Royal Navy Women's Branch Is Remembered In New Exhibition

The centenary of the formation of the Women’s Royal Naval Service is being marked with new exhibition at the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich.

The WRNS was formed during the First World War at a time of crisis and a shortage of manpower.

The first group of women joined the Royal Naval College in 1918 as cooks, drivers and telephonists so that men could be released for service at sea.

The exhibition draws on new interviews with former Wrens who trained at Greenwich and explores the changing role of women in the Royal Navy. 

“If I meet ex-Wrens now, we just pick up where we left”

By 1993 the Women’s Royal Naval Service were fully integrated within the Royal Navy and ceased to exist as a separate service.