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 Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) Officers
1939-1945

 

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Note. In naval circles it is custom to refer to the commander of a vessel as Captain. The Navy List bears the phrase "in command". Strictly out of practical considerations CO (Commanding Officer) is used here on this site. Some abbreviations: Dir = Director, Supt. = Superintendent,C/O = Chief Officer, 1/O = First Officer, 2/O = Second Officer, 3/O = Third Officer. More explanation & other abbreviations can be found at the help page. 


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Caddy, L.M.S.
to
Curtis, A.

  
L.M.S. Caddy  to  A. Curtis
Caddy,
Lovell Mary [S] (née Scott)
 (Mrs.)
L.M.S. Caddy
Married ((09)).1927, Wirral, Cheshire) ... Caddy.
 (09?).1902
Birkenhead district, Cheshire / Merseyside
-
C/O
 		29.11.1942
       
Cameron,
Marian Louisa
 (Mrs)
M.L. Cameron		 ?
-
C/O
 		17.07.1939
Member of the Order of the British Empire MBE
 ?
02.02.1945 - (07.1945) HMS Victory III (accounting section, Wantage, Berks)
Carpenter,
Joan
 (Miss)
J. Carpenter		 ?
-
Supt.
 		19.06.1939
Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE
 02.06.1943
 HM's birthday 43
05.08.1944 - (07.1945) Deputy Director Welfare, WRNS HQ, Admiralty [HMS Pembroke III]
Catchpool,
Mary
(Miss)
M. Catchpool (Photo courtesy of Mr Michael Boxall)
Married (post-war) Reginald Charles Boxall (died 1967, aged 49); one son.
 01.11.1919
Carlisle, Cumbria
-
03.11.2001
Worthing, West Sussex
3/O
08.04.1944
2/O
 		15.10.1945 (reld < 04.1946)
23.05.1944
 -
 		(07.1945)
 		HMS Prosperine (minesweeping & anti-submarine base, Lyness, Scapa Flow) (for security duty)
Cecil,
Anne Mary Gascoyne 
(Miss)
M.I. Chatfield-Gilbert
Married (1945/46?) David Wilson, a Canadian naval officer.		 29.07.1918
-
11.2010 still alive
Wren ?
3/O 22.04.1940
A/2/O 03.09.1941
2/O 26.10.1944 (reld < 04.1946)
(02.1941) - (12.1941) HMS Daedalus (RN Air Station, Lee-on-Solent)
08.09.1943 - (01.)1945 HMS Lanka (RN base, Colombo, Ceylon)
15.05.1945 - (07.1945) HMS Pembroke III (for WRNS training and drafting depots; duty at Princess Gardens)
Chatfield-Gilbert,
Marie Isobel
 (Mrs.)
M.I. Chatfield-Gilbert		 ?
-
C/O
 		01.01.1945
       
Cholmondeley,
the Marchioness of;
Sassoon, Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile
S.R.B.C. Sassoon, Marchioness of Cholmondeley S.R.B.C. Sassoon, Marchioness of Cholmondeley
Daughter of Sir Edward Albert Sassoon (1856-1912), 2nd Bt, and Baroness Aline Caroline de Rothschild (1865-1909). Sister of Rt.Hon. Sir Philip Sassoon, PC, 3rd Bt, GBE, MP. Married (06.08.1913) George Horatio Charles Cholmondeley (19.05.1883-16.09.1968), since 1938 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley; two sons, one daughter.		 20.01.1894
London
-
26.12.1989
Houghton Hall, King's Lynn, Norfolk
C/O 12.11.1939
Supt. 09.02.1945
Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE 13.06.1946 HM's birthday 46 [investiture 28.10.47]
12.11.1939 - 1946 Chief Staff Offcier to Director WRNS, WRNS HQ, Admiralty [HMS Pembroke III]
Literature: Peter Stansky. Sassoon : the worlds of Philip and Sybil (2003)
Chrystal,
Catherine Macrae
 (Miss)
C.M. Chrystal		 1918
Partick district, Glasgow City, Scotland
-
1982
Largs district, Ayrshire, Scotland
A/3/O 05.03.1944
3/O 06.10.1944, seniority 05.03.1944
(04.1944) - (10.1944) HMS Spartiate II (WRNS training establishment, Tullichewan) *
20.12.1944 - (07.)1945 HMS Bee (Coastal Forces base, Holyhead)
27.07.1945 - (04.1946) HMS Ringtail (RN Air Station, Burscough, nr Ormskirk, Lancashire)
* indexed, but not listed as such
Clarke,
Audrey
 (Miss)
A. Clarke
Married Capt. (E) George Andrews Hewett, CBE, DSC, RN.		 ?
-
09.2009
A/3/O 08.05.1944
3/O 1945?, seniority 08.05.1944
08.05.1944 - (10.1944) HMS Orlando (RN base, Greenock)
(01.1945) - (07.1945) HMS Lanka (RN base, Colombo, Ceylon) *
(04.1946)     HMS Pembroke III (WRNS accounting base, London) *
Model, fashion journalist and public speaker.
* indexed, but not listed as such
Coningham,
Audrey Sylvia
 (Miss)
A.S. Coningham
Daughter of William Francis Meyrick Coningham (1888-1920), and Sylvia Clare Granville Allsop (1896-1932) [later Mrs Harry Sydney Radford].
Married (09.04.1946, Burnham, Weston super Mare district, Somerset) Maj. David John Hugh Roche, Indian Army (03.10.1916 - 03.1999), younger son of Col. Henry John Roche, CB (1864-1944), and Gladys Drake; five children.
12.07.1918
Brighton district, Sussex
-
13.01.2009
Wingfield Nursing Home, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
3/O 23.01.1941
2/O 01.05.1944 (reld > 07.1945, < 04.1946)
Mentioned in Despatches MID 05.01.1943 life saving 06.42
1940     joined WRNS (trained as cypher officer)
(04.1941) - (10.)1941 HMS Pembroke IV (accounting base, Chatham)
(12.)1941 - (02.)1942 HMS Leigh
(04.)1942 - (06.)1942 HMS Nile (RN base, Alexandria, Egypt)
30.06.1942     passenger on the submarine depot ship HMS Medway which was torpedoed on while being escorted from Alexandria to Haifa
(06.1942) - (02.)1943 HMS Medway (submarine depot ship) *
24.03.1943 - (10.)1943 HMS Pembroke III (WRNS accounting base, London)
25.10.1943 - (10.)1944 HMS Badger (RN base, Harwich)
13.10.1944 - (07.1945) HMS Pembroke (RN base, Chatham)
Emigrated to Kenya, 1947, returned to UK, 1975.
* indexed, but not listed as such
Cooper,
Joan
(Miss)
J. Cooper (Photo courtesy of Mr Peter Barrow via Mrs Kathryn Finora)
Married ((06?).1946, Horsham district) Lt. Norman MacLehose Barrow, RNVR; one son, two daughters.
 22.08.1921
Bombay, India
-
03.10.2007
Pembury, Kent
A/3/O
 		14.05.1944
3/O
?, seniority 14.05.1944 (reld < 04.1946)
14.05.1944
 -
 		12.1944
 		HMS Watchful (RN base, Yarmouth)
13.12.1944
 -
 		(07.1945)
 		HMS Lanka (RN base, Ceylon)
Cowie,
Margaret Elizabeth (née Lawrenson)
 (Mrs.)
M.I. Chatfield-Gilbert		 22.08.1918
-
03.2008 still alive
3/O
 		28.02.1942?
2/O
28.02.1944
1/O
 		01.01.1946
28.02.1942
 -
 		(06.)1944
 		HMS Cochrane II (supply & accounting base for tenders, Rosyth)
03.07.1944
 -
 		(07.1945)
 		in charge, WRNS, West Hartlepool [HMS Paragon (minesweepers base, Hartlepool)]
01.03.1946
 -
 		(04.1946)
 		HMS Quebec (combined training centre, Inverary)
Craig,
Mary Mackie
 (Miss)
A. Clarke
Married (1942?) El.Lt. John James Thompson, RNVR; ... children (one son?).		 ?
-
Wren ?
3/O 12.10.1941 (reld > 02.1944, < 04.1944)
(12.1941) - (10.)1942 HMS Condor (RN Air Station, Arbroath)
30.10.1942 - (06.)1943 HMS Spartiate (RN base Clyde, Glasgow)
(08.1943) - (02.1944) no appointment listed
Currie,
Agnes Jean
 (Miss)
A.J. Currie
Daughter of late John Currie, 31 Westbourne Gardens, Glasgow, W.
 30.05.1899
[Glasgow, Scotland ?]
-
17.10.1968
[Aldeburgh, Suffolk ?]
2/O
 		12.10.1939
1/O
 		1940?
C/O
 		27.07.1940
Supt.
21.02.1941 (reld 11.05.1946)
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division) CBE
 14.06.1945
 HM's birthday 45 [investiture 19.11.46]
Education: Laurel Bank School, Glasgow; The Mount School, York; also Switzerland; WRNS Officers' Training Course, Greenwich
12.10.1939
 -
 		11.05.1946
 		WRNS service:
?
 -
 		(04.1940)
 		HMS Boscawen (RN base, Portland)
?
 -
 		(02.)1941
 		HMS Lynx (RN base, Dover)
21.02.1941
 -
 		03.10.1943
 		on Staff of Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches [HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool)]
28.01.1944
 -
 		(06.)1944
 		Superintendent, WRNS Training [HMS Pembroke III]
25.08.1944
 -
 		(10.)1944
 		on Staff of Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches [HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool)]
20.11.1944
 -
 		(07.1945)
 		on Staff of Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth [HMS Victory III]
(04.1946)

no appointment listed
Curtis,
Amy
 (Miss)
A. Curtis
Youngest daughter of George Curtis, of Old Orchard Rathfarnham.		 1895 ?
-
29.07.1970
1/O 05.10.1939
C/O 01.11.1939
Supt. 07.12.1939 (retd > 10.1944, < 01.1945)
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division) CBE 01.01.1946 New Year 46 [investiture 19.11.46]
Member of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division) MBE ? ?
Letter of Praise LoP 1944? Operation Neptune (Normandy 06.44)
1915 - 1920 served in the war as Assistant Administrator, Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps
05.10.1939     commissioned, WRNS
18.12.1939 - 20.11.1944 Staff of Commander-in-Chief, Portmouth [HMS Victory]
Worked in the Resettlement Advice Service in the Ministry of Labour and National Service, 1945-1948. Chief Administrative Officer, Women's Land Army, 06.1948-1950.
 
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