SAAF WAAF Service Numbers
 

Did ladies of the South African WAAF have any prefix before their service number?

Thanks

yes it was an 'F'

Perfect, thank you!

I know often a prefix was left off when it was obvious what the person was, for example males in the RAAF during WW2 had an 'A' prefix although it was not always shown on documents etc if the document made it clear it was a male in the RAAF!

The item in question I have is a certificate of qualification as an Instructor, with the Lady's name and number (no prefix) although the name, and notice of her being WAAF makes it clear it was a lady of the WAAF.

Thank you!

Numbers were also allocated to groups, so it is also possible to tell from the number which unit/corps/group the person was allocated to when joining up.

SAAF WAAF Service Numbers
 

If you post the ladies force number I can confirm the unit she attested to.

Thank you, that will be great.

There is a certificate from the South African Military College dated April 3rd 1942noting her as a Warrant Officer (1st Class) in the WAAF, Miss Mary Kalil. Her number is given as '47103'.

I wondered if there was a prefix to that?

I know some forces used a prefix either Commissioned/Non-Commissioned, male/female, or simply to distinguish the service, although often not always used within the country if it is obvious what the service or gender is.

Hi

Checked up on her Attestation Number (Block Numbers) and it indicates she was allocated to a rather unusual unit : Aircraft Artillery Depot S.A.T.S. ( South African Training School?) Artisan SAAF.
I have never heard of these guys, new one for me!

But definitely Air Force related.

Hope this helps
Brian

Brian,
Is this maybe the unit where they trained the WAAF girls for Anti Aircraft service. They maned the search lights, etc.

Steven

Based at Robert Heights (Voortrekkerhoogte) .

.

Thanks Mike for posting this, very informative. Not a unit I have ever come across before.

Page popped up on Google search , it is from:

"Armaments Year-book: General and Statistical Information"
League of Nations., 1937 - Armies

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...tisans&f=false

.

Very interesting publication Mike, never heard of this one. A pity the ladies hand interfered with many of the pages?

Thank you gents for your information all helpful and interesting.

Unfortunately there is nothing in her papers that gives an indication of any unit she was with. The certificate from the South African Military College is for a course on being a PT instructress, so I imagine that was her official qualification, and from there she was probably at several units as a PT Instructor. Attained the rank of Warrant Officer at least. Other papers just relate to PT and dance - routines, training cycles etc. I did find one other note which has her service number, still with no prefix.

Mike, thanks for the link to that book, I shall check it out more thoroughly.