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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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Hales, F.M.
to
Holland, J.K.

 
H
Hales,
Frances Mary
 (Mrs.)
F.M. Hales		 ?
-
C/O
 		01.01.1945
       
Hallaran,
Kay
 (Miss)
K. Hallaran		 ?
-
1940s/50s ?
USA
2/O 28.01.1944
25.01.1943 - (10.1944) HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool) [on staff of Adm. Max K. Horton]
(01.1945)     no appointment listed
(07.1945)     no appointment listed
01.12.1945 - (04.1946) HMS Sultan (RN base, Singapore)
Halliday,
Elizabeth Reid
(Miss)		 see: Bamber,
Elizabeth Reid (née Halliday)
 (Mrs.) 		 
Hankin,
[Rachel] Sonia Rodney
(née Spedding)
 (Mrs.)
F.M. Hales
Daughter (with one sister and one brother) of Capt. Charles Rodney Spedding, DSO (1871-1914), and Constance Mildred Edith Cuthell (1881-1960).
Married (16.07.1938, Chelsea district, London) Lt.Col. Norman Travers Hankin ((06?).1910 - 15.10.1944), son of Seymer and Ethel Hankin.		 12.02.1910
Dover district, Kent
-
(12?).1973
Petersfield district, Hampshire
3/O 22.01.1940
2/O 29.07.1940
1/O 01.07.1941
C/O 01.01.1946
22.01.1940 - (06.)1941 HMS Excellent (gunnery school, Portsmouth)
(08.)1941 - (12.1941) HMS St Vincent (training establishment, Gosport)
(02.1942) - (10.)1942 HMS Mercury (signal school, near Petersfield)
15.10.1942 - (08.)1943 HMS Victory III (accounting section, Wantage, Berkshire) (in charge of WRNS Training and Drafting Depot, Portsmouth)
(10.1943)     no appointment listed
14.10.1943 - (06.)1944 HMS Tana (RN base, Kilindini, Kenya) (in charge of WRNS)
(10.1944) - (01.1945) no appointment listed
(04.1945)     HMS Byrsa (RN base, Naples, Italy) *
04.06.1945 - (10.)1945 Women's Royal Naval Service Headquarters [HMS Pembroke III]
21.11.1945 - (07.1946) HMS Drake (RN base, Devonport)
Hart,
Joan Beatrice
 (Miss)
J.B. Hart
Daughter of ... Hart, and ... Mitchell.
Married (08.08.1957, New Forest Register Office, Hampshire) F/Lt. Raymond Clive-Griffin, DFM, RAF (23.06.1909 - 26.06.1993), son (with one sister and two brothers) of George Edward Clive Griffin (1883-1966), and Daisy Elizabeth Pett Walker (1884-).		 07.04.1914
Portsmouth, Hampshire
-
23.09.1999
Cambourne, Cornwall
A/3/O 09.01.1944
3/O 1944?, seniority 09.01.1944
2/O 01.04.1945 (reld 20.04.1946)
WRAF:  
Flight Officer 10.10.1951, seniority 30.06.1951 [8675] (retd 18.04.1964)
17.01.1944 - (04.)1944 HMS Daedalus (RN Air Station, Lee-on-Solent)
(06.1944)     HMS Gosling (new entry training establishment, Risley, nr Warrington, Lancashire)
28.08.1944 - (04.)1945 HMS Daedalus (RN Air Station, Lee-on-Solent)
05.1945 - (10.1945) HMS Daedalus (RN Air Station, Lee-on-Solent)
10.10.1951     short service commission, Women's Royal Air Force (Catering Branch)
18.05.1953     permanent commission
Hayward,
Irene
(Miss)		 see: Nussey,
Iren (née Hayward)
 (Mrs.) 		 
Hawkins,
Audrey Dora
 (Miss)
A.D. Hawkins
Daughter of ... Hawkins, and ... Owen.
Married ((06?).1943, Plymouth district, Devon) Lt. Terry Deacon, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (1919-1944). 		(12?).1917
Deal, Eastry district, Kent
-

Harpenden, Hertfordshire
Ldg. Wren ?
3/O 21.10.1940
A/2/O 20.02.1942
2/O 17.07.1943, seniority 20.02.1942
A/1/O 01.04.1944 (reld < 04.1946)
Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil Division) MBE 01.01.1978 New Year 78: Secretary, Hertfordshire Council for Voluntary Service
Letter of Praise LoP 1944? Operation Neptune (Normandy 06.44)
10.12.1940 - (06.)1944 HMS Drake (RN base, Devonport)
(10.1944)     HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool) *
(01.1945)     no appointment listed
(07.1945)     HMS Trelawney (RN base, Loch Alsh) *
Published: Diary of a Wren, 1940-1945 : war years in the Women's Royal Naval Service (2001).
* indexed, but not listed as such
Heigham,
Vida Mary
 (Mrs.)
V.M. Heigham		 ?
-
C/O
 		28.08.1943
       
Hellaby,
Lettice Marjorie
 (Miss)
L.M. Hellaby
Elder daughter (with one sister) of Richard Sydney Hellaby (1887-1971), and Ruth Hollingsworth (1880-1945), of Dedham, Essex.
Married (27.07.1946, Dedham, Colchester district, Essex) Cdr. (S) [later R.Adm.] John Kingdon Watkins, RN (24.02.1913 - 13.05.1970), younger son of Dr John Grandisson Watkins (1882-1967), and Esme Kathleen G. Dawe (1881-1978), of Sidmouth, Devon; one son, two daughters.		 26.04.1918
Christchurch district, Hampshire
-
10.2003
Norwich district, Norfolk
3/O 12.07.1942 (reld > 10.1945, < 04.1946)
(10.1942) - (02.)1943 HMS Caroline (RN base, Belfast)
05.02.1943 - (06.)1944 HMS Proserpine (RN base, Lyness, Scapa Flow)
22.08.1944 - (10.)1944 HMS Dolphin (submarine depot, Gosport)
04.11.1944 - (04.)1945 HMS Byrsa (RN base, Naples, Italy)
22.04.1945 - (10.1945) HMS Badger (minesweeper base, Harwich)
Hepworth,
Marjorie Pauline
 (Miss)
M.P. Hepworth		 30.05.1910
-
06.2004
Isle of Wight
3/O 04.09.1942
A/2/O 15.04.1944
2/O 1945?, seniority 15.04.1944
04.09.1942 - (08.)1943 HMS Dartmouth (RN base, Dartmouth)
09.08.1943 - (04.)1944 HMS Vectis (RN base, Seaview, Isle of Wight)
15.04.1944 - (07.1945) HMS Northney (landing craft bases, Hayling Island) (duty as Quarters Officer in Northney II, III and IV)
04.03.1946 - (04.1946) HMS Badger (RN base, Harwich)
1946? - 1960? Women's Royal Naval (Supplementary) Reserve
Hesslegrave,
Dorothy Alice
 (Mrs.)
D.A. Hesslegrave		 ?
-
C/O
 		25.01.1943
       
Hill,
Rosanne Maureen
 (Mrs.)
R.M. Hill		 ?
-
C/O
 		18.11.1943
       
Hoare,
Daphne Maude Ross
(Mrs.)		 see: Williams,
Daphne Maude Ross
 (Miss) 		 
Hodge,
Anne Lesley
 (Miss)
A.L. Hodge		 21.01.1916
-
25.10.1985
3/O
 		?
A/2/O
 		15.07.1942
2/O
 		?, seniority 15.07.1942
A/1/O
24.08.1944 (reld < 04.1946)
08.07.1943
 -
 		(06.1944)
 		HMS Spartiate II (WRNS training establishment, Tullichewan)
24.08.1944
 -
 		(07.1945)
 		HMS Shrike (RN Air Station, Maydown, Northern Ireland)
Holland,
Clarissa Mary
 (Miss)
C.M. Holland
Daughter of ... Holland, and ... Winter.
Married ((09?).1948, Hampstead district, Middlesex) Lt. John Bruce Fowler, RNVR (16.01.1922 - 07.1996); three daughters, two sons (twins).		 02.12.1919
Weymouth district, Dorset
-
10.1994
Lambeth district, London
3/O 01.02.1943
2/O 31.07.1944
01.02.1943 - (10.1944) HMS Badger (minesweeper base, Harwich)
(01.1945) - (07.1945) HMS Badger (minesweeper base, Harwich) *
* indexed, but not listed as such
Holland,
Joan Kathleen
 (Miss)
J.K. Holland		 06.12.1912
-
12.1990
Westminster, London
C/O
 		25.01.1943
       
Holt,
Margaret Jane Venetia
 (Mrs)		 see: Malcolm,
Margaret Jane Venetia
 (Miss)		  
Holt,
Rowena Mary Vesey
 (Miss)
R.M.V. Holt (Phot courtesy of Mr Nicholas Holt)
Daughter (with two brothers and one sister) of V.Adm. Reginald Vesey Holt, CB, DSO, MVO, and Evelyn Constance Day.
Sister of Lt. Christopher Robert Vesey Holt, CVO, VRD, RNVR & Cdr. John Geoffrey Vesey Holt, OBE, RN.
Married (11.01.1962) Cdr. Arthur John Cinnamond Pomeroy, RNVR; .. children.		 12.10.1920
-
08.2015 still alive in Canada
Wren 02.1940
Ldg. Wren 01.1942
3/O 21.06.1942 (reld 24.11.1945)
21.06.1942 - (10.)1943 HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool)
(12.1943)     no appointment listed
10.12.1943 - (07.1945) HMS Cormorant (RN base, Gibraltar)
Mrs Pomeroy writes: "My Certificate of Service is showing that I enrolled in the Wrens on 28th Feb. 1940 and commenced duty on 1st Feb. 1940 (sounds a bit odd to me but we (Marigold Wake-Walker, the friend I joined with and I) worked for free to start with I think because everything was happening so fast it was all a bit chaotic. We enrolled at Harwich, which was known as HMS Badger and we were messengers in the Signals Office. At the time of Dunkirk our respective mothers (both Admirals wives) thought Harwich was too dangerous and pulled strings and got us transferred to Rosyth (HMS Cochrane) in Scotland - much to our annoyance. We both became plotters, plotting ships on a giant wall map in the Operations Room. I became a Leading Wren in Jan. '42 and went to Greenwich Naval College for Officer training in June '42 and was promoted to Third Officer WRNS on 21 June '42 and was sent to Liverpool and Dec. 43 went to Gibraltar. Left Gibraltar in August '45 and returned home to be discharged on 24th November, 1945."
Hyatt-Box,
Barbara Courtenay
(née Linton)
 (Mrs)
B.C. Hyatt-Box (Photo courtesy of Mrs Jane Drakard)
Daughter of ... Linton, and ... Bowen.
Married 1st (15.01.1944) Maj. John Allan Hyatt-Box, RAC (marriage dissolved 1951); one daughter.
Married 2nd (1979, Inverness district, Scotland) Lt.Col. William Carson Alford, OBE, RAMC.		 25.02.1922
Cardiff, Glamorgan
-
05.2016
Melbourne, Australia
A/3/O 11.04.1943
3/O 13.11.1943, seniority 11.04.1943
2/O 18.08.1944 (reld 13.08.1945)
01.1941     joined WRNS
1942 - 1943 Cypher Office, HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool & HQ of Commander-in-Chief Western Approaches)
1943 - 1943 officer training, RN Staff College, Greenwich
11.04.1943 - (06.)1944 Cypher Officer, HMS Lynx (RN base, Dover) (Normandy invasion preparations)
(10.1944) - (04.1945) HMS Lynx (RN base, Dover) *
(03.1945)     on staff of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill (Yalta Conference)
1945 - 13.08.1945 Port of London Authority
* indexed, but not listed as such
 
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Hales, F.M.
to
Holland, J.K.