Issue 31 Page 1

Brave Report

Join the WRNS and free a man for the Fleet

The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) was founded in 1917, during the First World War, when the became the first of the three services to officially recruit women.

Northern - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 2 On 10 October 1918, nineteen-year-old Josephine Carr from Cork, became the first Wren to die on active service, when the RMS Leinster was torpedoed. By the end of the war WRNS had 5,500 members, 500 of them officers. In addition, about 2000 members of the WRAF had previously served with the WRNS supporting the Royal Naval Air Service and were transferred on the creation of the Royal Air Force. It was disbanded in 1919.

The WRNS was disbanded when the war ended, but was re-founded in 1939 with the realisation that women would be needed to assist the Royal Navy if war broke out again. Vera Laughton Matthews, who had served with the WRNS during the First World War, was appointed as Director and by December 1939, there were 3,000 personnel. Those who served in the WRNS were nicknamed 'Wrens'.

Wrens were initially recruited to release men to serve at sea. This was reflected in the recruiting slogan 'Join the Wrens today and free a man to join the Fleet.' As the wartime navy expanded, the WRNS followed suit, taking on tasks that the Royal Navy had previously considered beyond their capabilities. WRNS responsibilities included driving, cooking, clerical work, operating radar and communications equipment and providing weather forecasts. The Naval Censorship Branch was staffed by WRNS clerks and censor officers either worked in mobile units or in . Many Wrens were involved in planning naval operations, including the D-Day landings in June 1944.

Wrens with language skills were drafted to stations around the coast to intercept and translate enemy

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signals. Wrens also worked at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park where German and Japanese codes were broken.

Although few served at sea, Wrens did operate small harbour launches and tugs close to shore. Some Wrens were trained to serve as pilots on D-Day, taking the smaller ships across the Channel and towing disabled vessels back into port for repairs, which were often carried out by WRNS mechanics.

As well as the Home Front, thousands of Wrens served in overseas units. They also worked in the different branches of the Royal Navy, including the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Marines. Australia, Canada and New Zealand formed their own Royal Naval Services. The Women's Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS)

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 4 contributed significantly to the running of Royal Indian Navy shore establishments.

In December 1941 the government passed the National Service Act which allowed the conscription of women into war work or the armed forces. Women could choose to join the WRNS or its naval or air force equivalents, the ATS and the WAAF. Initially single women and widows without children between 19 and 30 were called up, but later the age limit was pushed up to 43. Women who had served in the First World War, including Wrens, could be conscripted up to the age of 50. As in the ATS and the WAAF, women from all backgrounds learnt skills and took on responsibilities in the WRNS that would have been unheard of before the war.

The WRNS reached its largest size in 1944, with 74,000 women doing over 200 different jobs. 303 Wrens were killed on wartime service. After the war the WRNS was made a permanent part of the Royal Navy, but women did not serve in Royal Navy ships until the 1990s. Belfast’s Aquila WRNS

In Third Officer Alix Bruce from Belfast was amongst the first draft of 22 WRNS who were permitted to serve overseas. They boarded the SS Aquila in . At that time members of the WRNS were not permitted to take passage in a Royal Navy ship of war, and were obliged to travel on one of the unarmed merchantmen sailing in the convoy.

Aguila (Master Arthur Firth) was a 3,255 ton steam passenger ship. She sailed on 13/08/1941 with Convoy Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 5 OG71 as the Commodore ship, with 22 ships bound for . During the approach to Gibraltar on August 19, the SS Aquila was hit amidships by a from U-201 (Schnee) and sank in under two minutes, taking with her 152 souls, amongst whom were most of the Wrens. There were only 16 survivors, 10 were picked up by HMS Wallflower and 6, including the surviving Wrens, were picked up by the Empire Oak, a 484 ton steam tug.

Three days later, on 22 August, the Empire Oak itself was torpedoed and sunk by U-564 (Suhren) with the loss of 19 lives, among whom were the Wrens. In all, eight ships from convoy OG71 were sunk and none of the twenty one Wrens survived.

It was this incident that persuaded the Lords of the Admiralty to change Fleet Orders to permit future groups of Wrens on draft to overseas stations, to take passage in British warships.

Alex Bruce was the daughter of a well known Belfast family. Her name is recorded on the family memorial in Clifton Street cemetery.

The RNLI Aguila Wren

As a tribute to their memory, an Aguila Wrens Memorial Fund was established, with all serving Wrens donating a day’s pay, which raised over £4,000. The fund was administered by the co-trustees Edward Benjamin and Canon Ogle, both of whom had lost daughters on the Aguila. Part of the fund was put towards the construction of HMS Wren a new anti Black Swan class

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 6 sloop, to be commanded later by Captain John Walker. The cost of the sick bay equipment was subscribed by friends and relatives of the 21 Wrens, and a plaque was placed in the bay commemorating them by name. HMS Wren was launched in 1942 and became known as the Wren’s ship.

The balance of the fund was donated to the RNLI to build a new lifeboat the Aguila Wren (no. 892). At its launching ceremony in Aberystwyth on 28 June 1952, Edward Benjamin, in formally presenting the lifeboat to the RNLI, said "It was most fitting that these women who gave their lives should be commemorated in a boat whose sole purpose is to save life".

Attending the ceremony was Arthur Frith, the Aguila’s former Master, and Dame Vera Laughton Matthews, the former Director of WRNS at the time. The lifeboat was stationed at Aberystwyth until 1964 when, after a refit, she went to Redcar, North Yorkshire. On 22 November 1972 it was sold to the Scunthorpe Sea Cadets as a training vessel, who kept it for the next twenty years. There is, in the National Memorial Arboretum, a memorial to the Aguila Wrens and a book titled "Nightmare Convoy: the Story of the Lost Wrens", by Paul Lund and Harry Ludlam.

Wren who saw the U boats surrender on the Foyle

A former Wren, Muriel Nevin, remembers the day comedian and actor Bob Hope visited Londonderry, and

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Muriel Nevin, Women's Royal Naval Service Veteran, now aged 91 with a photo of her in Wren uniform in 1941.

the German U-boats surrendering on the River Foyle. Muriel was stationed at the base at Maydown.

On May 14th 1945 the first of the German U-boats made their way up the Foyle to the port of Lisahally, where they were formally ordered to surrender by Admiral Sir Max Horton, Commander-in-Chief (CinC), Western Approaches.

The surrender on the Foyle was a testament to ’s pivotal role as a strategic allied base, with over 100 military ships docked here from 1943, facilitating the Allied domination of the Atlantic sea lanes and playing a key role in the invasion of France in 1944.

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Muriel’s Wedding in Liverpool, surrounded by fellow Wrens who served under Max Horton.

“I was born in Liverpool and I joined the Wrens in 1940 during the Battle of Britain because I wanted to serve my country,” she recalls.

“As I wasn’t 18, I had to get my father to sign, but he didn’t see that I put down 17 instead of my real age, which was 16! First I had to go to the training college, then I went to work at Western Approaches at the Liver Buildings in Liverpool. That’s where Admiral Max Horton masterminded operations during the . He was a marvellous man. He came over here specially for the surrender of the U-boats at Lisahally in 1945.”

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 9 “I quickly came over to Northern Ireland and was posted with the A36 and A37 Fleet Air Squadron in Maydown. The atmosphere was great. Everybody helped everybody, no matter who you were.

“I remember the dances and all the lovely music. There were of course sad moments when you heard of people being killed and ships going down, but you had a job to do and you did it.”

While not on duty Muriel would leave the camp and visit towns nearby, sometimes crossing the border to the neutral Irish state. On one occasion she and her friends had a rather surprising encounter. “One day we went from Londonderry across the border to a hotel by the Foyle where we had beautiful steaks and there was a man sitting there. We invited him over to talk to us as he seemed to have perfect English.

“We talked a little about Germany and remarked that he seemed to know a lot about it. ‘I ought to,’ he said. ‘I’m a German U-boat Commander.’ We thought he was joking, but he took us to see his U-boat, and there it was, in the water. We asked him ‘Is this the only one?’ ‘Oh no,’ he said. ‘We come in here regularly to refuel and have a pint of the black stuff.’ We left quickly after that as we were worried we might be captured!”

Muriel also recalls the day when none other than Bob Hope came to Maydown to entertain the troops. “I remember at the Fleet Air Arm Base in Maydown when Gerry Colonna, Francis Langford and Bob Hope came to visit.

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 10 “I asked Bob Hope would he entertain our troops and he said, ‘No little Wren, we’re not allowed to!’ and he offered me some chewing gum.

“They were only there to entertain the US troops! I was never allowed to eat chewing gum before that!

“I was married in 1944 and I came home on leave. Soon after my son was born I had to leave the Wrens. I missed it very much.”

Muriel remains active on behalf of the RBL.

WRNS

ROLL OF HONOUR

WORLD WAR I

STEWART, Alice WRNS. Founder member of WRNS. Joined 04/1918. Graduate of Trinity College, . Daughter of George Stewart and Margaret Morrison who were married in 1886 and lived in Derryork, Co Londonderry. Her brother William died November 1918 in France with Australian forces; her brother George died at Ypres with Canadian forces; her brother Isaac

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 11 was wounded in the war. Married to Dr. Kenneth Paddle. She died in Bromley Kent. 1895 - 1987.

WORLD WAR II

ADAMSON, Adeline WRNS. Training to be a nurse when she enlisted. Served Blundellsands, Edinburgh, Londonderry, Liverpool and London. From Richill, Armagh. Married George Adamson, ex- RAF. Parents of Dorothy, Ian and George. RBL.

ALLEN, Pearl WRNS. Chief Wren. BComSc QUB 1925

APSLEY, Betty WRNS. Helped organise WRNS participation in ‘Women's Services of the Crown, 60th Anniversary Service’ on 23/10/1977 in Belfast Cathedral. Civil Servant and later manager of family drapery business in Larne.

BOOCOCK, nee Garratt, Patricia WRNS. Carnmoney Parish Church RH

BRADSHAW, Mary Blanche WRNS. 2nd Officer. BA QUB 1937

CAMPBELL, Rita WRNS. From Dungannon. Enlisted age 19. Posted to . Served in TURCO (Turn around control) based at Fort Southwalk, Portsdown Hill, some 153 steps below ground. This was the base for operations and was where Eisenhower had his bunker. She also served in the plotting room charting the movement of convoys and enemy ships. Her brother also

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 12 joined the navy and served on the Arctic convoys out of Scapa Floe.

CASSIDI, Oonagh Teresa WRNS. Daughter of Francis Laird Cassidi, VRD MB, and Phyllis Mary Cassidi, Glenbrook, Co. Londonderry

CHARLESWORTH, Marion Louise Kaye WRNS. 3rd Off. Med QUB 1944

CLARKE, P WRNS. Carnmoney Parish Church RH

COUTTS (nee MacKeown), Eleanor Patricia WRNS. 3rd.Off. Arts, QUB 1934

COWSER, Margaret Jane WRNS. 2nd Off. WOPE, QUB 1927

DOLLING, nee Staples, Hazel Marion Radclyffe WRNS. Third Officer. Worked as an air radio mechanic. Born 13/06/1923 daughter of Sir Robert Staples, 13th Baronet. After the war she worked as an assistant-purser on the Southampton - New York route on the Cunarder, RMS Mauretania. She later owned a travel agency in Liverpool. In 1970 when her father died she married his land agent Harry HR Dolling and they moved to House, near , to live with her mother. Widowed in 1986, Hazel lived alone at Lissan without electricity save that generated by the water wheel at the house. She died in 2006 after a long battle with cancer. She donated her home to the Lissan House Charitable Trust. The house has been developed as a community and tourist asset.

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 13 DUNCAN, Eileen Louise Dundas WRNS. LWren. BA, QUB 1943

GAUSSEN, Cecile Margaret Foldys WRNS. Third Officer. Clerical Assistant at QUB

GIBSON, nee Johnson, Cecily WRNS. Radio operator. Chief Commissioner of Girl Guides NI. Wife of Rt Hon Sir Maurice Gibson, Lord Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland. Both killed by PIRA 27/04/1987. Age 66.

GILL, LM WRNS. St Columba’s Parish Church, Knock WM

GILMORE, Anna Elizabeth WRNS. Surg. Lt. MB QUB 1941

GOTTO (nee Glendinning), Barbara Bowen WRNS. 3rd Off. BSc QUB 1934

GRAHAM, Rebecca Isobel WRNS. L/Wren. Arts, QUB 1946

GREER, MI WRNS. St Columba’s Parish Church, Knock WM

HAGAN, Isobel Cameron WRNS. Wren. Arts, QUB 1946

HARCOURT, Catherine D WRNS. Ballyholme PCI - RH

HARCOURT, Margaret P WRNS. Ballyholme PCI - RH

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 14 HARRISON, nee Sloane, Maud WRNS. 3rd. Off. BA QUB 1940

HASSAN, Suzanne Mary WRNS. 3rd.Off. BA QUB 1940

HERIVEL, Sarah Elise Jamieson WRNS. 2nd.Off. BA QUB 1938

IRWIN nee Scott, Alice Phoebe WRNS. 2nd.Off. BA QUB 1939

JENKINS, Kathleen Roberta WRNS. Wren. QUB 1947

JOHNSTON, Kathleen Rosemary WRNS. L/Wren. RAFPE QUB 1946

+JOY, Alix Bruce WRNS. Third Officer. Lost at sea through enemy action by German submarine U - 201 August 1941when 22 members of WRNS were lost when travelling in SS Aguila to HMS Cormorant, the RN base at Gibraltar. Only child of William Bruce Rainey Joy, MC and Josephine Joy. Family memorial Clifton Street graveyard, Belfast

KENNEDY, Susan Catherine WRNS. L/Wren. Soc Studies, QUB 1947

LAMB, Jane WRNS. Ballyholme PCI - RH

LINDSAY, Margaret WRNS. Third Officer. Soc Studies, QUB 1946

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 15 McCABE, Rebecca WRNS. In 1942 when she joined up, Rebecca was a maintenance Wren. She was attached to HMS Caroline and after two years she was transferred to SDO - Signal Distribution Office. She was also a soloist in the Royal Naval Choir. Mother of Caroline Simmond. B 31/08/1921 at Palmer Street, Belfast. Died 11/12/2006

McCAMMON, Maureen Griffith WRNS. Third officer. Soc Studies, QUB 1945

McCLEERY, Meta Frances Barbara WRNS. Wren. BA, QUB 1944

McGREGOR, Helen WRNS. Officer. HMS Caroline. 30/06/1946 - 07/1945. Rtd. 04/1946. Married Lt. Commander Alexander Robert Ramsey RNVR. One son, two daughters. B Belfast/Lisburn 26/08/1918. Died Toowomba, Queensland, Australia

McKEOWN, Gladys WRNS. Oldtown St., Cookstown. First Cookstown PCI PCI RH

McKEOWN nee Brewster, Margaret Turretin WRNS. Rating. BA, QUB 1939

McNAUL, Caroline Polwarth WRNS. Third Officer. Steward's Office, QUB

MIELL, R WRNS. St Columba’s Parish Church, Knock WM

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 16 MULHOLLAND, Eileen WRNS. Sister of Rev. Herbert Mulholland of Banbridge Rd., Presbyterian Church, Dromore. She later became Matron of the Presbyterian Hostel, Belfast

NEVIN, Muriel WRNS. Posted with the A36 and A37 Fleet Air Squadron in Maydown. Was present in Londonderry on 14/05/1945 when the first of the German U-boats made their way up the Foyle to the port of Lisahally, where they were formally ordered to surrender by Admiral Sir Max Horton, Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches. B Liverpool. Armagh. RBL

PERIOLO, Sara Patricia WRNS. L/Wren. Arts, QUB 1942

ROBINSON, Phyllis Catherine WRNS. L/Wren. Soc Studies, QUB 1946

RODGERS, Pamela Allen WRNS. Wren. BA, QUB 1944

ROGERS, Rosemary E WRNS. 3rd Officer. St John’s Parish Church WM, Newcastle

RYAN, Annie Patricia RNVR. Surg. Lt (D). BDS, QUB 1931

RYAN, Olivia Mary WRNS. Arts, QUB 1939

SCOTT, Phyllis Patricia Margaret WRNS. Petty Officer. Arts, QUB 1947

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 17 STAFFORD, Elizabeth WRNS. Born in Coleraine. The youngest of five children, she worked in a restaurant before enlisting. Trained as a cook. Whilst stationed in Londonderry she met Staff a sailor whom she married in Coleraine in 1945. In 1954 they moved with their family to California and later in 1961 to Duncan, BC, Canada. She became a grandmother and great-grandmother. 17/06/1920 - 01/03/2014

STEWART - HODGINS, Ellie RN. S/V.A.D. St John’s Parish Church WM, Newcastle

TAGGART, E WRNS. St Columba’s Parish Church, Knock WM

THOMPSON, VA WRNS. St Columba’s Parish Church, Knock WM

TURNAGE, nee Cameron, Margaret Mable WRNS. Third Officer. Sci, QUB 1939

TWINNING, Kathleen Elizabeth WRNS. Born Carrickfergus. Served as a signaller in North of communicating with vessels entering or leaving harbour. There she met Ted. Married 03/05/1953 in St Nicholas Parish Church, Carrickfergus. Lived in Newry. Emigrated to Canada 1957 to North Vancouver. B 25/06/1922. Died 02/12/2013

WEBB, EJ WRNS. St Columba’s Parish Church, Knock WM

WEBB, SJ WRNS. St Columba’s Parish Church, Knock WM Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 31 Page 18 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Derry Journal - report on Muriel Nevin. Vernon Clegg for details from St Columba’s Parish Church, Knock. Johnny Conn for details from Carnmoney Parish Church

HELP REQUESTED Please send names of Ex RN/RM/WRNS who served in either of the world wars. Further details also appreciated.

CIRCULATION - Please share ‘Brave Report’ with your former service colleagues - and we will post direct to them if they simply send an e-mail to: [email protected], placing Brave Report in the message bar, and give their name and former arm of service, and if they are members of the RNA or RBL, having knowledge of their branch would be appreciated. There are specific areas where we need information from! PUBLICATION NOTES Please note all the material in Brave Report is copyright. Brave Report is collated and published by The Very Rev. Dr Houston McKelvey, OBE QVRM TD.

Dr McKelvey served as chaplain for 29 years with 102/105 ( & Scottish) Regiment, Royal Artillery TA; for 20 years as Chaplain to the RBL - Northern Ireland Area, and for a period as chaplain to the Belfast Branch of the Burma Star Association. He was involved in the life of HMS Caroline and HMS Hibernia.He was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the RNR. He is a Past President of QUB Combined Services Club.

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Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance