Page 73 - RADC 2017

Nightingale, went to the Crimea with her nurses to care for the wounded. Her work there set the standards for modern nursing.
1899-1902
Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service, QAIMNS, was established during the Boer War, replacing the Army Nursing Service, which had been established in 1881. Women from across the British Empire served in it.
1907
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry,The FANY,
a mounted auxiliary nursing unit, was established in 1907. It acted as a first aid link between fighting units and field hospitals. As well as running hospitals, FANYs drove ambulances and ran soup kitchens and canteens.
War Work for Women
During the early 1900s several quasi- military volunteer groups for women’s work were established including the Women’s Emergency Corps, the Women’s Forage Corps, the Women’s Defence Relief Corps and the Women’s Land Army.
The outbreak of the First World War (1914-18) provoked a debate on women’s role in the conflict. The economic strain of the war meant that women were already working on the Home Front in factories. And volunteer groups like the Women’s Legion cooked for the troops. Owing to manpower problems, the army looked for ways to formally bring women into the army.
21 July 1915
Suffragettes marched in London to persuade the authorities to widen women’s role in the First World War.
Summer 1916
The heavy losses suffered during the Battle of the Somme prompted the High Command to consider using women in supporting roles so men could be freed up for combat.
Spring 1917
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, headed by Controller Alexandra Chalmers Watson, was formed in response to the manpower crisis. The first women arrived to carry out support duties in France and Belgium on 31 March 1917.
1917-18
WAACs at war
Over 100,000 women had enrolled into
military support organisations by the end of the war. The number was far higher than anticipated.
1918
Controller Alexandra Chalmers Watson resigned after a media storm over supposed
moral impropriety among the WAAC in France, and after failing to get equal pay for women.
6 February 1918
British women given the vote.
The Representation of the People Act
1918 gave the vote to women over 30.
April 1918
In recognition of their hard work and bravery during the Spring Offensive, Queen Mary gave her name to the WAAC. But peacetime cuts led to disbandment in 1921.
Second World War
While QMAAC had been disbanded in 1921, it inspired the formation of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), established in September 1938. Women were still not allowed to fight in battle, but once again returned to supporting roles during the Second World War (1939-45).
They were cooks, clerks, drivers, radar operators, telephonists, anti-aircraft gunners, range finders, sound detectors, military police and ammunition inspectors. The Women’s Royal Naval Service and the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force were also established at that time.
Women again went to work on the Home Front too, either in industrial roles, as before, or as part of the Women’s Land Army.
July 1941
Auxiliary Territorial Service
The ATS was given full military status,
meaning its members were no longer volunteers.
December 1941
The National Service Act made the conscription of women legal. At first, only single women aged 20-30 were called up. But by mid-1943, almost 90 per cent of single women and 80 per cent of married women were employed in war work.
February 1945
Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) joined the ATS, training at Aldershot as a driver and mechanic.
8 May 1945
VE Day
By the end of the war over 190,000
women were members of the ATS.
Women’s Royal Army Corps
The Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC) was formed in 1949. It absorbed the remaining troops of the ATS. It eventually included all women serving in the army except medical and veterinary orderlies, chaplains and nurses. Between 1949 and 1992 WRAC women served in over 40 trades in operations across the world including Cyprus (1955-59), Northern Ireland (1969-92), the Falklands (1982-83) and the Gulf (1990-91).
1975
The Sex Discrimination Act was introduced. Section 85(4) allowed for the continuing exclusion of women from combat roles.
1992
The WRAC was disbanded, and its non- medical members merged into the new Adjutant General’s Corps.
Women for Combat Roles
Following the disbandment of the WRAC in 1992, women were absorbed into the rest of the army. But they were still restricted to support and medical positions.
Combat roles remained closed to women until 2016, despite the fact women had been at the front. Six women were killed in action in Iraq (2003-11), and another three in Afghanistan (2001-14). Some women, serving as combat medics, had shown bravery under fire.
Much of the debate about females in combat roles centred on the impact that gender integration would have on battle effectiveness. Many questioned if female physical and psychological characteristics were suitable for combat, rather than the question of their overall contributions to teams and units.
1999
The exclusion of women from certain roles in the military under the Sex Discrimination Act was challenged unsuccessfully in the European Court of Justice. The same year Patricia Purves became the first woman to gain the rank of brigadier.
2002
A Ministry of Defence study concluded that women in ground combat roles could adversely affect ‘unit cohesion’.
2009
A Ministry of Defence report concluded that there was no statistically significant evidence in relation to women and unit cohesion. Nevertheless, women remained excluded from close combat roles.
December 2014
The Women in Close Combat Review paper recommended ending the ban on women in front-line infantry and armoured corps roles.
December 2015
Prime Minister David Cameron announced all armed forces roles will be open to women.
2016
The ban on women serving in some parts of the Royal Armoured Corps was lifted in July 2016. Role-based training began in November 2016 for women wanting to join these regular units.
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