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OBITUARIES

View the recent obituaries of fellow Association of Wrens members below.

Sharon Wright

Sharon Wright (nee Broome)  Former L/Wren ETS Sharon Wright (nee Broome, Service No. W138368E) passed away peacefully at home on 23rd September 2023, surrounded by her family after a long […]

Margaret Havell

Margaret Havell  Served as Wren Margaret EM Ward Service Number 100983 Born- 18 October 1930 Acton London – Died- 26 November Levin NZ 2021 Joined up 8 June 1949 -8 June 1953 L/Wren- […]

Fanny Hugill

Fanny Hugill, Legion d’Honneur, D-Day Wren Officer, was born on 22 January 1923. She died on 28 September 2023 aged 100. When Third Officer Fanny Gore Browne learnt that General […]

Joan Marguerite Mehala Snook (née Nichols)

Joan Marguerite Mehala Snook (née Nichols) 23rd December 1924 – 17th November 2023 Service Number 66430   Joan served as L/WREN Boats Crew at HMS Mastodon (Exbury House, Hampshire). War […]

Wendy Cunningham

In Memoriam – Wendy Karen Cunningham (née Eyre) 25 May 1958 – 13 May 2023 ‘Pull up a bollard and I’ll spin you a dit…’ Allow me to whisk you […]

Irene ‘Renee’ Causer

Irene ‘Renee’ Causer 17 July 1923 to 15 August 2023 Renee lived in Preston and joined the WRNS during WWII serving 1942 -1946 in the Fleet Air Arm. Her training […]

Remembering PO Wren Telegraphist Ellen Whittall

During this period of national mourning, today marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth and sadly the death of POWren Telegraphist Ellen Whittall who […]

Jeanette Carr

Jeanette ‘Ginny’ Carr 18 August 1941 – 28 June 2023 Jeanette grew up in the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire countryside. She joined the WRENS in the summer of 1959, three months […]

Marion Dytor

Marion Dytor 30 October 1922 – 6 December 2022 Marian Honora Cecilia Cronin was born in Liverpool on 30th October 1922 to Denis John Cronin and Georgina Kavanagh. She had […]

Rosie Wilson OBE

Rosie Wilson OBE 1950 – 2023 In thinking of what I should say in this brief tribute to that force of nature that went by the name of Rosie Wilson, […]

Doris Ensoll

Doris Vera Ensoll (née Williams) 1923-2023 Mum wanted to do her bit for the war, and perhaps also to escape her duties as eldest daughter in a household of six […]

Stephanie Higham

LAST WORD Mary “Stephanie” Higham (née Pigott) 1920 – 2023 Stephanie was born on 29th October 1920 in London and spent her early years travelling with her parents and siblings […]

Margaret Kliskey

Margaret Kliskey 1933 – 2023 Published below are Margaret’s memoirs My Life in the Wrens 1953 – 1957 As an only child living on a farm in the country I […]

Margaret Runcie

2nd World war Wren, who became a renowned pony breeder, exhibitor and judge Margaret Runcie, who died on December 23rd 2022 aged 97, was a leading figure in the UK […]

Kathleen Newman

Kathleen was born in 1926 to Kate and Percy Newman, she was the youngest of three sisters. Her elder sisters were Molly and Rosemary – who was my grandmother. They […]

Chief Officer Elizabeth Mary Sunley

Chief Officer Elizabeth Mary Sunley (78) died on 5 October 2022 while on holiday in Italy. Born in 1944, Elizabeth joined the WRNS after a secretarial course in London and […]

Julia Mansel Bennett nee Lord RIP

Julia Mansel Bennett (nee Lord) 20th September 1933 – 17th October 2022 Petty Officer WRN Signals served 1952–59 Julia was born in 1933 in Aberystwyth in West Wales one of […]

Christine Gale Lees nee Ecob RIP

Christine Gale Lees (née Ecob), service number 115711, was born on the 28th of July 1940 at 29 Leicester Road, Blaby,Leicestershire. Chris joined the WRNS aged 18 in 1958 and […]

Hilda May Taylor (Lindley) RIP

Hilda May Taylor (Lindley), Wren Lindley No 98009, was born in Webster Street, Bolton, Lancashire, on 16 August 1925, to Harry & Edith Lindley.  She excelled at school, though her […]

Gwyneth (Gwen) Fryer (nee Johnson) RIP

A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF GWYNETH (GWEN] FRYER (nee Johnson) A Reflection on the Service held for Gwen Fryer by Ann Boulton. Gwen services in the WRNS from 1958 […]

JOYCE ELSIE HARDCASTLE, May 2, 1921 to August 13, 2022

JOYCE ELSIE HARDCASTLE, May 2, 1921 to August 13, 2022 Joyce was born in Portsmouth, England to Pelham William Evans and Elsie Clara Evans, now deceased. She was predeceased by […]

VIVIEN CATHERINE MARGARET  CRINGLE  (Nee – CREESE) RIP

VIVIEN   CATHERINE MARGARET   CRINGLE    (Nee – CREESE) Vivien was born in Oxford in 1949. Her father worked in East Africa and as Vivien grew-up, she could speak […]

Joan Stevenson nee Ozanne RIP

Joan Stevenson nee Ozanne died on the 30th November 2021 aged 92. The time she served in the WRNS was one of the happiest times of her life and she […]

Joan Allen Nee Hale RIP

Joan Allen (Nee Hale) died on 18th January 2022 – aged 101, following a fall and subsequently contracting pneumonia.  Her close family were with her – she was bright and chatty […]

Obituary – Ruby Nicoll-Heijmans 1923 – 2021

Ruby Nicoll-Heijmans was born in Dundee on the 16th March 1923 and died on the 22nd November 2021 aged 98, peacefully in her adopted home of Leiden in the Netherlands. She […]

Vera Manuel nee Bonny 1925 – 2021 RIP

Vera Manuel (nee Bonny) was born on the 16th December 1925 at East Runton in Norfolk. She joined the WRNS on 1st March 1944, her service number was 75396, and […]

Valerie Pinker Died 11 September 2021 aged 94. RIP

Excerpt from the memoirs of Valerie Pinker   It was 1946, I was nearly nineteen and I was getting restless about my future. It would be years before I could […]

Mollie Macartney RIP

Mollie Macartney was a Stoll veteran and resident who has passed away at 95 years old.  Mollie was adored amongst young and old.  She embraced life and her infectious smile […]

Betty O’Connell 1925-2021

Obituary: Betty O’Connell. The Wren who was in the first team at Bletchley Park to operate the Colossus Mk 1 that cracked Hitler’s ‘Lorenz’ messages The Times – 28 Sep […]

Felicity “Fizz” Sellers

1945 – 2020     Felicity “Fizz” Sellers, nee Pearce Felicity “Fizz” Pearce joined the WRNS in 1964 at the age of 19 and served with the MT (Motor Transport) […]

Edith Bruce Weames

1922 – 2021   Edith Bruce Weames, née Townson When I joined the WRNS in January 1977, my Aunt was so proud, I am sure she would have rejoined with […]

Sheila Jean Snowley

Served 1955 –1979   Fleet Chief Wren (QA) Sheila Jean Snowley Sheila Snowley was born in Norwich in April 1929 and was brought up in March, Cambridgeshire until she left […]

Janet Ann Dalton

04/07/1945 – 14/02/2021   ‘Crossed the Bar’ Former Fleet Air Arm Wren flies off into the sunset Our ‘oppo’ Janet Dalton a former ‘Jenny Wren’ – WRNS and shipmate of […]

Kathlyn Bray

06/03/1930 – 14/02/2021   Kathlyn Bray, née Mason Kathlyn passed away peacefully on 14th February 2021. She joined the Wrens on 12 July 1949 and served in Portsmouth in the […]

Paddy Wall

1926 – 2021   Paddy Wall (née O’Brien) former Secretary of the AOW and a Vice President. I am sad to announce the passing of our mother Patricia Wall, she […]

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