Women's Auxiliary Air Force founded

The War Cabinet approved the formation of a Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) to enable the Royal New Zealand Air Force to release more men for service overseas. Within 18 months a Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps and a Women’s Royal Naval Service had also been created.

The WAAF made an important contribution to the war effort by helping to ease the manpower problem. Initially, women were employed as cooks, mess-hands, drivers, clerks, equipment assistants, medical orderlies and shorthand typists. By the end of the war they were to be found in many trades that were ‘not beyond their physical capabilities’.

An initial draft of 200 women was posted to Rongotai, Wellington, in April 1941, and there were WAAFs on 21 stations by the end of 1942. WAAFs were eventually posted to every major station in New Zealand, and some served overseas in Fiji and on Norfolk Island.

In March 1941 Kitty Kain was appointed superintendent of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. A dietitian with experience in a large hospital, she was seen as having the management skills required to supervise a diverse workforce.

Women were not granted service ranks until 1942, when the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force Emergency Regulations incorporated the WAAF into the RNZAF. Members of the WAAF subsequently held ranks equivalent to those of men.

At its peak strength in July 1943 the WAAF numbered more than 3600. A total of approximately 4750 women passed through its ranks. More than 100 achieved commissioned officer rank, mainly in cipher (encoding and decoding) work and administration.

Image: WAAF wireless operators, 1942 (ATL)