First WRNS arrive in HMS MercuryWritten by Godfrey Dykes© RN Communications Branch Museum/Library
In 1946 the first WRNS of the Communication Branch arrived in HMS Mercury to undertake Communications training.
Before WW2 and for the first 1½ years of the War, Wren communicators were trained at the Signal School in Portsmouth. When the Signal School was shifted to the Meon Valley which became HMS Mercury, facilities there resembled a Klondike-type of camp barely suitable for men but definitely not for women, especially women in large numbers. Wren Communicators were sent to HMS Cabbala (1940-42) and from there to HMS Scotia (1942-46).
The following article (re-typed) tells what happened in 1946:
© RN Communications Branch Museum/Library
In 1946 the first WRNS of the Communication Branch arrived in HMS Mercury to undertake Communications training.
Before WW2 and for the first 1½ years of the War, Wren communicators were trained at the Signal School in Portsmouth. When the Signal School was shifted to the Meon Valley which became HMS Mercury, facilities there resembled a Klondike-type of camp barely suitable for men but definitely not for women, especially women in large numbers. Wren Communicators were sent to HMS Cabbala (1940-42) and from there to HMS Scotia (1942-46).
The following article (re-typed) tells what happened in 1946: