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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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PATO
to
PYM


 
S.E. Paton  to  B.M.C. Pym
Paton,
Sheila Ethel
(Miss)
S.E. Paton
Married ((03?).1947, Chelsea district, Middlesex) Michael T. Fuller.
25.03.1922
Reigate district, Kent
-
01.1996
Vale Royal district, Cheshire
3/O 11.07.1943 (reld > 07.1946)
11.07.1943 - (10.1944) HMS Landrail (RN Air Station, Machrihanish, Argyllshire)
(01.1945)     no appointment listed
23.01.1945 - 16.04.1945 HMS Lanka (RN base, Colombo, Ceylon)
17.04.1945 - (10.1945) HMS Bambara (RN Air Station, Trincomalee, Ceylon)
(04.1946) - (07.1946) HMS Sultan (RN base, Singapore) *
* indexed, but not listed as such
Paul,
Florence Jessie
(Miss)
F.J. Paul (Photo courtesy of Jackie Neatherway)
Daughter (with three siblings) of William Lloyd Paul (1888-1966), and Jessie Mary Main (1895-1953).
Married ((03?).1949, Stroud district, Gloucestershire) S.Lt. Ralph Anthony Bird, RNVR (02.04.1924 -); three children.
21.08.1921
Stroud district, Gloucestershire
-
10.05.1982
Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Wren 18.03.1941 [ON 14662]
Ldg. Wren 04.05.1943
A/3/O 27.02.1944
3/O 27.08.1944, seniority 27.02.1944 (dispersed 01.10.1946) (reld 26.11.1946)
18.03.1941 - 30.04.1943 HMS Spartiate (RN base Clyde, Glasgow) [Wren (G), from 27.05.1941 Wren Coder, from 27.08.1941 Wren (HSR [= Higher Sepicialised Rate])
01.05.1943 - 27.02.1944 HMS Skirmisher (RN base, Milford Haven) (15.01.1944-05.02.1944 officers' training course)
28.02.1944 - 28.08.1944 HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool) (for cypher duties in office of Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches)
29.08.1944 - 25.01.1945 HMS Royal Anne (Naval Party 1500, Arromanches [Mulberry B]) (for cypher duties) [accounts carried in HMS Odyssey (accounting base for Naval Parties)]
26.01.1945 - 31.03.1945 HMS Odyssey (accounting base for Naval Parties) (additional; for duty with Naval Party 1747)
01.04.1945 - 13.08.1945 HMS Pembroke I (additional; for duty with Naval Party 1747)
14.08.1945 - 30.09.1945 HMS Royal Albert (RN base, London / Berlin) (additional; for Naval Party 1730)
01.10.1945 - 14.11.1945 HMS Royal Edgar (port party, Hamburg) (additional; for cypher duties at Hamburg Naval [...] Centre)
15.11.1945 - 28.09.1946 HMS Royal Albert (RN base, London / Berlin) (additional; for cypher duties)
29.09.1946 - 30.09.1946 HMS President I (additional; for time only)
Payne,
Peggy Gordon (née Burton)
(Mrs)
see: Burton,
Peggy Gordon
(Miss)
 
Peacop,
Rhona Cynthia Martin (née Power)
(Mrs)
see: Power,
Rhona Cynthia Martin
(Miss)
 
Pemberton,
Nellie
(Miss)
N. Pemberton (Photo courtesy of Mr Kenneth Allan)
Daughter of Samuel Pemberton, and
Elizabeth Marsden.

Married (26.11.1945, Sydney,
Australia) Lt. Sydney Smith, Australian
Army (1914-2010); one daughter.
Last residence: Lower Templestowe,
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
11.10.1905
Birkdale, Southport,
Lancashire

-
04.03.1984
Metung, Victoria,
Australia
[cremated at
Springvale
Crematorium & her
ashes were scattered
within the grounds of
Bletchley Park, Milton
Keynes, UK]
Petty Officer Wren ?
3/O 23.01.1941
2/O 05.07.1944 (reld 02.02.1946)
26.03.1940     enlisted WRNS (possibly at Dartmouth)
      served as a cipher officer in Signals/ Intelligence in Europe, Canada and the United States:
1940     served at the National Codes Centre at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire
? - (12.1941) HMS Cochrane II (supply & accounting base for tenders, Rosyth)
01.04.1942 - (06.1944) HMS Saker (British Admiralty Delegation, Washington, DC, USA)
06.02.1945 - (07.1945) HMS Mercury (signal school, near Petersfield)
Playford,
Joan Lesley
(Miss)
J.L. Playford (Photo courtesy of Heather Battles)

Daughter (with two sisters and one half-brother) of Arthur Playford (1870-1944), and Gladys Muriel Barron (1879-1981).
Married (15.03.1947, Hastings district, Sussex) Lt.Cdr. (later R.Adm.) Robert Munroe Battles, RCN (04.06.1918 - 26.10.1999), son of Earle Winslow Battles (1891-1918), and Edith Clitheroe Ross (1889-1992).; two sons, one daughter.
20.08.1916
Chertsey district, Kent
-
10.08.1990
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
3/O 15.05.1941
2/O 31.07.1944 (reld 26.11.1945)
Defence Medal Def M - -
War Medal 1939-1945 WM 39|45 - -
      undergone the WRNS Officers' Training Course at Greenwich
(08.)1941 - (10.)1941 HMS Pyramus (minesweeper & anti-submarine base, Orkney)
(12.)1941 - (02.)1942 HMS Boscawen (RN base, Portland)
1942 - (04.)1942 Admiralty [HMS President]
01.04.1942 - (06.)1944 HMS Saker (British Admiralty Delegation, Washington, DC, USA)
03.07.1944 - (07.)1945 HMS Orlando (RN base, Greenock)
Plews,
Barbara [Joyce]
(Miss)
B. Plews
Married 1st ((03?).1944, Greenwich district, Kent) Bernard W. Campbell; ... children.
Married 2nd ((03?).1956, St Asaph district, Merionethshire) William E. Sumner.
07.04.1922
St Asaph district, Merionethshire
-
12.1995
Rhuddlan district, Clwyd, Wales
Wren ?
3/O 23.01.1941
A/2/O 16.11.1943
2/O 15.03.1944, seniority 16.11.1943 (reld > 04.1944, < 06.1944)
      undergone the WRNS Officers' Training Course at Greenwich
(04.1941)     HMS Victory II (accounting section)
(06.1941) - (02.1943) HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool)
(04.1943)     HMS President III (accounting base)
19.04.1943 - (06.)1943 HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool)
28.06.1943 - (04.)1944 HMS Pembroke III (WRNS accounting base) (for duty with Admiral (Submarines))
Pontier,
Betty Isabel
(Mrs)
see: James,
Betty Isabel
(Miss)
 
Pott,
Alixandrina Rose
(Miss)
A.R. Pott
Elder daughter of George Murray Pott, a wireless operator in the Merchant Marine in WW1 & T/A/Lt.Cdr. (Sp.Br.) RNVR in WW2, of Glasgow, Scotland.
Married (12.1944) Lt. (S) William Arthur Walters, RN (11.09.1921 - 14.12.2002), son of William Samson Walters, DSM and Bar, RN (1880-1938), and Edith Langdon, of Exeter, Devon; two daughters.
25.11.1920
-
28.12.2012
3/O 27.02.1944 (reld 27.10.1945)
27.02.1944 - (10.1944) HMS Cochrane II (supply & accounting base for tenders, Rosyth)
(01.1945)     no appointment listed
22.02.1945 - (07.1945) HMS Excellent (gunnery school, Portsmouth)
Potter,
Félicité
(Miss)
F. Potter
(06?).1916
Nantwich district, Cheshire
-
C/O
01.01.1944
  MBE ?  
       
Poulden,
Janet Gawler
(Miss)
J.G. Poulden
26.02.1912
Hampstead district, Greater London
-
04.2001
Gloucester, Gloucestershire
C/O
27.03.1944
       
Power,
Rhona Cynthia Martin
(Miss)
R.C.M. Power
Daughter of .... Power, and ... Stewart.
Married (02.09.1944) Maj. Archie William Peacop, African Colonial Forces (11.03.1917 - 27.02.1992); two daughters.
23.12.1914
Medway district, Kent
-
08.07.2008
Kirstenhof, Cape Town, South Africa
3/O 23.01.1941
2/O 16.03.1943 (reld > 10.1945, < 04.1946)
1941 - (04.)1941 HMS Drake (RN base, Devonport)
1941 - (06.)1941 HMS Pembroke I (RN base, Chatham)
(08.)1941 - (10.)1941 HMS Wildfire (RN base, Sheerness)
(12.)1941 - (02.)1942 HMS Badger (minesweeper base, Harwich)
(04.)1942 - (02.)1943 HMS Victory III (accounting section, Wantage, Berkshire)
16.03.1943 - (10.)1943 HMS Kestrel (RN Air Station, Worthy Down, nr Winchester)
25.10.1943 - (06.)1944 HMS Heron (RN Air Station, Yeovil, Somerset)
1944 - (10.1944) HMS Lanka (RN base, Colombo, Ceylon)
(01.1945) - (07.1945) HMS Hathi (RN depot, Kandy, Ceylon) *
(10.1945)     no appointment listed
* indexed, but not listed as such
Prendergast,
Madeleine Irene
(Miss)
M.I. Prendergast
Daughter (with three sisters and one brother) of Cdr. Edmund James Prendergast (1873-1936), and Violet Pratt-Barlow (1877-1948).
Married ((12?).1950, Kensington district, London) Philip Watts Solly, MA (15.09.1908 - 28.09.1989), Lt. Royal Artillery & preparatory school headmaster; one son.
03.06.1911
Southsea, Portsmouth district, Hampshire
-
10.06.1994
Bethany Residential Care Home, Paxton Hall, Huntingdon district, Cambridgeshire
Ldg. Wren ?
3/O 12.10.1941
2/O 18.08.1942
A/1/O 01.05.1944
1/O 01.01.1945 (reld > 10.1948)
      WRNS officers' training course, Greenwich
08.11.1941 - (06.)1943 HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool)
(08.1943) - (02.1944) HMS Gadwall (RN Air Station, Sydenham, Belfast) *
(04.1944)     no appointment listed
01.05.1944 - (06.)1944 HMS Braganza (RN base, Bombay, India)
08.1944 - (10.)1945 HMS Hathi (RN depot, Delhi, India & Kandy, Ceylon)
15.11.1945 - (07.1946) HMS Sultan (RN base, Singapore)
(10.1946)     no appointment listed
* indexed, but not listed as such
Price,
Hilda Mary
(Miss)
H.M. Price
Daughter (with one brother) of Albert Price (1867-1944), and Mary Louisa Middleton (1880-1960).
Married (1946) Clennel Evelyn Van Rooyen (28.09.1908 - 16.03.1989); one son, one daughter.
04.04.1915
Buncrana, Donegal, Ireland
-
24.03.2014
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Petty Officer Wren ?
3/O 23.08.1942
2/O 31.07.1944 (reld 21.09.1946)
23.08.1942 - (08.)1943 HMS Eaglet (RN base, Liverpool)
14.10.1943 - (10.)1945 HMS Cormorant (RN base, Gibraltar)
11.1945 - (07.)1946 HMS Cochrane (RN base, Rosyth)
Prichard,
Ada Constance
(Mrs.)
A.C. Prichard
?
-
C/O
01.04.1945
       
Pym,
Ann Vere
(Miss)
A.V. Pym (Photo courtesy of Fearnley Szuster) A.V. Pym (Photo courtesy of Fearnley Szuster)
Daughter of Paul John Every Pym (1870-1948), and Marjory Isabel Anderson (1891-1965), of Overcompton, Sherborne.
Married (24.11.1945, Church of the Holy Ghost, Yeovil, Somerset) Lt.Cdr. Witold Ryszard Szuster, DSC, Polish Navy (1913-1973), son of Adam Szuster (1868-1952), and Julja Jaskolska (1877-1942) of Warsaw, Poland; one daughter, three sons.
17.07.1919
Maidenhead district, Berkshire
-
12.09.2001

Adelaide, South Australia
3/O 27.02.1941
2/O 20.08.1943 (reld > 10.1945, < 04.1946)
(06.)1941 - (02.)1943 HMS Pembroke (RN base, Chatham)
08.02.1943 - (08.)1943 HMS Pembroke III (WRNS accounting base, London) (for WRNS Training and Drafting Depots)
20.08.1943 - (10.)1944 in charge of WRNS, HMS Fervent (RN base, Ramsgate)
20.10.1944 - (04.)1945 HMS Pembroke V (secret base WRNS, Bletchley Park, London)
26.06.1945 - (07.1945) HMS Gosling (new entry training establishment, Risley, nr Warrington, Lancashire)
(10.1945)     no appointment listed
Pym,
Barbara Mary Crampton
(Miss)
B.M.C. Pym B.M.C. Pym
Elder daughter of Frederic Crampton Pym (1879-1966), solicitor, of Oswestry, and Irena Spenser Thomas (1886-1945).

02.06.1913
Oswestry, Shropshire
-
11.01.1980
Michael Sobell House, a hospice attached to the Churchill Hospital in Oxford
A/3/O 11.03.1944
3/O 06.10.1944, seniority 11.03.1944 (reld < 04.1946)
Education: Huyton College, Liverpool; St Hilda's College, Oxford.
11.03.1944 - (06.)1944 HMS Mastodon (Combined Operations base, Exbury House, Exbury, nr Southampton)
21.08.1944 - (01.)1945 HMS Hannibal (RN base, Taranto, Italy)
(07.1945)     no appointment listed
Novelist. Editorial Secretary, International African Institute, London, 1958-1974. FRSL, 1978.
Published: Some Tame Gazelle, 1950; Excellent Women, 1952; Jane and Prudence, 1953; Less than Angels, 1955; A Glass of Blessings, 1958; No Fond Return of Love, 1961; Quartet in Autumn, 1977; The Sweet Dove Died, 1978; posthumous publications: An Unsuitable Attachment, 1982; Crampton Hodnet, 1985; Civil to Strangers and Other Writings, 1987.
 
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