The corps was formed following a January 1917 War Office recommendation that women should be employed in non-combatant roles in the British Army in France.

While recruiting began in March 1917,[2] the corps was only formally instituted on 7 July 1917 by Lieutenant-General Sir Nevil Macready, the adjutant-general, who appointed Dr Mona Chalmers Watson the first chief controller.

[2] On 31 March 1917, women in the WAAC were first sent to the theatre of war in France, at that stage just fourteen cooks and waitresses.

One such was Dr Phoebe Chapple, who was awarded the Military Medal for tending the wounded regardless of her own safety during an air raid on an WAAC camp near Abbeville in May 1918.

[6][7] In all, five military medals were awarded to members of the QMAAC, all for brave conduct during air raids or shelling in rear areas.