July 31st marks the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS). Often referred to as the “Wrens”, nearly 7,000 women served in the WRCNS in the Second World War. 

The Wrens were preceded in creation by the establishment of both the Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (CWAAF) and the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC) in 1941. Initially, members of the British Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) were appointed to senior leadership positions in the WRCNS, however leading Canadian members such as Commander Adelaide Sinclair would assume senior leadership responsibilities before the end of the war. 

The need for more personnel in non-combat and non-medical roles meant that women’s auxiliary services would serve vital functions throughout Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. While the Wrens were the smallest of the three auxiliary services, they were no less important. Members of the WRCNS conducted a wide range of duties, such as stenography, telephone switchboard operations, coder and cipher duties among others. Such responsibilities were integral to the success of the war effort at home and abroad.

Vice-Admiral G.C. Jones, Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff gave praise to the role of the WRCNS in 1944:

Many of these jobs are not spectacular, but they are vital to the service. They must be done – and done well – or the service will suffer. I know how important, for instance, the work of Wren laundresses is. Perhaps these girls are not aware that they have contributed greatly to the efficiency of the service. I know that they have. –Vice-Admiral G.C. Jones

Despite not being permitted to serve at sea, Wrens faced increased exposure to the realities and hardships of war than typically faced by others at home, as their postings to Newfoundland and England among others required travel by sea and the threat of U-Boat attacks. Many Wrens felt an immense camaraderie within the service, and many faced the difficulties of transitioning back to civilian life as countless other soldiers have. Nearly 1,000 women served abroad during their service in the WRCNS.

The service was officially disbanded in August of 1946, however the nickname of “Wrens” stuck with many women serving in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve until the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968.

More information on the WRCNS can be found at the links below.

https://museumvimytojuno.ca/en/articles/canada-declares-war

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/womens-royal-canadian-naval-service

http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vo9/no2/10-plows-eng.asp

Barbara Dundas, A History of Women in the Canadian Military / Les femmes dans le patrimoine militaire canadien (2000).

https://www.junobeach.org/canada-in-wwii/articles/men-and-women-of-the-royal-canadian-navy/