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Women's Royal Naval Service (1917 - 1919)

You can now search and download the records of those who served in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) during the First World War. Until now these records have only been available on microfiche at The National Archives.

The Women's Royal Naval Service was formed to carry out shore-based duties and allow sailors to go to sea. Recruitment posters encouraged women to "Free a man for sea service". The Admiralty aimed to recruit 3,000 women but eventually over 5,000 women joined. Katharine Furse, the former Commandant of the British Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachments, was appointed Director in November 1917. You can see an extract from the draft formation document by clicking on the image on the right.

At first the WRNS (or "Wrens") undertook domestic duties, such as cleaning, cooking and serving meals. Later they carried out a greater variety of roles including wireless telegraphists and electricians. The Officers were not commissioned ("civilians in uniform"). They were based in the United Kingdom, from Portsmouth to the Orkneys, but some units also served in Gibraltar, Malta and Genoa. 23 WRNS died in the First World War.

The WRNS was demobilised on 1 October 1919 and it was re-established in 1938 in the build up to the Second World War. The Women's Royal Naval Service was disbanded finally in 1993 when women were allowed to join the Royal Navy.

We have outlined some points to help you understand more about the first World War WRNS records. Use the links below to jump to the topics you are interested in.

Searching the records

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The original records were grouped in the series ADM 318 (Officers) and ADM 336 ( Ratings ). Now you can search on details from all the surviving records by entering any or all of the following:

What could WRNS records help me to discover?

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Ratings

Each Rating's record consists of a straightforward form listing details such as full name, date of enrolment, age at enrolment, whether "mobile" (willing to work away from their home area) or "immobile", period of service and where they served, name and address of next-of-kin, whether discharged from service and other notes. Immobile ratings are found most often in London or at the Naval bases such as Portsmouth.

These records were originally filmed in pairs, and have been scanned the same way. So you can expect to see two ratings' service records in the image you download (there is no extra charge). You can see an example of a rating's service record by clicking on the image on the right.

The service record of Dorothy Poulter shows that she enrolled as a "motor driver" on 18 July 1918. She was "immobile", therefore she wouldn't be posted away from home. She named her brother as next-of-kin so we can assume that both of her parents had died by this time. Her character and ability were assessed as "V.G." (Very Good). The record also shows that she was paid a Demobilisation Gratuity in September 1919. The abbreviation "SNLR" appears in the "discharge" column. This abbreviation occurs frequently in these records and it means "services no longer required".

Officers

The Officers' files hold official forms, dossiers and letters concerning appointments and promotions. In some cases a file might also include an identification certificate giving details about date and place of birth, marital status, trade or profession, religion, physical description and name of next-of-kin.

Correspondence and annotations in many of these files reveal something of contemporary attitudes, etiquette, assumptions, class distinctions and prejudices.

The examples below are taken from the service record of Lily Marx who wrote the poem "The Old Serge Frock" about the Wrens' uniform. The first image, her application form, shows that she was born in Australia, was of British nationality and had been educated in Switzerland. She had also attended Cheltenham College and Bedford College. In civilian life she had been a "hospital almoner" (a social worker). She stated on the form that her father was an "Admiral (retired) now employed as Rear Admiral". Lily Marx was recorded as being unmarried at the time of enrolment.

The second image is from a 1919 report which reviews her performance (she had been posted to Malta, as the Principal in charge of her Subdivision). In this encouraging report, the Divisional Director considered her to be "an extremely good Officer all round" and deemed her suitable for promotion.

Why can't I find an entry?

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There are a number reasons why you might not find an entry:

Research Guides and further information

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At The National Archives

If you want to take your research further you might wish to visit The National Archives where you can see original documents:

If you don't want to, or cannot carry out research yourself, see Paying for Research.

The National Archives bookshop

Whether you are researching your family history, the First World War or women's history, The National Archives bookshop will have a book for you:

Links

Click on the links to see these free National Archives research guides:

Search in DocumentsOnline to download Campaign Medal Rolls for Women's Services (British and Victory Medals).

Women who were awarded the Military Medal or who were Mentioned in Despatches are included in announcements in the official Crown newspaper, the London Gazette, which you can see online at www.gazettes-online.co.uk. Almost all gallantry awards are published in the London Gazette 9 May 1919.

There is a National Archives online exhibition about the First World War. It highlights significant events and examines the war experiences of different people through surviving documents.

The Family Records website hosts an online exhibition, Women in Uniform, which examines the role of women in wartime.

The complete survey and listing of National Archives sources relating to women is in Women's Studies Resources in the National Archives.

The Royal Naval Museum holds the Engagement papers of WRNS ratings who joined between 1917 and 1919.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission compiles the online 'Debt of Honour Register' which includes women of the Commonwealth forces who died in two world wars. You can search their database at no charge.

The Women's Library holds the most extensive collection of women's history in the UK. The website is at www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/.

Genesis is a database for locating women's history collections from libraries, archives and museums across the British Isles.