THE WREN Spring 2020 No. 397 Spring 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 SPRING MAGAZINE: Chairman Nomination Form Closing date 12 June 2020 Trustee Nomination Form Closing date 12 June 2020 Application Form for Edinburgh Castle Reception Closing date 18 September 2020 Application form for Edinburgh Gala Dinner The WRNS Garden under water during recent floods Closing date 18 September 2020 CONTENTS FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM 2 2020 Scuttlebutt 3 Chairman’s Letter Trustees Corner 4 Important Information 8 Branch and IG Reports 11 PR Team Report l-r: Katharine Lovegrove (Administrator), Rita Hoddinott (Hon Treasurer), Lin Burton (Administrator) 12 Standard Bearers Report and Georgina Tuckett (Trustee/Editor) This is going to be the shortest editorial on record. You 15 Events ladies have really turned up trumps this time and left us no space! Amazing stories and fabulous pictures. 16 Remembrance Keep up the good work - BZ to all contributors. Some of you have family who are vulnerable to the 17 People and Places virus , others are working in the NHS and others have their children home for an extended holiday and yet 21 Families in Blue Suits more are already self isolating because of your own health concerns - to all of you we send our best wishes 25 WWII and VE Day Memories and hope that this crisis goes away sooner than everyone is forecasting. 30 Marjorie West - Award 32 Coalhouse Fort The Grand AOW Centenary Raffle is to be drawn on 3 October 2020 34 WWI Feeding the Navy Tickets can still be purchased via HQ 37 Aircraft Engineer to Book Binder Front cover: 40 Birthdays and Anniversaries Administrators Katharine Lovegrove and Lin Burton outside the new HQ building (see page 41) 42 Letters Photo credit Nigel Huxtable 40 Obituaries Back cover: On the steps of St Mary Le Strand Church on 8 March 2020 following the service to dedicate the new Standard. (see p 7) 43 Deaths Photo credit Stephen Elliot 2 The Wren 2020 Scuttlebutt Our Centenary Year has arrived! BUT SO TOO HAS CORONAVIRUS AND SADLY THIS HAS DISRUPTED A NUMBER OF OUR CELEBRATIONS Our Centenary Year has finally arrived and after many meetings and much planning over the past two years the celebrations were due to begin. On 8 March, as part of our 2020 commemorations, a New National Standard was commissioned, updated to reflect the inclusion of Women of the Royal Naval Services in the name of our Charity. As a number of you are avid attendees of the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall it was decided that that was a suitable weekend to hold a Sunday service in the WRNS church of St Mary Le Strand where we laid up our old Standard and dedicated the New National Standard, we also commemorated the lives of our past Presidents and lit candles in their memory. I hope many of you will get to see the new Standard as the years unfold. By the time you get to read this report many of you will know that we had to postpone the much anticipated dinner at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton. It promised to be a spectacular event in a very special setting and judging by the excellent response we had for tickets, obviously you our members thought so too. This was to be a very special evening celebrating who we are, our heritage and our future. Blue and Gold Together highlighted that although women in the navy have changed their blue badges for gold we still share the same spirit and enjoy a good party. Postponement may even heighten our enthusiasm for the evening making it even more special. Another casualty of the unfolding events has meant that our Out of Town meeting in Exeter on 16 May has sadly been postponed and so too the major Centenary event at the National Memorial Arboretum on 10 June. Every effort will be made to reschedule all the postponed events. A number of you will have paid for your tickets for these three events. 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. Please bear with us as we may not be able to process refunds immediately. How long the effects of the virus will continue is uncertain so for the time being we are including in this edition of The Wren application forms for our Edinburgh events, but please be aware that this too may be a casualty of the situation we all face. By all means submit your forms but no payments will be taken or cheques cashed until we have a confirmed go ahead. The Just4Groups accommodation package application form for the weekend is already available on the website, but please be aware that acceptance of an accommodation booking does not guarantee that you have a place at the events and you may be able to find accommodation at a lower price. There are other events planned by Branches and Informal Groups throughout the year in venues across the country, if you plan to hold an event but due to unforeseen circumstances have to cancel it, do please let the office know so that all details can be included on the website. Despite the circumstances let’s try to remain strong, whether we wore Blue or Gold (or both), always remember the special place women have had in the Royal Navy over the past century and the founding of our Association in 1920. Best wishes and stay safe, Carol Gibbon The Wren 3 TRUSTEES CORNER Chairman’s Letter On opening this magazine you will see Carol Gibbon’s (AOW2020 Chairman) Scuttlebutt Report about all the events that had been planned for this year. It is right and proper that, at the beginning of our Centenary year, this has main focus so that you are immediately aware of what is now the situation in respect of these events. Coronavirus has had its devastating impact on what should have been for us a year of celebration but now is a year of disappointment in that we cannot all meet up and rejoice about our Centenary. However, the most important factor in all this is that - you - our members are kept safe, and as far as the AOW is concerned, out of harm’s way. Please heed all Government advice in respect of how to look after yourselves as best you can so that in the future we can meet together again and have a belated Centenary Party. The Yeovilton Dinner has been postponed as has the Out Of Town meeting and dinner in Exeter. It had been hoped that we might still meet at the National Memorial Arboretum to unveil our Commemorative Stone but sadly this, in light of changing advice, needs also to be postponed.