UK, Women’s Royal Air Force Service Records, 1918-1920

Source Information

Ancestry.com. UK, Women’s Royal Air Force Service Records, 1918-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022.
Original data: AIR 80 - Air Ministry: Master General of Personnel and Director of Personnel: Airwomen's Records. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives.

About UK, Women’s Royal Air Force Service Records, 1918-1920

This collection contains records for those who served in the Women's Royal Air Force from 1918-1920. All records are handwritten in English on pre-printed forms.

Types of records in this collection may include:

  • Enrollment forms
  • Certificates of discharge
  • Correspondence
  • Casualty forms for active service, which were recorded when personnel switched units

    • Using this collection

    Records in the collection may include the following information:

  • Name, including maiden name if married
  • Birth place
  • Birthdate
  • Race
  • Nationality
  • Residence
  • Marital status
  • Occupation
  • Date and place of enlistment
  • Date and place of discharge
  • Regiment
  • Unit
  • Service number
  • Names and addresses of next of kin
  • Relationship to next of kin

    • Records in this collection may include multiple pages. Click the arrow to the right of the record image to access the rest of the record.

    The majority of women employed by the WRAF were young and likely unmarried at the time of their enrollment. If you aren't sure of your ancestor's marital status during her service, it's useful to search by both her maiden and married names.

    Women in the WRAF were classified as either "mobile" or "immobile." These classifications can offer hints about your family member's lifestyle. "Immobile" women (who were often wives or mothers) lived in their own homes and were only available to serve locally. "Mobile" women lived in housing provided by the WRAF and were able to be transferred where they were needed, sometimes to foreign bases.

    Collection in context

    The Women's Royal Air Force was created on 1 April 1918. The initial personnel was formed by 9,000 members of the Women's Royal Navy Service (WRNS) and Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), but the majority of the airwomen who served were civilians. Servicewomen were not pilots at this time period. Members of the WRAF were instead employed in a variety of non-combat roles to aid the war effort. Trades performed by the WRAF included: clerks, cooks, housekeepers, photographers, drivers, tinsmiths, pigeon keepers, welders, and more.

    The WRAF was disbanded in 1920 after the end of the First World War, but reformed in 1939 as the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). Approximately 30,000 women served in the WRAF during the First World War.

    Bibliography

    Royal Air Force Museum. "Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) 1918-1920." Last modified 7 June 2018. https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/women-of-the-air-force/womens-royal-air-force-wraf-1918-1920/.

    The National Archives. "Women's Royal Air Force Service Records, 1918-1920," Last modified 22 January 2016. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/womens-royal-air-force-service-records-1918-1920/.