WRCNS essential to war effort during the Battle of the Atlantic

They were wireless telegraph operators, code busters, clerks and stenographers. They drove vehicles, worked in kitchens, laundries and post offices, and prepared ciphers.

In short, they played a necessary role during the Battle of the Atlantic doing just about every job supporting the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) – short of participating in combat at sea.

These were members of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS), or Wrens, who worked diligently ashore to ensure as many men as possible could take on combat roles. Their establishment came at a time when women’s roles in society in general were changing drastically in order to free up men for service, laying the foundation for the fight for women’s equality in the decades that followed.

By the end of the war, 39 trades had been declared open to more than 6,500 Wrens, and all vital to the war effort.

As July 2022 marks the 80th anniversary of the WRCNS’ establishment, we take a look back at the historic role they played in the Second World War and in changing Canadian society at large.

In the spring of 1941, Canada had been at war for nearly two years. In light of the increasing need for manpower for the war effort, National Defence Headquarters asked the Navy, Army and Air Force to determine what roles women could perform in uniformed service.

At the time, the Navy believed it would only need a small number of drivers, and, unlike the Army and Air Force, it did not believe it was necessary to create a separate service for women. A year later, all that would change.

The story of the WRCNS began in 1942, when the RCN asked the British Admiralty for assistance in creating the service. The justification for such an organization was provided by the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services, Angus L. Macdonald. He argued that women could perform a number of tasks, thus enabling men to perform “duties of a heavier nature than they [were] now performing.”

In May of that year, a memorandum was sent to the War Committee Cabinet listing the following positions or tasks that could be filled or performed by women: cipher duties, clerical work, teletype operations, telephone switchboard operator, wireless telegraphic operator, coder duties, cook, steward, messenger and motor transport driver.

The call went out to Canadian women to volunteer for service, making applications at the nearest recruiting office. Additional positions were added as the war effort expanded.

In response to the Canadian request, the British Admiralty sent three officers of the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) to help establish the WRCNS. The Canadian organization adopted the British model, although unlike the WRNS, the WRCNS became an integral part of the RCN, and not an auxiliary formation.

But first, there were a number of challenges that needed to be addressed in developing the WRCNS, including organization, recruitment, accommodation and training. Although each challenge would require a period of British tutelage, the aim was to eventually leave the various compositional elements under the control of Canadian Wrens.

The WRCNS attracted women from all backgrounds: farm girls, debutantes, students, teachers and factory workers, as well as department store clerks and office workers. Recruitment continued throughout the war until April 1945.

In late 1942, the WRCNS basic training centre was set up in Galt, Ont. This establishment and other WRCNS training centres were referred to as “stone frigates”, with each designated as one of His Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) and given corresponding nautical terminology.

The centre at Galt, designated HMCS Conestoga, conducted a three-week training program designed to enable a rapid transition from civilian to military life. The new recruits were given physical training and drill practice, and they attended lectures on naval traditions and customs.

Adelaide Sinclair was the first Canadian to fill the position of Director WRCNS and the first woman to hold the rank of naval captain. And Lieutenant-Commander Isabel Macneill, commanding officer of HMCS Conestoga, was the first woman to command a ship in the British Commonwealth.

A separate WRCNS officers’ training course was established in Ottawa, providing officers with generalized officer training and allowing them an opportunity to discuss problems they would encounter as an officer.

By the summer of 1943, the work of the WRCNS was already being recognized. The Minister of National Defence for Naval Services stated: