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