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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.

Wrens Listening for German Radio Transmissions
Wrens Listening for German Radio Transmissions

Members of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service at HMCS Coverdale, at Coverdale, New Brunswick, listen for German radio transmissions.

Coverdale, which began operations in early 1944, was built to listen to radio transmissions from German U-Boats (submarines) and determine the direction, or bearing, from which they originated. The operators seen here listened for German radio transmissions and, after picking them up, would alert Wrens operating different equipment who would then determine the direction of the signal. Multiple bearings from bases like Coverdale helped Allied commanders determine the location of U-Boats and take action to avoid or attack them.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19950051-004





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