The Women Who Made the RAF and the Luftwaffe Successful

  The success of an air force is not exclusively attributable to its pilots. As noted last week, ground crews are nearly as important, and command and control probably rates third in the hierarchy of factors contributing to success. Many other factors play a role as well, and both the British and the Germans learned early in WWII that some of the best recruits for the complex and technical tasks associated with support functions in modern air forces were female.

The RAF’s positive attitude towards women was exceptional among the services -- and light years ahead of the USAAF. The RAF actively encouraged the establishment of a Women’s Auxiliary, which by the end of the war served alongside the RAF in virtually all noncombat functions. 

Even before the start of the war, however, the vital and highly technical jobs of radar operator and operations room plotter, as well as various jobs associated with these activities, were identified as trades especially suited to women. The C-in-C of Fighter Commander, ACM Dowding, personally insisted that the talented women who did these jobs move up into supervisory positions – and be commissioned accordingly.

During the Battle of Britain over 17,000 WAAF served with the RAF, nearly 4,500 of them with Fighter Command. A number of WAAF were killed and injured and six airwomen were awarded the Military Medal during the Battle.

Surprisingly, despite Nazi ideology about the place of women being exclusively in the home, the Wehrmacht was also forced to rely increasingly on women auxiliaries. The expansion began after the dramatic victories in the West in May/June 1940 and continued throughout the war. The number of women serving with  the Wehrmacht increased from roughly 35,000 women in uniform in 1941 to over 150,000 when Germany surrendered. General conscription for women, industrial and military, was introduced in Germany after the loss of an entire Army at Stalingrad in early 1943, but the bulk of the women serving in the women’s auxiliary forces before 1945 were volunteers. These women are far too often forgotten entirely in accounts of the Second World War. 

 Women auxiliaries play a significant role in Where Eagles Never Flew.  Find out more here.