Gwynne-Vaughan became the first woman to receive a military Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).
In 1918, in recognition of her exceptional service leading the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during the First World War, Helen Gwynne-Vaughan was created a military Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), making her the first woman ever to receive this specifically military honor.
The distinction between a civil and military DBE was significant: the military division of the honor was reserved for those whose service had a direct connection to the armed forces, a category from which women had previously been almost entirely excluded given their limited formal roles in the military. Gwynne-Vaughan's award thus represented formal state recognition that women's contributions to the war effort through organizations like the WAAC constituted genuine military service deserving of the highest honors.
This honor helped legitimize the broader project of women's military service in the eyes of the British establishment and public, paving the way for further institutional acceptance of women in uniformed, quasi-military roles. It also elevated Gwynne-Vaughan's public profile, strengthening her position for the subsequent leadership role she would take on with the Women's Royal Air Force just months later.
Her DBE remains a landmark moment in the history of British honors and in the broader recognition of women's wartime contributions, predating the more widespread integration of women into formal military command structures that would follow in subsequent decades.