In March 1950 Field Marshal Sir William Slim GBE KCB DSO MC announced that female officers would use the same tiles as male officers. Previously, they had been known as Subaltern, Junior Commander, Senior Commander, Controller.
Significant people in our history
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who had been Commandant in Chief (ATS) since 1940, became Commandant in Chief (WRAC) in 1949.
Princess Mary, The Princess Royal, who had been Controller Commandant (ATS), became Controller Commandant (WRAC) in the honorary rank of Major General.
Following the death of The Princess Royal in 1965, Katharine, Duchess of Kent became Controller Commandant in the rank of Honorary Major General in 1967 and was President of the WRAC Association from 1970 until her death in 2025.
Queen Elizabeth II became the Patron of the WRAC Association in 2003, and remained so up until her death in 2022.
The WRAC and Guildford
Queen Elizabeth Park at Guildford has been hallowed ground for Army Women for many years. The ATS first opened its training centre there in 1941 and the Army Women’s Training Centre finally closed its gates in 1993 following the disbandment of the WRAC. 52 years of service and comradeship by thousands of women who were proud to serve their country.
After the War, this ATS site served as a base for the newly formed Women’s Royal Army Corps and was called the WRAC Depot and Training Centre. It was completely rebuilt and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1964. It was christened ‘Queen Elizabeth Barracks’ and later ‘Queen Elizabeth Park’ to honour Queen Elizabeth’s wartime service in the ATS.
The barracks boasted one of the largest parade grounds in the country, it was a place where all female soldiers did their basic training and where young subalterns trained to be Officers. After 1984 it was also where Junior and Senior NCOs, Warrant Officers and WRAC TA did their upgrading promotion courses.
The barracks was also the home of both the ATS and WRAC Bands throughout their existence and it continues to be a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of female veterans who come here each year to reminisce and remember ‘the good times’.
In 2014, when the redevelopment of Queen Elizabeth Park came to fruition, the Association, jointly with Guildford Borough, unveiled plaques on the obelisks in the newly built Hopkin and Forster Close. The roads in Queen Elizabeth Park are named after former ATS and WRAC Directors and former Directors of the WRAC Band.
The Women's Royal Army Corps was officially awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Guildford on June 22, 1988 and we return annually to march in their Remembrance parade and lay wreaths at the Castle grounds.
The ATS Standard is laid up in Guildford Cathedral which also hold our Books of Remembrance.
The journey to the frontline
Since World War II members of the WRAC have played a full part in many of the operations, emergencies, security threats and incidents involving the British Army worldwide such as: Malaya 1948 – 1960, Kenya in 1954, the EOKA campaign in Cyprus from 1955 – 1959, the Singapore riots in 1957, Aden from 1961 – 1968, the Coup d’Etat in Ghana in 1966 and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. WRAC officers and soldiers have been involved in:
The Cold War
The WRAC played a vital role for the British Army throughout the Cold War, allowing the UK to maintain a large peacetime military footprint during decades of tension with the Soviet Union. Units such as WRAC Provost companies operated at major command centres and stations, including JHQ Rheindahlen and Bielefeld, supporting NATO defense efforts.
Northern Ireland
Troops were deployed to Northern Ireland during the troubles in 1969 to assist the civilian police, and continued to serve there until the WRAC disbanded in 1992. Members worked mainly as communications staff, clerks, computer operators and drivers. Although classified as non-combatants, servicewomen operated in active conflict zones and shared the security risks of Op Banner.
The Falkland Islands
A permanent garrison was re-established in 1982 after the victory in the Falkland Islands. On 1 August 1983 the first draft of 20 WRAC servicewomen arrived in Port Stanley. They travelled by air to Ascension Island and then by sea to the Falkland Islands.
Servicewomen took on vital staff, clerical, and administrative duties supporting the permanent post-1982 garrison.
The Gulf
Officers and soldiers of the WRAC were employed on Op Granby as members of the Staff of Commanders or as individuals with their units. They worked as staff officers, assistant adjutants, clerks, chefs, drivers, communications operators, intelligence analysts, medical assistants, military police and postal & courier operators. Over 200 members of the WRAC served during Op Granby.
1992 and beyond
On 1 October 1990 the Army Board decided that WRAC officers permanently employed with other corps should be transferred to those corps. The servicewomen also employed by those corps followed one year later.
In December 1990 the Army Board announced the formation of the Adjutant General’s Corps. This corps formed up on 6 April 1992 through the amalgamation of the Royal Military Police, Royal Army Pay Corps, the Royal Army Education Corps, Royal Army Ordnance Corps Staff Clerks. The remainder of the WRAC joined other cap badges including the Royal Logistics Corps and the Royal Corps of Signals.
The WRAC spirit lives on in the WRAC Association through its members. The proud legacy of successes and achievements over 90 years, together with the history and traditions of women in the Army, is carried forward to today's military. The women of the WAAC, QMAAC, ATS and WRAC blazed a trail for the serving women of today and in 2026, for the first time the British Army was proud to have women serving at every single rank.
