Women's Royal Australian Naval Service

The Service was established in April 1941 when the Royal Australian Navy enrolled 14 women at HMAS Harman

HMAS Harman

HMAS Harman is a Royal Australian Navy communications and logistics facility. The main base is located in the Australian capital of Canberra, and is geographically recognised as the suburb of Harman...

, the wireless telegraphy station near Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

. Two women were stewards, and 12 trained as telegraphist

Telegraphist

Telegraphist is an operator who uses the morse code in order to communicate by land or radio lines. Telegraphists were indispensable at sea in the early day of Wireless Telegraphy. During the Great War the Royal Navy enlisted many volunteers as Telegraphists. Telegraphists are also called Telegraph...

s. At the time, the formation of this civilian unit was not publicised, but this changed when the War in the Pacific

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

was perceived as a growing threat to Australia.

Origin

Mrs Florence Violet McKenzie

Florence Violet McKenzie

Florence Violet McKenzie OBE affectionately known as "Mrs Mac", was Australia's first female electrical engineer founder of the Women's Emergency Signalling Corps and lifelong promoter for technical education for women...

was a ham radio operator and electrical engineer who ran a shop in the Royal Arcade in Sydney. She had an idea that women could replace men in the field of communications. She and a small group of women decided to train themselves in telegraphy

Telegraphy

Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...

. The demand for the training increased and the Women's Emergency Signalling Corps (WESC) was formed. Initially, the training occurred at the shop at 9 Clarence Street Sydney, but overcrowding led to McKenzie renting out a neighbouring woolstore in 1939, which she renovated with linoleum flooring, in addition to installing radio equipment for twelve classes.

During the early days of World War II, many recruits and servicemen in the armed forces attended the classes, as the original female students were proficient enough to teach others and were later supplemented by instructors from the Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

(RAAF) and the Civil Aviation Authority

Civil Aviation Safety Authority

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is the Australian national aviation authority , the government statutory authority responsible for the regulation of civil aviation.-History:...

(CAA). Morse code signalling was required prerequesite knowledge for people applying to the RAAF as pilots and to the Army as signallers. The courses on offer were later expanded to include visual signalling for the Merchant Navy, and to provide pre-exam training to trainee pilots sitting the CAA qualification exam. The school trained over 10,000 people during its operation.

One of the girls, Francis Proven, read an article about the Women's Royal Naval Service

Women's Royal Naval Service

The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...

, and several of the telegraphists became enthusiastic about the idea of a Women's Royal Australian Naval Service. McKenzie offered the Minister for Navy fully trained female morse code operators, in order to free up men for active service. On 31 January 1941, after six months of lobbying, the Naval Board approved the use of women telegraphists, preferably as civilians. On 18 April 1941 the Minister for the Navy, Billy Hughes

Billy Hughes

William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....

, approved the employment of fourteen women with a provision that there be no publicity. On 21 April, the Navy Office sent a letter to the Commodore-in-Charge at Sydney authorizing the entry of women into the Navy as WRANS.

The initial fourteen women (twelve telegraphists and two domestic helpers) had their medical test on 25 April and arrived at HMAS Harman

HMAS Harman

in Canberra on 28 April 1941. Francis Proven became WRANS number 1.

Development

On 1 October 1942, the WRANS were sworn in as enlisted personnel in the Royal Australian Navy. In December 1942, newspaper coverage was used to promote the existence of the WRANS and encourage applications. The first 16 WRANS officers were trained at the Flinders Naval Depot, and by February 1943 their numbers had increased to 1,000. By the end of the war, their numbers had increased to over 2,500.

WRANS performed a variety of duties, working as telegraphists, coders and clerks; but also as drivers, education officers, mechanics, harbour messengers, cooks and sickberth attendants. Some WRANS worked for the Allied Intelligence Bureau

Allied Intelligence Bureau

The Allied Intelligence Bureau was an joint United States, Australian, Dutch and British intelligence and special operations agency during World War II. It was responsible for operating parties of spies and commandos behind Japanese lines in order to collect intelligence and conduct guerrilla...

, the Censorship Office, and the Allied Translation Section of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur's

Douglas MacArthur

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...

Order of Battle

Order of battle

In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...

unit. WRANS personnel also served as domestic staff at Government House, Yarralumla, stafferd the Honours section of the Governor-General's Office, ran a choir for charity performances and radio broadcasts, and published Harmania, a newspaper.

The Service was disbanded in 1948, but was re-formed in 1951 to help the RAN cope with manpower shortages, and by 1959 was later incorporated as a non-combatant (and thus non-seagoing) part of the permanent naval forces. HRH Princess Alexandra

Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy

Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy is the youngest granddaughter of King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck. She is the widow of Sir Angus Ogilvy...

was the Honorary Commandant of the WRANS. She paid a visit to HMAS Harman in 1959 and 1978. Angus Ogilvy

Angus Ogilvy

Sir Angus James Bruce Ogilvy, was a British businessman best known as the husband of Princess Alexandra of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II....

accomanies her on the later visit.

Women were permitted to serve aboard Australian naval ships in 1983. Subsequently, WRANS personnel were fully integrated into the Royal Australian Navy, and in 1984 the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service was again disbanded.

Uniform

For six months the WRANS wore the green WESC uniform The Naval tailors copied the WRNS uniform, and clothing was available by July 1941, but without shoes. The uniform was a winter outfit with a jacket with two rows of three buttons, a skirt, blouse, hat, tie and underwear. Later a summer uniform with a dress, belt and socks was issued. The dress had a wide white collar and buttons down the front.

External links

HMAS Harman (official page)
Overview of the WRANS (Australian War Memorial page)
2003 RAN News article: HMAS Harman's 60th Anniversary
History of the WRANS (with photographs)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Origin

Development

Uniform

See also

External links