Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps personnel working in a stores depot, France, 1918 (c)

Photograph, World War One (1914-1918), 1918 (c).

The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was formed in 1917 to free up soldiers from non-combat roles so that they could go and fight. Women were employed as cooks, mess waitresses, clerks, telephone operators, store-women, drivers, printers, bakers and cemetery gardeners. By 1918, nearly 40,000 women had enrolled. Of these, some 7,000 served in France on the Western Front, the rest in the UK. In honour of their conduct, Queen Mary became the unit's patron. On 9 April 1918 the WAAC was officially renamed Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC). The QMAAC was disbanded in September 1921.