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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.

Commission, Frances Alley
Commission, Frances Alley

This commission is the formal document certifying the appointment of Frances Alley as a temporary sub-lieutenant in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service.

As is typical for Canadian commissions, it is signed by the governor general, in this case the Earl of Athlone, at upper left. Because it is a naval commission, W.G. Mills, the deputy minister of national defence for naval services, has signed at lower left. Alley enlisted in the Wrens in August 1942 and, after her training served in Washington, DC, Halifax, Nova Scotia, HMCS Cornwallis (a training base in Nova Scotia), and Ottawa, before being demobilized in 1946.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19750011-006

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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