Women ' s Royal Army Corps The Women ' s Royal Army Corps ( WRAC ; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members ) was the corps to which all women in the British Army except medical , dental and veterinary officers and chaplains ( who belonged to the same corps as the men ) and nurses ( who belonged to Queen Alexandra ' s Royal Army Nursing Corps ) belonged from 1949 to 1992 . History . The WRAC was formed on 1 February 1949 by Army Order 6 as the successor to the Auxiliary Territorial Service ( ATS ) that had been founded in 1938 . For much of its existence , its members performed administrative and other support tasks , but later they began to be attached to other corps , including the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers . In the 1980s , married members of the WRAC that had husbands serving with 17 / 21L were posted to serve within the Regiment as members of the QM Staff , they participated in large exercises in the field . Other WRAC personnel served with the Royal Signals and Royal Army Ordnance Corps as integrated unit members . In 1974 , two soldiers of the corps were killed by the Provisional IRA in the Guildford pub bombings . On 6 April 1992 , the WRAC was disbanded and its members transferred to the appropriate corps of the army , signalling full integration of women into non - combat roles . This was not greeted with enthusiasm by all members of the WRAC , particularly the more senior officers and NCOs , who felt that advancement would be more difficult if they had to compete on an equal basis with men . This was in some ways partly justified as the post of Director WRAC , which carried the rank of Brigadier , was abolished and it was seven years before a woman , Brigadier Patricia Purves , again reached that rank . Officially , since a majority of its members had been administrative personnel , the WRAC amalgamated into the new Adjutant General ' s Corps . Their training depot was at the WRAC Centre , Queen Elizabeth Park , Guildford in Surrey . Ranks and uniform . The WRAC wore a distinctive Lovat green uniform and for dress occasions a bottle green uniform . Their cap badge was a lioness rampant within a laurel wreath surmounted by a crown . Their motto was " Suaviter in Modo , Fortiter in Re " ( Gentle in manner , resolute in deed ) . Initially the WRAC retained the separate ATS ranking system . However , in March 1950 , it switched entirely to Army rank titles , the first of the women ' s services to do so ( the Women ' s Royal Air Force switched in 1968 ; the Women ' s Royal Naval Service retained separate ranks until its disbandment in 1993 ) . 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 , held a higher honorary rank . Princess Mary held the post from 1949 to her death in 1965 ( beginning as a Major - General and being promoted General on 23 November 1956 ) and the Duchess of Kent held it from 1967 to 1992 ( with the rank of Major - General ) . Band of the WRAC . At the time of the WRAC ' s disbanding the Band of the Women ' s Royal Army Corps , formed in 1949 , was the only all - female band in the British Armed Forces , although the Royal Air Force ( which had once had its own all - female band ) had already started to integrate female musicians into all of its bands . From 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 .