The conditions they were subjected to during and after their training were no softer than the conditions of their male counterparts. The hardship of training as well as active duty toughened the girls and made them seek refuge in strong comradeship and laughter. Also the pride of helping the men to fight the war was a strong aspect, which helped many to overcome the difficulties.

By 1942, the W.A.A.F. had some 182,000 members, more than a hundred times more than at the outbreak of war. It was a huge help to the Air Force during the whole of the war, performing both domestic and technical jobs, communications and intelligence work, operating barrage balloons and 30 of them were even allowed to fly new airplanes from the factories to units. There were women electricians, women engine-fitters, instrument repairers, cypher clerks, there was even W.A.A.F. police. W.A.A.F. detachments were in the Middle East, in India and Ceylon as well as Algeria and the Mediterranean, in May 1945, 1,600 of them served in western Europe.

Many members showed extraordinary bravery while performing their jobs, earning the force 97 Members of the Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.'s), 93 British Empire Medals (B.E.M.'s), 3 of them for special gallantry, 6 Military Medals (M.M.'s), one Empire Gallantry Medal (E.G.M.), one George Cross (G.C.) and one George Medal (G.M.), a dazzling array of decorations. In 1949 the force was reformed as the W.R.A.F. (Women's Royal Air Force) and fully integrated into the R.A.F. in 1994.
Women's Auxiliary Air Force (W.A.A.F.)
Jan Hyrman

The history of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (W.A.A.F.) can be traced back as long as 1918, when the Women's Royal Air Force (W.R.A.F.) was formed together with the R.A.F. on 1st April 1918. Despite the popular belief that women wearing trousers cannot do any good, the uniformed women were a
great help to the male part of the air force, performing an astonishing number of jobs and contributing greatly to the war effort. It did not last a day longer than two years, but at the height of the W.R.A.F. it had 24,659 members.

The budget cuts following the end of the First World War caused the force to be disbanded in 1920, but within 13 years the world - and not exclusively the world of men - was about to fall into another world war. The women of Britain and their numerous organizations were getting ready as well. During the Munich Crisis, when the world was on the very edge of a new war, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (A.T.S.) was formed on 27th September, made up from companies, one of which every single county was required to raise. These companies were to be attached to local units of the Territorial Army. One of them was also formed for the R.A.F. as an Auxiliary Royal Air Force unit, but on 28th June 1939 this part separated from the A.T.S. completely, giving a birth to the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (W.A.A.F.), at the time 1,734 strong.

At first the force consisted entirely of volunteers, which were free to leave, but the regulations were gradually becoming tighter due to the women?s involvement in many of the secret operations of the Army and Air Force, at first subjecting the W.A.A.F. to R.A.F. discipline and rules and in 1942, the following year, causing the force to begin calling up girls born in 1920 and 1921.  The Royal Air Force was at first reluctant to the idea of the W.A.A.F. as there seemed to be no need for it, but as the war progressed, vacancies began popping up and the Air Force hurried to accept the helping hand of the women for the jobs of telephonists or radar operators at the R.A.F. stations.

When war was declared on 3rd September 1939, volunteers flooded the W.A.A.F. from as far as the dominions and allied countries. As the number of new women caught the R.A.F. completely unprepared and many of the airmen had little time and willingness to train them, the W.A.A.F. began introducing their own strict training, reaching from lectures on the R.A.F. to gas, fire and first aid drills. Physical training, sports and parades, together with tough discipline quickly made soldiers from the women.

An Officer Cadet Training Unit was formed in August 1942. Chosen members of the force underwent an eight-week training course here and were then commissioned as officers of the W.A.A.F.
Tens of Czechoslovak girls and women joined the force as well, some of them as fresh exiles from occupied Czechoslovakia. Many came to work in Britain long before the war and joined the force either voluntarily or were drafted. There are lots of moving stories to tell of their courage and often sad fate. One is to speak for all: Edita Sedlakova was one of the Czech members of the W.A.A.F., working and helping at one of the R.A.F. stations. She actually married one of the airmen, but when they were returning to Czechoslovakia after the end of hostilities in 1945, the plane crashed, killing both...
Edita Sedlakova in her uniform. You can read more about the fate of her and her family here.
Let us all remember that the Second World War was by far not a war of men, let us pay our respect to all the brave women who took part in it to help the Allies win their final victory.

Source: Squadron Leader Beryl E. Escott: The WAAF, Shire Publications, 2003