Air Commandant. On 1 January 1943 she was appointed to the rank of Air Chief Commandant with its creation. On 4 October 1943, while Forbes toured Canada, assessing the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division, she was relieved by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, who had been head of the WAAF since 1939, again with the rank of Senior Controller, then, Air Commandant, being gazetted to Air Chief Commandant on 22 March 1943. Forbes retired in August 1944, and the post of director was given to Mary Welsh, who was appointed Air Chief Commandant. After the war, the rank of Air Chief Commandant was suspended and in December 1946, the final director of WAAF, Felicity Hanbury, was appointed. Air Chief Commandant Dame Jane Trefusis Forbes, June 1939 – 4 October 1943 Air Chief Commandant Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, 4 October 1943 – August 1944 Air Chief Commandant Dame Mary Welsh, August 1944 – November 1946 Air Commandant Dame Felicity Hanbury, December 1946 – January 1949 Ranks Initially, the WAAF used the ATS ranking system, although the director held the rank of senior controller (equivalent to brigadier in the British Army and air commodore in the RAF) instead of chief controller (equivalent to major-general or air vice-marshal) as in the ATS. However, in December 1939 the title was changed to air commandant, when the ranks were renamed and reorganised. Other ranks now held identical ranks to male RAF personnel, but officers continued to have a separate rank system, although now different from that of the ATS. From February 1940 it was no longer possible to enter directly as an officer; from that time all officers were appointed from the other ranks. From July 1941 WAAF officers held full commissions. On 1 January 1943, the rank of air chief commandant (equivalent to air vice-marshal) was created with the director's appointment to that rank. Officers Other ranks WAAFs serving with SOE Several members of the WAAF served with the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. Assistant Section Officer Noor Inayat Khan (9901), posthumously Mentioned in Dispatches and awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Gold Star and the George Cross, Britain's highest award for gallantry not in the face of the enemy. Section Officer Yvonne Baseden Section Officer Yolande Beekman, posthumously awarded the French Croix de Guerre. Assistant Section Officer Sonya Butt (9910) Section Officer Muriel Byck Flight Officer Yvonne