{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Moresources|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Controller-in-Chief | name = Dame Florence Simpson | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DBE}} | image = DAME FLORENCE LEACH, D.B.E. (c. 1918).png | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Florence Edith Victoria Way | birth_date = {{Birth date|1874|10|9|df=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|9|5|1874|10|9|df=y}} | death_place = Arlesheim, Switzerland | known_for = First woman to hold equivalent rank of Major-General; first Dame Commander of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire | spouse = {{marriage|Brigadier-General Henry Edmund Burleigh Leach|1895|1920|end=div}}<br>{{marriage|Ernest Percy Simpson|1922|1925|end=died}} | children = None | relations = Violet Long (sister) }}
'''Dame Florence Edith Victoria Simpson''', DBE (née '''Way''', formerly '''Leach'''; 9 October 1874 – 5 September 1956) was the senior female British Army officer during World War I and Controller-in-Chief, later President, of the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps (formerly the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps).<ref name="WikipediaEN">{{cite web |title=Florence Simpson |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Leach |publisher=Wikipedia |access-date=2 April 2026}}</ref>
== Personal life ==
Florence Edith Victoria Way was born on 9 October 1874, the daughter of Colonel Wilfred FitzAlan Way and his wife, Henrietta Mary (née Ross).<ref name="WikipediaEN"/>
She married firstly on 3 December 1895, Captain (later Brigadier-General) Henry Edmund Burleigh Leach. They divorced in 1920. She married secondly, Ernest Percy Simpson, a widower with two daughters, in 1922. There were no children from either marriage. Her second husband died in 1925.<ref name="WikipediaEN"/>
In retirement, Dame Florence lived with her stepdaughters for many years in South Africa. She died at a clinic in Arlesheim, Switzerland on 5 September 1956, aged 81.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite web |title=Obituary |url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?q=searchType%3Dsimple%26resultsDisplay%3Dgrid%26acc%3D1994-07-187-1&pos=1&total=2&acc=1994-07-187-1-1 |publisher=National Army Museum |access-date=2 April 2026}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Women's Legion ===
Her career began in 1915 when she volunteered as a cook in the Women's Legion, an organisation founded by Lady Londonderry to provide "a capable and efficient body of women whose services could be offered to the state to take the place of men needed in the firing line or in other capacities".<ref name="WikipediaEN"/>
She became Commandant of the Military Cookery section of the Legion, taking on more and more catering for the Army. In February 1917 she was appointed Controller of Cooks.<ref name="NAMTelegram">{{cite web |title=Telegram from Arthur Sykes on behalf of the Women's Legion, 2 December 1916 |url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1998-01-78-3&pos=5654&total=5832 |publisher=National Army Museum |access-date=2 April 2026}}</ref> On 2 December 1916, she was reported to be visiting Officer's Clubs in France in her capacity as Controller of Cooks.<ref name="NAMTelegram"/>
=== Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) ===
Seven months later, she brought all 7,000 Women's Legion cooks and waitresses into the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, which had been formed earlier that year. Later she was appointed Controller of Recruiting for the WAAC and appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1918.<ref name="WikipediaEN"/>
In February 1918, she became Chief Controller of the WAAC at the War Office and five months later was promoted to Controller-in-Chief with the rank of Major-General, becoming the senior officer of 57,000 women serving at home and overseas. The Corps name was changed to Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps, of which she was elected President.<ref name="NAMStar">{{cite web |title=Order of the British Empire, Dame Commander Star awarded to Dame Florence Leach |url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?q=searchType%3Dsimple%26resultsDisplay%3Dgrid%26acc%3D1994-07-187-1&pos=1&total=2&acc=1994-07-187-1-1 |publisher=National Army Museum |access-date=2 April 2026}}</ref>
The Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps Old Comrades Association was established in December 1919 and Florence became the Association's President. The first issue of the Association's Gazette was published in July 1920.<ref name="NAM1925Gazette">{{cite web |title=Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps Old Comrades Association Gazette, November 1925 |url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1998-01-50-8&pos=4&total=24463 |publisher=National Army Museum |access-date=2 April 2026}}</ref>
She retired from the QMAAC in 1920.<ref name="WikipediaEN"/>
=== Death of her sister ===
Florence's sister, Violet Long, wife of Major W. E. Long, was one of the Chief Controllers of the WAAC. She drowned while evacuating nurses from the Hospital Transport ship SS Warilda after it was torpedoed by a German U-boat on 3 August 1918. Violet Long was returning from France to give her sister a report on how the WAAC's detailed for service with the American Army overseas were progressing. She was the last woman to leave the ship.<ref name="Times1918">{{cite news |title=Obituary - Violet Long |newspaper=The Times |date=7 August 1918 |issue=41862}}</ref>
== Masonic affiliation ==
Florence Leach was a member of the Order of Women Freemasons (formerly the Honourable Fraternity of Antient Masonry). The Order of Women Freemasons is the largest female-only Masonic organisation in the United Kingdom, tracing its origins to 1908. Her Masonic affiliation placed her among a network of prominent women who combined military service, philanthropy, and Masonic membership in the early 20th century.<ref name="OWFHistory">{{cite web |title=History of the Order of Women Freemasons |url=https://www.owf.org.uk/about/history |publisher=The Order of Women Freemasons |access-date=2 April 2026}}</ref>
== Honours ==
In 1919, Leach was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), the first Dame Commander of the Military Division of that order.<ref name="NAMStar"/> Her Dame Commander star is preserved in the collection of the National Army Museum.<ref name="NAMStar"/>
A portrait photograph of Dame Florence Simpson (formerly Leach) taken in 1918 is also held by the National Army Museum.<ref name="NAMPortrait">{{cite web |title=Portrait of Dame Florence Simpson (formerly Leach), Chief Controller of the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps, 1918 |url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1994-07-241-77&page=1&pos=1&total=2 |publisher=National Army Museum |access-date=2 April 2026}}</ref>
== Legacy ==
Leach is remembered as the first woman to hold the rank of Major-General in the British Army and the first Dame Commander of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire. Her leadership of the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps helped establish the role of women in the British military, paving the way for the formation of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in 1938 and later the Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC) in 1949.
The November 1925 issue of the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps Old Comrades Association Gazette featured her portrait on its cover, recognising her ongoing service as President of the Association.<ref name="NAM1925Gazette"/>
== See also == * Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps * Women's Army Auxiliary Corps * Helen Gwynne-Vaughan * Mona Chalmers Watson * Order of Women Freemasons
== References == {{reflist}}
== Further reading == * {{cite book |last=Hartley |first=Cathy |first2=Sarah |last2=Leckey |title=A Historical Dictionary of British Women |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2003 |page=396 |isbn=978-1-85743-228-2}} * {{cite book |last=Bidwell |first=Shelford |title=The Women's Royal Army Corps |publisher=Pen & Sword |year=1997 |isbn=9780850520996}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Florence Simpson-Leach}} * [https://collection.nam.ac.uk/ National Army Museum collection]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Florence}} Category:1874 births Category:1956 deaths Category:Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps officers Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:British Freemasons Category:20th-century British women Category:20th-century British people Category:British Army generals of World War I Category:British Army major generals