The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps is an official creation of this year.
At the Women's Service Demonstration in the Albert Hall in January,
1917, Lord Derby asked for Women for clerical service in the army and
official appeals were issued in February and repeatedly since that
time, and now all over the country we have Recruiting Committees
organizing meetings and securing recruits. They are recruiting at the
rate of 10,000 a month.

The Waacs had many forerunners in some of our voluntary organizations,
in the Women's Reserve Ambulance, of "The Green Cross Society,"
attached to the National Motor Volunteers--the Women's Volunteer
Reserve--the Women's Legion--the Women's Auxiliary Force and the Women
Signallers Territorial Corps. The Women's Signallers Corps had as
Commandant-in-Chief Mrs. E.J. Parker--Lord Kitchener's sister. They
believed women should be trained in every branch of signalling and
that men could be released for the firing line by women taking over
signalling work at fixed stations. Their prediction came true more
than two years later, for today they are in France. They drilled and
trained the women in all the branches of signalling semaphore--flags,
mechanical arms; and in Morse--flags, airline and cable, sounder
(telegraphy), buzzer, wireless, whistle, lamp and heliograph. They
also learned map reading--the most fascinating of accomplishments.
This Corps had the distinction of introducing "wireless" for women
in England in connection with its Headquarters training school. When
one of the Corps later accepted a splendid appointment as wireless
instructor at a wireless telegraph college--the Corps was duly elated.

[Illustration: W.A.A.C.'s. ON THE MARCH]