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Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Helen Gwynne-Vaughan

Her full name is Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan. Helen Charlotte Isabella Fraser was born in Westminster, London, England on January 21, 1879. Her father, Army Captain the Honourable Arthur Hay David Fraser, was a well-known English botanist and mycologist. During WWI, she served in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps before becoming Commandant of the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) from 1918 to 1919. She was the Chief Controller of the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II, from 1939 to 1941. (ATS). More of her contributions are still recognized, and this article pays tribute to all of her facts that you should be aware of. Discover Walks continues to inform, as usual. Let’s get right to it.

1. Helen had a degree in Botany

Picture By  Chris Talbot.

Helen received an honors degree in botany from King’s College, London, in 1904, and began an academic career in mycology – the study of fungi. She was appointed Head of the Botany Department at Birkbeck College, London, in 1909.

She married fellow academic David Thomas Gwynne-Vaughan in 1911 and, unlike many married women at the time, continued to pursue her career.

Following her husband’s untimely death in 1915, Gwynne-Vaughan relocated to Bedford Court Mansions, which was conveniently close to Birkbeck College at the time.

The six-roomed flat was described as a “scene of constant business-like activity,” and it would be her London home for the next nearly 50 years. During this time, she was appointed professor at Birkbeck, becoming the college’s first female professor.

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2. She was appointed Chief Controller in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps

Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. By John Warwick Brooke. Wikimedia Commons

Gwynne-Vaughan spent many years in public and military service while living at Bedford Court Mansions. She joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) during World War I and was appointed Chief Controller of a small contingent stationed in France.

Her position was secured largely due to her excellent connections. But Gwynne-Vaughan still had to prove herself as a capable leader at a time when many people were skeptical of women serving in the army.

The WAAC grew quickly, enrolling approximately 40,000 women in four and a half years. Gwynne-Vaughan became the first woman to wear the insignia of a Military Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1918 as a result of her success.

Later that year, she was promoted to Commandant of the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF). Gwynne-Vaughan was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919.

3. Gwynne-Vaughan was given the powers of a Brigadier in WRAF

Helen Gwynne-Vaughan was transferred to the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) in September 1918 as a result of her success with the WAAC. She began the task of reorganization after being given the powers of a Brigadier.

She revised the Standing Orders, overhauled the administrative system, opened and equipped Berridge House in Hampstead for officer training, authorized the new blue uniform, and instituted military protocol in a short period of time.

Her professionalism aided in changing male attitudes toward female pilots. In recognition of her accomplishments, she was named Dame of the British Empire in June 1919. (DBE).

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4. Helen was appointed Director of ATS

Helen Gwynne-Vaughan was instrumental in establishing the Emergency Services, a training organization for female officers, in 1935.

With war looming once more, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the British Army’s women’s branch, was established in September 1938. Helen Gwynne-Vaughan was appointed Director, a position she held until her military retirement in 1941.

By the end of the year, the WRAF was the best disciplined and best-turned-out women’s organization in the country. This remarkable accomplishment was made possible by… Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, Dame.

5. She taught in various colleges

Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, a British botanist and college professor, combined an academic career with distinguished military service in two wars.

Gwynne-Vaughan received her bachelor’s degree in botany in 1904 and taught at various London colleges while pursuing her doctorate in 1907.

She was appointed head of the botany department at Birkbeck College in London in 1909. She was active in the University of London Suffrage Society, which she co-founded with Louisa Garrett Anderson, early in her career.

6. Gwynne-Vaughan was named a Dame of the British Empire in late 1919

Gwynne-Vaughan was appointed Commandant of the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) in 1918, replacing the beleaguered Violet Douglas-Pennant, and remained in that position until 1920.

In late 1919, Gwynne-Vaughan was made a Dame of the British Empire for her contributions during the war.

After the war, she returned to her academic studies, but her efficiency and skill in commanding both the WAACs and the WRAF did much to change male attitudes toward women in the military, and she remained active in women’s military involvement throughout WWII.

7. Helen increased the number of women in public duties

Gwynne-Vaughan devoted herself to war work and public service.  in early 1917, she was appointed to lead the newly formed Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

The WAACs were formed to free up even more men for fighting. With “the plan being for these women to serve as clerks, telephonists, waitresses, cooks, and instructors in the use of gas masks.” 14 cooks and waitresses were sent to France in March of that year, but by the time of the Armistice, “there were 1058 controllers and administrators, 8529 members serving abroad, and 30,155 at home,” for a total of 39,742 women serving with the WAACs.

Gwynne’s administration earned her high praise, and Queen Mary assumed the position and title of Commander-in-Chief of the Corps on April 9, 1918, as a mark of favor, and it was renamed Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

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8. She was awarded the Carter Medal in 1902

Picture By John H Darch.

Fraser spent much of her childhood abroad due to her stepfather’s career and was primarily educated by governesses. She attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College, an all-girls independent boarding school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, from 1895 to 1896.

In 1899, she enrolled in King’s College, London’s ladies’ department, to prepare for the University of Oxford entrance exams. She stayed at King’s College, however, as one of the college’s first female students to study botany and zoology.

She received the Carter Medal in 1902 and earned a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree from the University of London in 1904. Margaret Jane Benson, head of the Department of Botany at Royal Holloway College, was also one of her professors. In 1907, she received a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree.

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9. Helen  was the president of the British Mycological Society in 1928

British Mycological Society.

In the 1929 King’s Birthday Honours, she was promoted to Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) “for public and scientific services”.

He 1905, she was elected to the Linnean Society, and in 1920, she received its Trail Medal. In 1928, she was president of the British Mycological Society.

Palaeoendogone gwynne-vaughaniae and Pleurage gwynne-vaughaniae are two fungal species named after her.

In March 2020, English Heritage unveiled a blue plaque in her honor on Bedford Avenue in Bloomsbury, London, where she lived for nearly 50 years.

10.  Gwynne-Vaughan chaired the Guides’ Sixth World Conference

She and Louisa Garrett Anderson co-founded the University of London Suffrage Society while at Royal Holloway College. Helen spoke at a meeting of the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship in 1926.

She was also involved in Girl Guides and was awarded the Silver Fish. Gwynne-Vaughan presided over the Sixth World Conference of the Guides in 1930.

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts was formed at this conference.   Olave Baden-Powell was unanimously elected World Chief Guide.

After retiring in 1944, she worked as the full-time honorary secretary of the Soldiers’. Sailors’, and Air Force Association’s London branch until 1962.

 Finally, Gwynne-Vaughan returned to civilian life and academia at the end of 1919. As the Second World War approached, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the British Army’s women’s branch, was formed, and Gwynne-Vaughan was appointed Director in 1939. Her rank was that of a major general.

Gwynne-Vaughan reached retirement age in July 1941, and the ATS was given full military status, which meant its members were no longer volunteers – a significant step toward the equality for which Gwynne-Vaughan had fought.

With her health deteriorating, Gwynne-Vaughan left Bedford Court Mansions in 1964 and spent her final years at Sussexdown, an RAF association-run convalescent home.