In the early days of the war there were no uniforms for Wrens. Officers had their uniforms tailor made but ratings, junior members of the navy, were issued with an armband and had to carry on in their own civilian clothes. At the end of probationer course two, some five months after the declaration of war, uniform became available for the first time for all members of the WRNS with all ranks wearing the same. Wren Jane Beacon, the main character in our book collection, was issued with hers. Her examination of the Wrens’ uniform was written about in Book One, shown in the next paragraph.

A description of the Wrens’ Uniform from Book One

Throughout the war, the appeal of an attractive and becoming uniform was a major draw for the Wrens. It was an adaption which was kind to almost any female shape of the male officer’s fore-and aft jacket. Along with navy blue skirt and black stockings and, for the officers, a smart tricorne hat, the uniform for Wren officers and ratings was fundamentally the same: different material, buttons, badges and stripes were the main differences and details such as kick pleats in the officers’ skirts. It was a naturally neat and tidy outfit which, combined with white shirt and black tie, made any woman look smart. Wrens felt good in it, which contributed much to their sense of self-respect. But how they hated the stiff detached collars with their awkward studs. The collars rubbed and the studs – one at the back to secure the collar and a folding one at the front to tie in the shirt and two collar ends, were fiddly and took some getting used to. The black stockings were a major feature; much the greater part of the male Royal Navy was obsessed with them. The only real disaster was the rating’s first hat. Carrying on from its First War predecessor which had been adapted from a yachtswoman’s hat of the Edwardian era, it was a pudding basin shape with broad floppy brim, supposedly waterproof but never so in practise. It was replaced in 1942 with a smart beret variant of the matelot’s round hat, which was such an outstanding success that versions of it became a fashion item in the general population and even worn by the Queen.

Wrens’ Uniform Supply

Supply of Wren ratings’ uniforms was to remain a problem for some time, as the factory making them and holding substantial stocks was twice bombed into oblivion. It also affected the supply of Sailors’ uniforms and this led to one of the most infamous signals ever put out by the Admiralty: “Wrens’ uniforms will be held up until the needs of the Fleet have been satisfied.” Whether this was by some deliberate joker or not was never established.