WAAF from Sarawak, 313: M. Street by Edith Honor Earl, chalk on paper

Edith Honor Earl made this portrait drawing for her exhibition 'Warriors of the Empire' with the Royal Empire Society, which opened in London’s Grosvenor House in December 1944. It is one of 22 portraits by her in the RAF Museum collection (besides others elsewhere) which celebrate the contributions of Service personnel from the British colonies and Commonwealth in the Second World War.

Earl came from a wealthy and influential family and, using her influence for philanthropic ends, she staged wartime exhibitions of her work in aid of charities. She intended for this large exhibition of her portraits to raise awareness of, and foster social cohesion with, the ‘thousands of men and women who came from all over the Commonwealth to help win the war … soldiers, sailors and airmen, representing every part of what was then termed the “Dominions” and “Colonies”’. Earl drew personnel she met in club rooms or had contacted through Services organisations. She celebrated the distinctive identities of her sitters’ native countries by drawing in the corners of the portraits small, evocative vignettes of landscapes and landmarks. In educating people about her sitters' origins and cultures, she hoped to ‘make the British people more aware of the enormous debt of gratitude we owed to those splendid people’, and devoted proceeds of the exhibition to their welfare and hospitality. The subject of this portrait, Aicraftwoman (ACW) M. Street, served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). WAAFs undertook a broad range of non-combat roles, mostly on the Home Front, while around 9,000 served overseas. Following the Japanese capture of Singapore, Malaya and Hong Kong, and the British forces' retreat to India, South East Asia Command (SEAC) employed WAAFs for transport, maintenance, plotting, wireless telegraphy, and clerical duties. While little is known about her service, Street was drawn by Earl at a time when her home, Sarawek, Malaya (today Malaysia) was occupied by Japanese forces. While sitters' names, roles and countries were described by the artist, further research requires to be undertaken to shed more light on their biographies and service. The RAF Museum welcomes and encourages the sharing of information which may develop a more detailed record of each sitter. Purchased in 1988. Copyright: the Artist's Estate / RAF Museum.