Women's Royal Army Corps
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2013) |
| Women's Royal Army Corps | |
|---|---|
| File:Womens Royal Army Corps Badge.jpg Badge of the Women's Royal Army Corps | |
| Active | 1949-1992 |
| Land | Vereinigtes Königreich |
| Branch |  Army |
| Role | Support services |
| Garrison/HQ | Guildford, Surrey |
| Motto(s) | Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re (Gentle in manner, resolute in deed) |
| Colors | None |
| March | Quick: Lass of Richmond Hill, Early One Morning Slow: Greensleeves |
| Anniversaries | Corps Day (1 Feb.) |
The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as /ˈræk/, 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.[1] For much of its existence, its members performed administrative and other support tasks.[1] 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.[1]
In 1974, two soldiers of the corps were killed by the Provisional IRA in the Guildford pub bombings.[2]
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 Adjutant General's Corps.[1] The post of Director WRAC, which carried the rank of Brigadier, was also abolished and it was seven years before a woman, Brigadier Patricia Purves, again reached that rank.[3]
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,[4] 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).
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, 1964–1967
- 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
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.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d "A Brief History of the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps, Auxiliary Territorial Service and Women's Royal Army Corps". Women's Royal Army Corps Association. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ^ "Women's Royal Army Corps". Palace Barracks Memorial Garden. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ^ Graduate Careers: How I got here: Brig Patricia Purves 'I just happened to be good at my job,' The Independent, April 26, 2001
- ^ "Army Titles in the WRAC", The Times, 20 March 1950
Further reading
- Bidwell Shelford. Women's Royal Army Corps (1997) 141pp
- Noakes, Lucy. Women in the British Army: War and the Gentle Sex, 1907–48 (2006), the standard scholarly history; focus on ATS
- WRAC archive of regiments.org