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WRENS ( Women’s Royal Naval Service) in the war

Heroes Remember

WRENS ( Women’s Royal Naval Service) in the war

Transcript
I think it's a river foil used to go up the, the land area and the WRENS, Canadian WRENS, established a, a barracks on the shore line. They had a barracks and a radio station. They were cracker jacks at radio, the WRENS, and I'm sure the army had the same thing. But now they didn't go to sea, they were inshore station, but they were good. And we used to sail past there, either going out to sea from Londonderry or coming into Londonderry from Canada. We had to go, the river went right by their station and everything else and they, those, those WRENS if they, they were all in radio so they knew when a ship was coming in and when it wasn't. They knew before the generals did, the admirals. And they had big clothes lines in front of the station and they used to hang out their, their bras and their panties and was all there, and as we're sailing by they'd wave. That, it sounds silly in a way, but it wasn't. It, it, it took us right into the war at the ground level.
Description

Mr. Adderley talks about the WRENS and how good they were in radio. He talks about how seeing the WRENS brought them into the war at the ground level.

Jack Adderley

Mr. Adderley was born on Nov. 24, 1924, He grew up in the north end of Hamilton. He was an only child and it was tough growing up for his father had trouble getting steady work as he suffered from lung damage suffered during the First World War. Mr. Adderley joined the reserves when he was too young to join the service and on his 19th birthday he joined the navy where he served in the Second World War and the Korean War. Mr. Adderley talks about what it was like to be in the navy and what it was like when they were ran ashore and the Americans gave them air support.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
01:50
Person Interviewed:
Jack Adderley
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Location/Theatre:
Europe
Branch:
Navy
Rank:
Leading Seaman
Occupation:
Radio Communication

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

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