The WRNS: A history of the Women's Royal Naval Service

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Women can now serve in all of the Royal Navy’s seagoing branches, demonstrating the service’s commitment to making sure all its personnel have the same opportunities. The lifting of the submarine ban ended one of the last all-male bastions of the armed forces after pressure to introduce equal opportunities throughout the military.

The event was organised by Warrant Officer Jen Morton, who joined the Service as a Wren and is now in charge of Writers’ specialist training. She was assisted in hosting the event by a class of trainee Writers.The Royal Navy mainly viewed female staff as typists and car drivers, but Vera had been recruiting the cream of the crop as Wrens – women such as mathematicians, linguists and sporting stars, some as young as 17. The first Wrens to appear in uniform were enrolled at the Royal Navy Depot, Crystal Palace, in 1918. Most WRNS were given a trade category denoted by blue non-substantive trade badges worn on the right arm. Traditional army and naval officers earn their stripes over time. They are usually gold or crimson, but the Wrens had their own officer stripes in blue. Officers' stripes were identical to those on navy officer uniforms, with some having a symbol on the top stripe and others not. 2. 74,000 Wrens officers were involved in World War Two The Women's Royal Naval Service as we knew it, came to an end in 1990 when the women in it first went to sea as part of the Royal Navy. The transition was not an over night occurrence and there were many Wrens who didn't go to sea (they opted out) but those who did go became female sailors and were no longer Wrens. Net Defence: Battery Charger: Boat's Crew: Laundrymaid: Messenger: Hall Porter: Postman: Steward (General) including Petty Officers Messman and Night Porter: Maintenance

The Women’s Royal Naval Service was founded in November 1917 under the slogan Free a Man for the Fleet. The first Director WRNS was Dame Katherine Furse who had previously h eld a senior role with the British Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachments (VAD) until November 1917, when she was offered the post and rank of Director of the newly established WRNS, the equivalent of a Rear Admiral. In fact the Royal Navy was the first of the armed forces to recruit women, who took over the role of Navy cooks, clerks, wireless telephonists, electricians and code-breaking experts. By 1918 the WRNS had grown to 5,500 members, of which 500 were officers, but after only 19 months in existence the authorities disbanded the WRNS at the end of the war. Lieutenant Commander Kay Burbidge made history in 2011 by becoming the Fleet Air Arm’s first female Senior Observer when posted to 829 Naval Air Squadron based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall, after completing a Flight Commander’s appointment on the Type 23 Frigate HMS Monmouth. She joined the Royal Navy in 1988 as a Wren Air Engineering (Weapons Electrical) Mechanic and was commissioned in 1995. Burbidge returned to command 829 NAS with its Sea King helicopters in 2016. Burbidge said, “Joining up as a non-seagoing, blue-badge-wearing Wren, my recent appointment is a true reflection as to the advances in the opportunities available to females in the Armed Forces today.” A very important first for women occurred in May 2012, when Commander Sarah West was the first female to actually command a major warship, the Type 23 Frigate HMS Portland, and since 2019 women have been eligible to join the Royal Marine Commandos. Wrens wore the same rank insignia as their male equivalents, but in blue instead of gold. The "curls" atop officers' rank stripes were diamond-shaped instead of circular. The First Lord Admiral invited Dame Katharine Furse to form a Naval organisation for women. In 1917, the Women's Royal Naval Service was formed, and on 29th November, George V approved the formation of the WRNS to support the admiralty when needed. On 10 October 1918, nineteen-year-old Josephine Carr from Cork, became the first Wren to die on active service, when her ship, the RMS Leinster was torpedoed. By the end of WW1 WRNS had 5,500 members, 500 of them officers. About 2000 members of the WRAF had previously served with the WRNS supporting the Royal Naval Air Service and were transferred on the creation of the Royal Air Force.However mum-of-three Vera, a Wren in the First World War, continued to push for women’s active involvement after 1939. The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First raised in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War, remaining active until integrated into the Royal Navy in 1993. WRNs included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics. Honorary rank held by a member of the Royal Family. Until 1951, the position was called Commandant, but was renamed in that year due to the introduction of Commandant as the rank for the Director WRNS. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was Commandant, and later Chief Commandant, from 1940 until her death in 1968. She was succeeded by Princess Anne, who held the appointment from 1974 until 1993, when she became Chief Commandant for Women, Royal Navy; she now holds the honorary rank of admiral. Post-war era [ edit ] RN and WRNS officers enjoying evening drinks by the Grand Harbour in Malta, 1964.

We were the fore-runners of women in the Navy today. Seeing these young people here at HMS Raleigh is marvellous for us. They are fantastic.” Roberts, Hannah (2018). The WRNS in Wartime: the Women's Royal Naval Service 1917–1945. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781788310017. At the beginning of the Second World War Vera Laughton Mathews was appointed as the director of the re-formed WRNS in 1939 with Ethel (Angela) Goodenough as her deputy. [1] The WRNS had an expanded list of allowable activities, including flying transport planes. At its peak in 1944 it had 75,000 active servicewomen. During the war 102 WRNS members were killed in action and 22 wounded in action. [2] One of the slogans used in recruitment posters was "Join the Wrens and free a man for the Fleet". So for the U-boats to be so accurate in their aim, they had to be already inside the convoy. But how were they getting there?Until 1951, Director was both a position and a rank. In 1951, the rank of Commandant was introduced for the officer holding the position of Director. Director equated to Rear-Admiral until 1946, when it was reduced to Commodore. In common with RN Commodores, after 1946 Director/Commandant was only an appointment and not a true rank and the Directors continued to hold the substantive rank of Superintendent. Commandant Jocelyn Woollcombe, Director from 1946 to 1950, expounded her view of WRNS’ officer ranks as: ‘Rather an unhappy blend of the Merchant Navy, the Railway and the Asylum!’ The top WRNS rank of Director, comparable to a Rear Admiral, was used until 1951, but thereafter Commandant was substituted as the most senior rank in the WRNS. The term Director was henceforth used as the job title for the most senior Wren, thus the Director’s status was overnight reduced in rank to that of a male Commodore. What didn’t change was the rule that women were not allowed to serve on warships, even those of a non-combatant nature, such as survey vessels. However, since amalgamation with the Royal Navy in 1993, several women officers have achieved the 1-star rank of Royal Navy Commodore (rated NATO OF-6) their gold insignia and shoulder-boards now identical to those worn by their male counterparts. One of the slogans used in recruiting posters was "Join the Wrens—free a man for the fleet." It was integrated into the regular Royal Navy in 1993 when women were allowed to serve on board navy vessels as full members of the crew. Other Wrens offered to relieve her of monitoring the Oribi, but Christian refused. She adds: “Naturally, I needed to stay there.”

Told that the range of a U-boat torpedo was about one mile, Jean Laidlaw had a lightbulb moment – convoys were miles across. Right: Commander Samantha Moore, the first female commander of a naval surface vessel, HMS Dasher and the first female to command a squadron of Royal Navy vessels, the 1st Patrol Boat Squadron Trainee Writer Brittany Walker, aged 23 from Norfolk, said:“It’s been nice hearing the ladies’ stories of how things were in their day. Their initial training was different compared to what we have to do, particularly the physical element.” The Women's Royal Naval Service ( WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War, remaining active until integrated into the Royal Navy in 1993. WRNS included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics.The ladies were also treated to a performance by the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Plymouth, which included the specially commissioned WRNS100 march and ‘Hello Dolly’, the tune played to welcome the first 50 Wrens as they reported for training in 1981. At the age of 102, Christian Lamb is one of the last surviving Wrens who played a crucial role in the Battle of the Atlantic. Wrens were initially recruited to release men to serve at sea. This was reflected in the recruiting slogan 'Join the Wrens today and free a man to join the Fleet.' As the wartime navy expanded, the WRNS followed suit, taking on tasks that the Royal Navy had previously considered beyond their capabilities. WRNS responsibilities included driving, cooking, clerical work, operating radar and communications equipment and providing weather forecasts. The Naval Censorship Branch was staffed by WRNS clerks and censor officers either worked in mobile units or in London. Many Wrens were involved in planning naval operations, including the D-Day landings in June 1944. The WRNS was formed in 1917 as the Royal Navy faced a deteriorating manpower situation as a result of the First World War. Yet British military top brass were rather clueless about how to defeat them – until the Wrens got involved.