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Second World War
The Navy Ashore  - Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service

The Second World War saw close to 7,000 women in naval service. Founded in 1942, the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS), often called the "Wrens", performed a wide variety non-combatant roles ashore, both in Canada and abroad.

Uniform, Lieutenant-Commander Eleanor McCallum
Uniform, Lieutenant-Commander Eleanor McCallum

This uniform belonged to Eleanor McCallum, one of the longest-serving members of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS).

McCallum entered the WRCNS at the time it was formed, and was subsequently appointed an officer. Along with her colleagues, she was among the first women to serve as a commissioned officer in a navy within the British Commonwealth. While the rank insignia on McCallum's jacket sleeve differs in detail from other branches of the Royal Canadian Navy, the names of the various officers' ranks were the same, unlike those in Britain's Women's Royal Naval Service.

Uniform, Service Dress, Lieutenant-Commander Eleanor McCallum

Service dress hat, CWM 19920141-001,
Service dress jacket, CWM 19920141-004
Necktie, CWM 19920141-008
Service dress skirt, CWM 19920141-005





Commander Dorothy Isherwood Inspecting Wrens, Halifax
WRCNS Uniform, Captain Adelaide Sinclair
Presentation Cigarette Case, Captain Adelaide Sinclair
Uniform, Lieutenant-Commander Eleanor McCallum
WRCNS Acceptance Letter to Eleanor McCallum
HMCS Conestoga
WRCNS Summer Work Dress
Commission, Frances Alley
WRCNS Summer and Winter Uniforms
WRCNS on Parliament Hill, Ottawa
HMCS St. Hyacinthe Sweatshirt
WRCNS Training at HMCS St. Hyacinthe
Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service Pennant, HMCS Stadacona
WRCNS Quarters, Halifax, 1945
Unit Office, Naval Headquarters, Ottawa
Wrens Listening for German Radio Transmissions
Training Certificate, Evangeline Harrold
Plotting Room, Naval Service Headquarters, Ottawa
Combat Simulator Ship Model
Forecastle
First Wrens Going Overseas
Uniform, Leading Wren Lorna Stanger
Jenny Whitehead at Work
Canadian Naval Staff in London on V-E Day