WRENS made mark during Canada's wartime history

Present and taking part as members of the Colour Party were Wrens Jeanne Chambers, Charleston and Winnie Wagner, Brooklyn. Both have distinguished themselves as outstanding members of the Royal Canadian Legion. Wren Chambers served as the only woman president of Liverpool Branch 038 and also served as a member of the executive and on several committees. Wren Wagner also, for many years, has been on the executive and its committees.

Late in the 1930s, as the possibility of war in Europe increased, a number of women's auxiliary organizations, modeled on the British Territorial Service (ATS), developed in many parts of Canada. Canada's declaration of war in 1939 accelerated demands for the official mobilization of women, but both civilian and military authorities in Canada remained unconvinced of the potential usefulness of women in the military.

A manpower shortage early in 1941 brought the issue to the forefront and a conference held in April 1941 agreed that if and when women were to be mobilized, each service would control its own auxiliary women's service. Finally in mid-1941, both the army and the air force authorized to enlist women: The Canadian Women's Auxiliary (CWAAF), later RCAF, WDs) was authorized on July 2, 1941 and the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC) on Aug. 13 1941. Not until July 31, 1942 was the formation of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS, or Wrens) approved by Parliament.

Basic training for the Wrens was carried out at HMCS Conestoga (known as the Stone Frigate) in Galt (now Cambridge) Ontario. The Navy's first headquarters appointment to the Wrens was Adelaide Helen Grant Sinclair. She trained in Britain with the British WRNS and served as director of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service until the service was abandoned in 1946. The first class of 67 Wrens finished one month of basic training by the end of Sept. 1942. Twenty-two of the women were commissioned as officers, becoming the first women to carry the King's commission in any of the British Commonwealth naval services.

In all three services, the majority of women were assigned a posting in Canada. They worked at specialized or general training centres, at recruiting centres or at Manning Depots in Toronto and Ottawa. In general, aside from the overlay of military uniform and discipline, the service jobs to which they were assigned were not too different from the work women performed in civilian life. Originally the number of trade and occupations open to women was limited to eight or nine categories. As the war progressed, however, and more and more men were required for combat and overseas duty, increasing numbers of women were needed to fill the gaps. Many acquired skills that had previously been restricted to men: telegraphy, radio operations, drafting and mechanics. By the end of the war, trade-training opportunities for women had expanded to 39 trades and occupations for Wrens, 55 for CWACs and 65 for WDs.

A major problem was inequities between the pay and benefits of male and female service personnel. Originally the basic rate of pay for a woman was two-thirds that for a man. In July 1943, the basic rate of pay was raised to four-fifths that of men. Although it was accepted that women did the same work as men, senior military officials argued the differential was justified because women were restricted from combat. Men and women in the same job continued to be paid differing wages but overall women in the services had better pay and benefits than women in private industry.

Members of both the CWAC and the WDs arrived in England in Aug. 1942. The first Wrens to serve abroad were posted to Washington in April 1943 to work for the Canadian Joint Staff. Approximately 50 Wrens served in the United States, 586 in Newfoundland (considered an overseas posting) and approximately 500 in the British Isles. The women assigned for duty on Canada's east coast probably came closer to the reality of the war being waged overseas.

By late 1944, the idea of women in uniform had become better tolerated within the military. Their presence was no longer a novelty and in most quarters they were regarded as a positive addition to morale.

But the need for large numbers of women in the services was ending as the war in Europe and then in the Pacific drew to a close. Discharge procedures began early in 1945 and, despite arguments for continuation of a women's service, the last servicewomen were released in Dec. 1946.

In all, approximately 50,000 women served in the Canadian military (22,000 in the CWAC, 17,000 in the WDs and 7,000 in the Wrens). Two hundred and forty-four Canadian servicewomen were awarded honours and decorations, ranging from Mention in Dispatches to Member of the British Empire.

Women's participation in the services in the Second World War represented a bold new departure in the way military life was seen in Canada. Initially unwanted, mainly because their presence was a departure from tradition and required changes in the military lifestyle, women began to be accepted and even welcomed as they proved their effectiveness.

A precedent had been set and after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, consideration was again given to the recruitment of women into the services. The Royal Canadian Air Force opened its doors to women in 1953, the Canadian Army in 1954 and the Royal Canadian Navy in 1955. Although women had remained on an unequal footing with men in the services, life in the military had offered them an opportunity to do the same job that a man could do, to win approval or disapproval, equally, to feel satisfaction for a job well done and to prove to themselves and to the rest of society that they were capable of competing with men in the workplace. Not surprisingly, many women look back on their experience in the services as “the best years of our lives.”

The WRCNS made an outstanding contribution to the Allied victory, paved the way for future generations of Canadian service women and raised questions of the equality of women in the civilian world.

Thanks to our Queens County women, Jeanne Chambers and Winnie Wagner for their war service and for participating in the tribute to ALL former members of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service.