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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.

HMCS Conestoga
HMCS Conestoga

HMCS Conestoga, located near Galt, Ontario, was the training centre for new members of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS).

In the midst of Conestoga's buildings, former site of the Ontario Training School for Girls, a large White Ensign (centre), Canada's naval flag, flies from a tall flagpole. Intended to provide an introduction to military life, courses at Conestoga included physical training and drills, as well as instruction in naval customs and traditions. Following training at Conestoga, members of the WRCNS went on to further training, usually at establishments elsewhere in Canada.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19920141-011_p33





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