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Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service

{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox military unit

|unit_name= Royal Air Force Nursing Service

|image= Royal Air Force Medical Services, 1939-1945. CL1862.jpg

|caption=RAF General Hospital in Brussels during the Second World War

|dates= 1 June 1918–present

(originally as Royal Air Force Temporary Nursing Service)

|country={{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Kingdom

|allegiance=HM The King

|branch={{air force|United Kingdom}}

RAF Medical Services

|type= Nursing

|role= Medicine

|size= 498 nurses

|command_structure=

|garrison= Air Command, RAF High Wycombe

|garrison_label=

|locations=

|battles= World War II,
Korean War,
Falklands War,
Gulf War (Op GRANBY),
Bosnian War,
Kosovo War,
War in Afghanistan,
Gulf War II (Op TELIC)

|commander1= Group Captain Charlie Thompson

|commander1_label= Matron-In-Chief

|ceremonial_chief= Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy

|ceremonial_chief_label= Patron

|notable_commanders=

|identification_symbol= 100px

|identification_symbol_label= RAF Ensign

|identification_symbol_2= File:Flag of the Red Cross.svg

|identification_symbol_2_label= Red Cross Emblem

}}

{{Royal Air Force sidebar}}

Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) is the nursing branch of the British Royal Air Force.

It was established as the Royal Air Force Temporary Nursing Service (RAFNS) in 1918, and became part of the permanent establishment as the Royal Air Force Nursing Service on 27 January 1921. It received the Royal prefix after Princess Mary agreed to become its Patron in June 1923.

It was a women-only branch until 1980, when men were also permitted to join. Until the Second World War, it was only open to unmarried women, or childless widows. There was also a Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (Reserve) (PMRAFNS(R)) to supplement the regular service during times of war or emergencies.

A history of the service was commissioned from the writer Mary Mackie and appeared in 2001.Mary Mackie: Sky Wards - A History of the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (London: Robert Hale, 2001). An updated and extended edition covering subsequent decades (including service in Afghanistan) was published in September 2014.Mary Mackie: Wards in the Sky – the RAF's Remarkable Nursing Service (The History Press, UK, 2014, {{ISBN|9780750959568}}).

Ranks

The initial ranking system used by the PMRAFNS was as follows.

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|PMRAFNS rank

|Equivalent RAF rank (from 1943)

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| Staff NursePhased out during the Second World War.

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| Sister

Flying Officer
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| Senior SisterInitially called Superintending Sister, but renamed after a few years.

Flight Lieutenant
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| Matron

Squadron Leader
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| Principal MatronIntroduced later than other ranks.

Wing Commander
style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; background:#f8f8ff;"

| Chief Principal MatronIntroduced later than other ranks, possibly not until the Second World War.

Group Captain
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| Matron-in-Chief

Air Commodore

From 1 June 1943, PMRAFNS personnel were granted emergency Commissions, and wore rank insignia corresponding to their equivalent Royal Air Force officer rank. On 1 February 1949, the women's forces were integrated into the Armed Forces, and a new ranking system was introduced, although professional titles were still used on the wards.

class="wikitable" style="margin:1px; border:1px solid #ccc;"
style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; background:#ccc;"

|PMRAFNS rank

|Equivalent RAF rank

style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; background:#f8f8ff;"

| Flying Officer

Flying Officer
style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; background:#f8f8ff;"

| Flight Officer

Flight Lieutenant
style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; background:#f8f8ff;"

| Squadron Officer

Squadron Leader
style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; background:#f8f8ff;"

| Wing Officer

Wing Commander
style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; background:#f8f8ff;"

| Group Officer

Group Captain
style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; background:#f8f8ff;"

| Air Commandant

Air Commodore
style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; background:#f8f8ff;"

| Air Chief CommandantAn honorary rank held only by Princess Mary (7 October 1950) and Princess Alexandra (1 November 1966).

Air Vice-Marshal

Other Ranks were introduced in 1956, although unqualified Nursing Orderlies had previously served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and Women's Royal Air Force. They held standard RAF ranks. Officers used the separate ranking system until 1980, when they too adopted RAF ranks.

Hospitals

The RAF had several hospitals which were staffed by nurses from the PMRAFNS. These were located at Akrotiri, Albrighton, Wolverhampton, Ely, Halton Nocton Hall, Lincolnshire, Aden, Uxbridge, Wegberg and Wroughton.{{cite web|title=RAF - PM MDHU History|url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/PMRAFNS/history/pmmdhuhistory.cfm|website=www.raf.mod.uk|access-date=31 July 2017|language=en}}

Matrons-in-Chief

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Early matrons of the new Royal Air Force Temporary Nursing Service

  • Laura Margaret Holroyde, RRC and bar, was Matron of a new Royal Flying Corps Hospital, later renamed as the Royal Air Force Hospital, in Eton Square, London from 1917-1919. Laura Margaret Holroyde, Register of Sisters and Nurses; RLHLH/N/4/3, 133; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London  

Laura Margaret Holroyde, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/15, 138 Matrons Report to House Committee, 8 January 1917; House Committee Minutes, 1916–1918; RLHLH/A/5/55, 160; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London   She had trained at The London Hospital under Matron Eva Luckes. From June 1921 Holroyde became matron of the London Fever Hospital until 1946.Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons'? A study of Eva Lückes's influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022){{Cite journal |date=14 June 1919 |title=Royal Air Force, Royal Red Cross |journal=The British Journal of Nursing |volume=62 |issue=402}}

See also

{{Commons category|Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service}}

References and notes

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://raf.mod.uk/pmrafns/ Official Website]
  • [http://www.raf.mod.uk/PMRAFNS/organisation/mhupeterborough.cfm Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit Peterborough MDHUP]
  • [https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/defence-medical-services Defence Medical Services]

{{Royal Air Force}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Medical units and formations of the United Kingdom

Category:Military medical organizations

Category:Military nursing

Category:Nursing organisations in the United Kingdom

Category:Organizations established in 1918

Category:Royal Air Force Medical Services

Category:1918 establishments in the United Kingdom