The Littlest Wren
Some 82 years ago this week, the official caption: “WREN Nancy Jackson asking the sentry’s permission to go onboard a destroyer to deliver a message in Harwich, Essex, England – January 15, 1943. At 4 ft 7 inches tall, Nancy Jackson was the shortest WREN (Women’s Royal Naval Service) in the Royal Navy during WW2
Davies, F A (Lt) Photographer, Admiralty collection, IWM A 13976
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205147218
The gangplank sentry is armed with the classic Great War era “Smelly” (SMLE Rifle #1 Mark III*).
As for the WRENS, formed originally in 1917— at about the same time as the sentry’s rifle was made, by the end of the war they counted 5,500 members. However, they really came into their own in WWII, with some 74,000 women– all volunteers– involved in over 200 different jobs within the Royal Navy, concentrating on clerical, workshop, and communications taskings.
WOMEN ON THE HOME FRONT 1939 – 1945 (A 13209) The Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS): Wren Armourers, whose jobs included the overhaul, maintenance and serving of guns, pictured testing a Lewis gun at Lee-on-Solent Naval Air Station. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205193235
WOMEN’S ROYAL NAVAL SERVICE. MAINTENANCE WRENS MAINTAIN SMALL ARMS UP TO 3 POUNDER HOTCHKISS FOR ALL TYPES OF SMALL CRAFT – MTB, MGB, ML, MOS AND MASB. THESE GIRLS KNOWN AS QO (QUICK-FIRING ORDNANCE) WRENS BOARD THE BOATS AS SOON AS THEY COME IN AFTER AN OPERATION, TO STRIP AND CLEAN THE LEWIS AND 0.5 VICKERS MACHINE GUNS. (A 12187) A QO Wren removing a 0.5 Vickers machine gun turret for servicing. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205145632
WOMEN’S ROYAL NAVAL SERVICE. MAINTENANCE WRENS MAINTAIN SMALL ARMS UP TO 3 POUNDER HOTCHKISS FOR ALL TYPES OF SMALL CRAFT – MTB, MGB, ML, MOS AND MASB. THESE GIRLS KNOWN AS QO (QUICK-FIRING ORDNANCE) WRENS BOARD THE BOATS AS SOON AS THEY COME IN AFTER AN OPERATION, TO STRIP AND CLEAN THE LEWIS AND 0.5 VICKERS MACHINE GUNS. (A 12193) A QO Wren stripping and cleaning a Lewis Gun on board a coastal craft. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205145638
WOMEN’S ROYAL NAVAL SERVICE. MAINTENANCE WRENS MAINTAIN SMALL ARMS UP TO 3 POUNDER HOTCHKISS FOR ALL TYPES OF SMALL CRAFT – MTB, MGB, ML, MOS AND MASB. THESE GIRLS KNOWN AS QO (QUICK-FIRING ORDNANCE) WRENS BOARD THE BOATS AS SOON AS THEY COME IN AFTER AN OPERATION, TO STRIP AND CLEAN THE LEWIS AND 0.5 VICKERS MACHINE GUNS. (A 12198) Installing the 0.5 Vickers machine gun into the gun turret after servicing it. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205145643
WOMEN’S ROYAL NAVAL SERVICE. MAINTENANCE WRENS MAINTAIN SMALL ARMS UP TO 3 POUNDER HOTCHKISS FOR ALL TYPES OF SMALL CRAFT – MTB, MGB, ML, MOS AND MASB. THESE GIRLS KNOWN AS QO (QUICK-FIRING ORDNANCE) WRENS BOARD THE BOATS AS SOON AS THEY COME IN AFTER AN OPERATION, TO STRIP AND CLEAN THE LEWIS AND 0.5 VICKERS MACHINE GUNS. (A 12189) A QO Wren stripping and cleaning Lewis Guns on board a coastal craft. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205145634
WRENS working a pom-pom, and not the cheerleading kind
A WREN serving on a harbor launch in Portsmouth during World War II. Photo by Cecil Beaton, via the Imperial War Museum. (click to big up)
Sadly, 102 lost their life during the conflict.
Curiously, the WRENS remained a separate corps of the RN until 1993 while comparative U.S. Navy (WAVES), USCG (SPAR), and Army (WAC) all-female units were integrated into the main force much earlier (1948, 1946, and 1978, respectively).
Of note, however, both the WAVES and SPARS had a minimum height requirement in 1943 of 5 feet (without shoes). The WACs, meanwhile, let ’em run a couple inches shorter, with the requirement of “standing at least fifty-eight inches tall, weighing at least 100 pounds, and possessing good vision.”