Showing 1 to 10 of 53 search results

Study: A Balloon Site, Coventry (VII) by Dame Laura Knight, watercolour and charcoal on paper

Fine Art, In Storage, FA01170

This compositional study representing female balloon operators manoeuvering a barrage balloon is one of several preparatory drawings by Dame Laura Knight for a painting commissioned by the War Office to encourage recruitment of women to RAF Balloon Command - 'A Balloon Site: Coventry' (1942, Imperial War Museums). Months earlier, in 1941, WAAF operators replaced men at RAF Balloon Command.

In this watercolour five women (WAAFs) haul on the lines of a barrage balloon above them; trees in the background, RAF Museum / Study: A Balloon Site, Coventry (VII) by Dame Laura Knight, watercolour and charcoal on paper, 1942

Study: A Balloon Site, Coventry (VI) by Dame Laura Knight, watercolour on paper

Fine Art, In Storage, FA01171

This compositional study representing a barrage balloon among trees, with female balloon operators below it, is one of several preparatory drawings by Dame Laura Knight for a painting commissioned by the War Office to encourage recruitment of women to RAF Balloon Command - 'A Balloon Site: Coventry' (1942, Imperial War Museums). In 1941, WAAF operators replaced men at RAF Balloon Command.

Study: A Balloon Site, Coventry (VI) by Dame Laura Knight, watercolour on paper | FA01171

Study: A Balloon Site, Coventry (I) by Dame Laura Knight, graphite on paper

Fine Art, In Storage, FA04558

This small compositional study of four WAAFs holding the rope of a barrage balloon is one of several preparatory drawings by Dame Laura Knight for a painting commissioned by the War Office to encourage recruitment of women to RAF Balloon Command - 'A Balloon Site: Coventry' (1942, Imperial War Museums). Months earlier, in 1941, WAAF operators replaced men at RAF Balloon Command.

Graphite drawing of four WAAF barrage balloon operators pulling the line to tether the balloon, RAF Museum

Section Officer Austen: WAAF meteorologist by Evelyn Dunbar, oil on canvas

Fine Art, 1944, London, Art Gallery, Hangar Three, L001-1651

Mural painter Evelyn Dunbar was the only female Official War Artist of the Second World War commissioned on a full time salary. Few female artists were commissioned even on a short-term basis and the majority of women's artworks accepted for the War Artists' Advisory Committee's (WAAC) scheme were selectively purchased. Out of 405 participating artists, only 52 were women (13 percent).

WAAF officer leaning over a drawing board, plotting a weather onto a map. Curled up tracing paper sits on the map, Crown copyright: expired. / Crown copyright: expired

Recorded interview with Leading Aircraftswoman Olga Hopkins, 21 July 2025

Film & Sound, In Storage, X008-9913

Olga Hopkins gives an account of her Second World War service as a wireless mechanic in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). She describes training and her work with aircraft.

Image pending

Operations Room sequence

Film & Sound, In Storage, X001-3375

Film showing a post-war reconstruction of a Battle of Britain fighter operations room, in which plotters and controllers follow the events of 15 September 1940. Archive footage illustrates aerial combat.

Image pending

A guide for the layout of WAAF kit (for kit inspection)

Library, In Storage, X004-7329

Air Diagrams were posters produced for use in the training of air and ground crews. Service life for women in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) included laying out their kit on their bed for inspection. This Air Diagram was produced by the Air Ministry in 1944. Air Diagram Number: AD1388

Printed poster, Royal Air Force Museum

Battle of Britain London Monument

Library, In Storage, X004-1677

Battle of Britain London Monument leaflet produced by the Battle of Britain Historical Society to generate interest and support for a London monument to the Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain London Monument | X004-1677

Royal Air Force Balloon Command, November 1938-June 1945

Archives, In Storage, B3054

Ring binder of typescript sheets, photographs and memoirs regarding the history and operations of Balloon Command during the Second World War complied by Flight Lieutenant William Forks.

Typescript sheets bound in blue A4 ring-binder., Typescript sheets bound in blue A4 ring-binder.

Notes for the guidance of airmen and women about to be invalided

Library, In Storage, X004-3241

5th edition of Air Ministry Pamphlet 155 ‘Notes for the guidance of airmen and airwomen about to be invalided’. Issued by the Air Ministry December 1947

Cream coloured page with black text and RAF Museum Library stamp. With brown border visible on three sides of page, Crown