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.

Unit Office, Naval Headquarters, Ottawa

Pegi Nicol MacLeod's vibrant watercolour depicts members of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS) at work at naval headquarters in Ottawa.

A variety of duties were open to members of the WRCNS, including administrative work like that seen here. Widespread attitudes and beliefs at the time, however, confined Wrens to non-combat duties and service ashore, since these were regarded as appropriate roles for women. Despite the limits imposed upon them, Wrens and other wartime women represented a major change to the military's mostly all-male composition, and made an important contribution to allied victory.

Unit Office, Naval Headquarters, Ottawa
Painted by Pegi Nicol MacLeod in 1944
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-5819