The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

to which all women in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

belonged from 1949 to 1992, except medical, dental and veterinary officers and chaplains (who belonged to the same corps as the men), the Ulster Defence Regiment which recruited women from 1973, and nurses (who belonged to Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps).

History

The WRAC was formed on 1 February 1949, by Army Order 6, as the successor to the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) 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 Februa ...

(ATS) that had been founded in 1938. For much of its existence, its members performed administrative and other support tasks. In March 1952 the ranks of the WRAC, which had previously been Subaltern, Junior Commander, Senior Commander and Controller were harmonised with the rest of the British Army. In 1974, two soldiers of the corps were killed by the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish re ...

in the

Guildford pub bombings The Guildford pub bombings occurred on 5 October 1974 when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated two gelignite bombs at two pubs in Guildford, Surrey, England. The pubs were targeted because they were popular with British Army ...

. In October 1990 WRAC officers employed with other corps were transferred to those corps and in April 1992 the WRAC was disbanded and its remaining members transferred to the Corps they served with. Those who served with the Royal Army Pay Corps, the

Corps of Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operations ...

, the Military Provost Staff Corps, the Royal Army Educational Corps, the Army Legal Corps and the Staff Clerks from the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

were transferred to the newly formed Adjutant General's Corps. The post of Director WRAC, which carried the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...

, was also abolished and it was seven years before a woman, Brigadier Patricia Purves, again reached that rank.

Senior posts

The highest rank available to a serving officer was Brigadier, held by the Director WRAC, although the Controller-Commandant, a member of the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...

, held a higher honorary rank. Princess Mary held the post from 1949 to her death in 1965 (beginning as a

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and being promoted

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

on 23 November 1956) and the Duchess of Kent held it from 1967 to 1992 (with the rank of Major-General).

List of directors WRAC

Directors of the WRAC were: *Brigadier Dame Mary Tyrwhitt, 1949–1950 *Brigadier Dame Mary Coulshed, 1950–1954 *Brigadier Dame Mary Railton, 1954–1957 *Brigadier Dame Mary Colvin, 1957–1961 *Brigadier Dame Jean Rivett-Drake, 1961–1964 *Brigadier Dame Joan Henderson, 1964– 25 August 1967 *Brigadier Dame Mary Anderson, 1967–1970 *Brigadier Sheila Heaney, 1970–1973 *Brigadier Eileen Nolan, 1973–1977 *Brigadier Anne Field, 1977–1982 *Brigadier Helen Meechie, 1982–1986 *Brigadier Shirley Nield, 1986–1989 *Brigadier Gael Ramsey, 1989–1992 *Brigadier Joan Roulstone, 1992–1994 (as Director Women (Army) during transitional period)

Band of the WRAC

The Staff Band of the Women's Royal Army Corps was an all female military band. It was formed in 1949, and was the only all-female band in the British Armed Forces by the time it was disestablished. The Central Band of the

Women's Royal Air Force 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. On 1 February 1949, the ...

, which was one of only two all-female bands to exist, transferred some of its musicians to the Band of the WRAC after it was disbanded in 1972. Since the mid-1990s, women have served in all British Army bands. The instruments, assets and personnel of the former WRAC Band became the new Band of the Adjutant General's Corps.

Reunion meetings

The WRAC organizes Reunion Meetings to promote solidarity among its former members.

References

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