Summer 2020 No
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THE WREN Summer 2020 No. 398 Summer 2020 The Association of Wrens and Women of The Royal Naval Services PATRON: Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal PRESIDENT: Mrs Alison Towler SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT: Mrs Anthea Larken CBE VICE PRESIDENTS: Mrs Patricia Wall Mrs Beryl Watt Mrs Marjorie Imlah OBE JP Mrs Julia Clark Miss Julia Simpson BSc CEng MBCS Miss Rosie Wilson OBE Miss Eleanor Patrick Mrs Mary Hawthornthwaite Mrs Janet Crabtree Mrs Carol Gibbon Mrs Pat Farrington Miss Andrea Crook CHAIRMAN: Miss Jill Stellingworth VICE-CHAIRMAN: Mrs Linda Mitchell HON. TREASURER: Mrs Rita Hoddinott EDITORIAL TEAM OF THE WREN: Mrs Georgina Tuckett Mrs Rita Hoddinott PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER: Mrs Celia Saywell MBE ADMINISTRATORS: Mrs Katharine Lovegrove Mrs Lin Burton TRUSTEES: Mrs Karen Elliot Mrs Lisa Snowden Mrs Lyn Gannon Mrs Vicki Taylor Mrs Barbara McGregor Mrs Georgina Tuckett Miss Alison Moffatt Mrs Jackie Whitmarsh Mrs Kathy Rolls Subscriptions: Membership renewal for 2020/21 payable by 1 April 2020 Annual membership for UK members £13 or 5 years £60 or 10 years for £110 Annual membership for overseas members £16 or 5 years £75, or 10 years for £140 All correspondence for the Association of Wrens should be sent to: Association of Wrens, Building 1/87, Scott Road HM Naval Base, Portsmouth PO1 3LU Tel: 02392 725141 email: [email protected] If a reply is required, please enclose a stamped addressed envelope The contents of THE WREN are strictly copyright and all rights are expressly reserved. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Editorial Team or the Association and accordingly no responsibility for these will be accepted. Whilst the Editorial Team has high regard for all advertisers, readers are recommended to seek appropriate financial or legal advice before entering into any binding agreement. VERY IMPORTANT Changes To Data Protection Act – Members Consent Please be aware that photographs and news submitted for publication to The Wren magazine will not be posted on the AOW website (www.wrens.org.uk) and the AOW Facebook page (not the ‘Wrens Facebook Group’) without the express permission of the member submitting the item. Personal information i.e. addresses, e-mail addresses or telephone numbers WILL NOT BE INCLUDED in the magazine, on the AOW website or on the AOW Facebook page unless members give specific instruction that they wish their personal details to be included. For example, include with your submitted article the following statement: ‘I give my written consent for my personal details to be included in The Wren magazine*/on the AOW Website*/Facebook page* (*delete any area where you do not wish your details to appear). Registered under the Charities Act 2011 — Registration No. 257040 The Wren 1 ENCLOSED INSIDE YOUR SUMMER MAGAZINE: 2020 Christmas Shop Order Form Book of 2020 Grand Raffle Tickets FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM National Standard Bearer Chris Walker makes good use of lockdown time! CONTENTS l-r: Katharine Lovegrove (Administrator), Rita Hoddinott 2 2020 Scuttlebutt (Hon Treasurer), Lin Burton (Administrator) and Georgina Tuckett (Trustee/Editor) 3 Chairman’s Report You ladies are truly wonderful! Even with the difficulties of postal delays for some and for others slower than 4 Important Information normal emails, because so many people are working from home, the inbox for the magazine has been 7 Trustees Corner positively bulging. In this issue you will find stories of what some of you have been up to during lockdown, 9 Christmas Shop pictures of what you’ve achieved but alas none of the events we had been planning for nearly three years. 10 Branch and IG Reports One event we did manage was the dedication of our new Standard by the Chaplain of the Fleet. After that 13 PR Team Report a few of us met for a luncheon in the Victory Services Club but that was the last event before lockdown. 14 Standard Dedication One event that has been celebrated this summer was the 75th Anniversary of VE Day and you will find 18 VE Day 75 pictures of what we Wrens did – alone at home in many cases. Jonni Berfield’s and others wartime memories 22 Living In Lockdown also feature in this issue. 1920 must have been a very good year with the 28 Stephanie Higham WWII creation of the AOW and the birth of so many future Wrens! See the 100th Birthday list on page 35. 30 WRNSBT Auction Next event coming up is VJ Day. Keep your pictures, stories and reports of events coming! 33 Judy Couzens in Malta The Grand AOW Centenary Raffle 34 Letters and Where Are You Now? will be drawn on 3 October 2020 in accordance with The Gambling Act 35 Birthdays and Anniversaries 2005. Raffle tickets are enclosed with this magazine as your last chance to 36 WWII Wrens in Australia enter this draw. GOOD LUCK! 38 Obituaries 43 Deaths Gift of Appreciation Front cover: Royal Mail stamps from the complimen- tary WWII presentation pack awarded in recognition In recognition of Jill Stellingworth’s tenure as of our efforts (sadly not successful) to name the Association Chairman we hope the membership will join in showing appreciation of her commitment elusive Wren! to her role by sending a monetary gift to HQ so Back cover: HMS Victory, HM Naval Base, Ports- that it can be presented at our October AGM. mouth. Photo credit: Nigel Huxtable. 2 The Wren 2020 Scuttlebutt Our Centenary Year under lockdown! Who could ever have envisioned a year such as this, we had planned and prepared and looked forward to a year of celebration marking the Centenary of our unique organisation. Sadly due to circumstances gripping the whole world in a pandemic much has had to change in our lives but our plans to mark our 100 year milestone will not be in vain, all that we have looked forward to will take place just not when we had hoped. The Scuttlebutt in the Spring edition of The Wren told you of the postponement of the dinner in the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, of our Out Of Town meeting in Exeter and of the unveiling of our Commemorative Stone in the National Memorial Arboretum and now sadly I must report that our Edinburgh weekend is yet another casualty. 2020 will not be the year we celebrate but all our planned National events WILL take place, albeit a little later than we had hoped, and will be all the more enjoyable because of our determination, our expectancy and our longing to celebrate who we are, our heritage and our future. A number of you will have paid for your tickets for the Yeovilton dinner, the OOT dinner and the Arboretum. The Treasurer will be maintaining records of who has submitted payments and will ensure you have a ticket when rescheduled. If you would prefer to have a refund, and have your name removed from the event list, please email or write to HQ with your bank details or to request a cheque. PLEASE DON’T TELEPHONE with this information. We anticipate that the revised date for the Arboretum will be Wednesday 9 June 2021. Since the publication of the magazine HQ has been inundated with applications for the Edinburgh events, and this too promised to be a very popular and much anticipated weekend. I did hear some members had decided that even if unsuccessful in getting a ticket to the planned events they would travel to Edinburgh to join in the fun anyway! No payments have been taken and because cheques are only valid for 6 months any submitted have been shredded and new ones will be called for when the revised date is known. From the submitted forms places have been allocated on a first come first served basis and by the time you read this you will have been advised as to whether you have a place or are on a reserve list. As with the previous events the Treasurer will maintain a record and in due course, closer to the revised dates of Friday 1 October and Saturday 2 October 2021, we will take action to secure payment from individuals. In accordance with The Gambling Act 2005 we are required to undertake our Centenary Prize Draw on the announced draw date of 3 October 2020. So many of you will be hearing whether you have won one of our three cash prizes or one of the many other prizes. Please find enclosed with this magazine a book of draw tickets, this will be the last chance to enter the draw so do try and sell every book. Other events planned by Branches and Informal Groups in venues across the country will also have been affected so do keep the office informed if and when you plan to reschedule them so that the website can be kept up to date. Despite the circumstances let’s try to remain strong, whether we wore Blue or Gold (or both), always remember the special place women have held in the Royal Navy over the past Century and since the founding of our Association in 1920. We will celebrate in true Naval style when circumstances allow and I look forward to meeting up with as many of you as possible during our rescheduled Centenary (plus a bit!). Best wishes and Stay safe. Carol Gibbon - Chairman 2020 Centenary Committee NMA Memorial Stone This is the completed memorial stone for the WRNS Garden in the National Memorial Arboretum - we had hoped for it to be unveiled by HRH The Princess Royal on 10 June but that now rescheduled for 9 June 2021.