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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.

Forecastle
Forecastle

Pegi Nicol MacLeod's 1945 watercolour depicts a lounge at HMCS Carleton on a Sunday afternoon, likely after the end of the war.

Members of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS) were accommodated in the barracks at Carleton, and this painting is one of a series capturing their experiences. Both Wrens and male sailors are present, relaxing and reading on chairs and sofas, or taking part in other activities like dancing (background, right). MacLeod's work captured the wartime experiences of both military and civilian women, including members of the WRCNS.

Forecastle
Painted by Pegi Nicol MacLeod in 1945
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-5768





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