WAAC/QMAAC and Service Numbers

[PaulJC]

With regular army regiments its often easy to work out approximately when a man joined up. At least until he might have been later transferred to another regiment with a new service number.

Is there a record of the WAAC/QMAAC service numbers and how these relate to when a woman enrolled?

 

Paul

[alf mcm]

Hello Paul,

  Welcome to the forum.

 WAAC's appear to have been numbered consecutively, so the higher the number, the later enlistment the date. WAAC's didn't actually enlist, they aplied to join and had to provide to references. Not all records have survived but many are availabe. at The National Archives. They all have the prefix WO/398 followed by a number. Each woman's record is normally £3.55 to download. However, due to the covid, these records are available free once you register {very easy}.  https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=WO 398%2F&_p=1900&_hb=tna&_col=200    You can the download 50 records in a 30 day period for free, but you can only order 10 records at a time. These records make interesting readinf and you may want to download a few. The service numbers will be in the records along with the date of enrolment.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

[PaulJC]

Hi Alf,

 

Thanks for the welcome.

 

I was aware of the records at the NA and have already looked at a couple. The record for the woman I am researching does not exist and I was trying to establish approximately when she might have enrolled in the WAAC. I had hoped there was a list of names against numbers.

 

If this dies not exist I will try and find a record with a number close to my woman. Knowing my luck it will mean a lot of downloads............

 

Paul 

[alf mcm]

Paul,

   The National Archives has medal record cards for WAAC/QMAAC. Use vthis search, but change the last number to nearer the one you are interested in.  https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_col=200&_d=WO&_tsj=C10060&_p=1900&_hb=tna&_q=wo+372%2F23+WOMEN'S+ARMY+AUXILIARY+CORPS+14780    This will give you names to check the records for. Also note that many WAAC/QMAAC also served in the W.R.A.F. and W.R.N.S. Try checking your woman's names against their records.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

Edited 21 August , 2020 by alf mcm
Link added

[Jim Strawbridge]

I would use the Service Medal and Award Rolls accessible through Ancestry.  These are in numerical order and show start and end service dates.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/5119/images/41629_625537_9933-00006?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=3e29f29a31c470d826cf6187f74c1318&usePUB=true&_phsrc=kQJ3662&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.95410716.1252254327.1597917162-1956490631.1568908789&pId=1929263

[PaulJC]

Thanks all,

 

The NA MICs dont seem to indicate start and end service dates.

 

I am not a member of Ancestry and dont really want to join just for this one enquiry. The number I am interested in is 7063. I beleive she enrolled in late summer 1917?

 

Paul 

[alf mcm]

Paul,

  She is on the medal roll, as an Acting Forewoman, landed in France 10/11/1917, left France26/11/19. It is not actually clear if these are the dates in France, or total service dates with WAAC/QMAAC.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

Edited 22 August , 2020 by alf mcm
details added

[PaulJC]

Thanks Alf,

 

I think the earlier date is when she actually arrived in France rather than when she joined the WAAC. From my basic research on service numbers she would have joined a few months earlier in 1917 so the difference in the two dates would account for her training. I understand that was a month or two at most.

 

Paul

[alf mcm]

Paul,

  Yes, the first date is arrival in France. There are other women with lower numbers who arrived in France at a later date.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

[PaulJC]

Alf, 

I looked through some of the WAAC/QMAAC war diaries in the hope that I spotted her name but so far no luck. There are quite a few and as I dont know what she was employed as I cant narrow down the search.

There was some talk of her driving at one time but there is no evidence to support this as she was a clerical worker pre 1917.

 

Paul

 

[amb]

On 22/08/2020 at 19:17, Jim Strawbridge said:

I would use the Service Medal and Award Rolls accessible through Ancestry.  These are in numerical order and show start and end service dates.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/5119/images/41629_625537_9933-00006?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=3e29f29a31c470d826cf6187f74c1318&usePUB=true&_phsrc=kQJ3662&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.95410716.1252254327.1597917162-1956490631.1568908789&pId=1929263

I happened upon this thread the other day so many thanks for drawing this to my attention.   We have been trying for many years now to find some evidence of my grandmother, Mary Jamieson's service in the WAAC, without any success.   All we have is a photo of a group of WAACs taken by the Artists Rifles official photographer (which I posted elsewhere on this site some time ago now) and the story that she was a Forewoman cook based with the 2nd Artists Rifles at Hare Hall OTC.   As indexes are prone to human error, I have gone through every page of the 3 volumes to see if I could find her there, but with no luck.   She clearly survived the war and I wondered what reasons there might be for her omission but noticed that there are many instances where service numbers are missing.   She would have been pregnant during the autumn of 1917, as she gave birth to her second child in June 1918.   I wondered if she'd been discharged 'on grounds of misconduct' or through 'breach of conditions' among other reasons seen on the medal rolls, because of her pregnancy and being unmarried, but those who had such notes written against their names are still listed on the rolls.   I  found this letter (Ancestry or TNA - I can't remember now) in case 46210 Jamieson, M., Asst Cook was her, although having seen the dates against the service numbers it's unlikely but I thought I'd just check to see if any of these women appear on the rolls.   Not a single one!    Have you any suggestions why my grandmother and clearly many other women's names are missing from the rolls?   Many thanks. 

 

[alf mcm]

Amb,

   Your grandmother would not be on the medal rolls if she did not serve abroad. The majority of WAAC's did not serve abroad, and this would explain why a large number of women do not appear on the medal rolls.

 

Regards,

Alf McM

[amb]

Just now, alf mcm said:

Amb,

   Your grandmother would not be on the medal rolls if she did not serve abroad. The majority of WAAC's did not serve abroad, and this would explain why a large number of women do not appear on the medal rolls.

 

Regards,

Alf McM

Many thanks. I had forgotten this.  She is supposed to have served near Lille at some point but must have been with another catering type organisation before joining the WAAC.   Having gone through the medal rolls (around 1,000 pages of names) it makes you realise just how many WAACs there must have been in total.