Henrietta Barnett

Air Commandant Dame Mary Henrietta Barnett (16 February 1905 – 11 September 1985) was a senior officer of the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF). From 1956 to 1960, she served as its director.

Early life and education Barnett was born on 16 February 1905 in Winchester, Hampshire, England. She was the youngest child of Colonel George Henry Barnett CMG DSO and Mary Dorothea Barnett ( Baker). From September 1918 to July 1922, she was educated at Heathfield School, an all girls independent school in Ascot, Berkshire. She transferred to the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) when it was established on 28 June 1939. She was commissioned into the WAAF as a company assistant (equivalent to a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force), with seniority from 5 December 1938. During World War II, she served at RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire, at RAF Feltwell in Norfolk, and at the Air Ministry in London.

After the end of the war, in the summer of 1945, Barnett was posted to RAF Mediterranean Command in Caserta, Italy. In October 1947, she returned to the United Kingdom and was appointed as an WAAF staff officer at Flying Training Command headquarters. In October 1948, she appointed the WAAF Inspector; this job required her to travel extensively, inspecting all the bases within RAF Home Command that had WAAF personnel. From 1949 to 1952, she served as one of two Deputy-Directors of the WRAF: In the 1958 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), and therefore granted the title Dame.