Women in uniform (38 images)

Women have long contributed to the military service, but their efforts have often been overlooked.Women have played a vital role in the Armed Forces since at least the Second World War, when they were employed in a wide variety of roles, many of which exposed them to extreme danger.

After the War, it was recognised that women continued to have an important role to play in the Armed forces, and the "Women's Services" were permanently established.

The...
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Women have long contributed to the military service, but their efforts have often been overlooked.Women have played a vital role in the Armed Forces since at least the Second World War, when they were employed in a wide variety of roles, many of which exposed them to extreme danger.

After the War, it was recognised that women continued to have an important role to play in the Armed forces, and the "Women's Services" were permanently established.

The early 1990s saw the most dramatic peacetime changes in their duties, with women serving in surface ships, as aircrew for the first time, and also in a much greater range of posts in the Army.

Around the same time, women's roles were fully into the three main Service branches - the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force - and the separate Women's Services were abolished (the Women's Royal Air Force was never a separate Service, although the use of the term was discontinued).

Today, the contribution of Servicewomen to the combat effectiveness of the Armed Forces is essential. More women are serving in a greater variety of posts than ever before, many of them front line.
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