Women ' s Auxiliary Air Force The Women ' s Auxiliary Air Force ( WAAF ) , whose members were invariably referred to as WAAFs , was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II , established in 1939 . At its peak strength , in 1943 , WAAF numbers exceeded 180 , 000 , with over 2 , 000 women enlisting per week . A Women ' s Royal Air Force had existed from 1918 to 1920 . The WAAF was created on 28 June 1939 , absorbing the forty - eight RAF companies of the Auxiliary Territorial Service which had been formed since 1938 . Conscription of women did not begin until 1941 . It only applied to those between 20 and 30 years of age and they had the choice of the auxiliary services or factory work . WAAFs did not serve as aircrew . The use of women pilots was limited to the Air Transport Auxiliary ( ATA ) , which was civilian . Although they didn ' t participate in active combat , they were exposed to the same dangers as any on the " home front " working at military installations . They were active in parachute packing and the crewing of barrage balloon s in addition to performing catering , meteorology , radar , aircraft maintenance , transport , communications duties including wireless telephonic and telegraphic operation . They worked with codes and ciphers , analysed reconnaissance photographs , and performed intelligence operations . WAAFs were a vital presence in the control of aircraft , both in radar stations and iconically as plotters in operation rooms , most notably during the Battle of Britain . These operation rooms directed fighter aircraft against the Luftwaffe , mapping both home and enemy aircraft positions . Air Force nurses belonged to Princess Mary ' s Royal Air Force Nursing Service instead . Female medical and dental officers were commissioned into the Royal Air Force and held RAF ranks . WAAFs were paid two - thirds of the pay of male counterparts in RAF ranks . By the end of World War II , WAAF enrollment had declined and the effect of demobilisation was to take thousands out of the service . The remainder , now only several hundred strong , was renamed the Women ' s Royal Air Force on 1 February 1949 . Ranks . Initially , the WAAF used the ATS ranking system , although the director held the rank of " Senior Controller " ( equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army , Air Commodore in the RAF ) instead of " Chief Controller " ( equivalent to Major - General , Air Vice - Marshal ) as in the ATS . However , in December 1939 the name was changed to Air Commandant , when the ranks were renamed and reorganized , other ranks now held identical ranks to male RAF personnel , but officers continued to have a separate rank system , although now different from that of the ATS . From February 1940 it was no longer possible to enter directly as an officer ; from that time all officers were appointed from the other ranks . From July 1941 WAAF officers held full commissions . On January 1 , 1943 , the rank of Air Chief Commandant ( equivalent to Major - General , Air Vice - Marshal ) was created with the director ' s appointment to that rank . Directors . On July 1 , 1939 , Jane Trefusis Forbes was made Director of WAAF , with the rank of Senior Controller , later , Air Commandant . On January 1 , 1943 she was appointed to the rank of Air Chief Commandant with its creation . On October 4 , 1943 , while Forbes toured Canada , assessing the Women ' s Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force , she was relieved by HRH Princess Alice , Duchess of Gloucester , who had been head of the WAAF since 1939 , again with the rank of Senior Controller , then , Air Commandant , being gazetted to Air Chief Commandant on March 22 , 1943 . Forbes retired in August 1944 , and the post of director was given to Mary Welsh , who was appointed Air Chief Commandant . After the war , the rank of Air Chief Commandant was suspended and in December 1946 , the final director of WAAF , Felicity Hanbury , was appointed . WAAFs serving with SOE . Several members of the WAAF served with the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War . Flying Nightingales . Nursing Orderlies of the WAAF flew on RAF transport planes to evacuate the wounded from the Normandy battlefields . They were dubbed Flying Nightingales by the press . The RAF Air Ambulance Unit flew under 46 Group Transport Command from RAF Down Ampney , RAF Broadwell , and RAF Blakehill Farm . RAF Dakota aircraft carried military supplies and ammunition so could not display the Red Cross . Training for air ambulance nursing duties included instruction in the use of oxygen , injections , learning how to deal with certain types of injuries such as broken bones , missing limb cases , head injuries , burns and colostomies ; and to learn the effects of air travel and altitude . In October 2008 the seven nurses still living were presented with lifetime achievement awards by the Duchess of Cornwall .