大象传媒

This is written in memory of my mother, Joan Lilley, Leading WREN 17139, who died in November 2005. It was her wish to contribute to The People's War website but failing health prevented this. The following is compiled from my mother's memories and her WREN records and memorabilia found after her death.

Joan commenced duty as a WREN on 21 October 1940. As a cook she initially trained at HMS Osprey and subsequently served with HMS Bacchante, Cressey, Cochrane 11, Elfin, Pembroke 1, Pembroke 111, and Ganges. The opportunity to travel throughout Britain was an adventure and lifelong friendships were made. The winter of 1941/2 at Kingseat Naval Hospital, Aberdeen, with twenty foot snow drifts was a particular memory. A victorian sledge was commandeered [I think from Balmoral] to deliver meals from the main kitchen to the various villas that housed the injured naval officers.

It was though the opportunity to go to Malta, HMS St Angleo, that was the greatest adventure. Joan was in the first draft of forty ratings and one officer who travelled on HMS Orion. Although strict rules prevailed for forty women amongst hundreds of troops not all enjoyment was barred as indicated in a concert programme: "His Majesty's Forces Present the 'Orion' Combined Opps. A Sea-Sonable Mixture of Swell Music and Rolls of Mirth.".

Landing in Malta in early January 1944 the WRENS were quartered at the Modern Imperial Hotel, Sliema. In Ursula Stuart Mason's books, "The Wrens 1917-1977" and "Britannia's Daughters" Joan's memory of their arrival is quoted: "The entire staff lined up in the hall to welcome us. It was as though we had stepped back into the Victorian era."

Having transferred from cooking to the Supplies Department Joan was assigned to the clothing store. Again quoted by Ursula Stuart Mason, Joan described, "Our first morning on duty was bright and cold, with a bitter wind, but there were queues of sailors outside the clothing store as word had got round that we had brought fresh supplies. Many of these men had no shoes or underclothes, just a boiler suit with a blanket round their shoulders. They were the survivors.... We were able to let them have only the essentials. I shall always remember that line of sailors, standing there in the bitter cold."

Until leaving Malta Joan worked in the clothing store. Soap was one of the men's most prized 'essentials'; many had not been home since the start of the war. Working hours were long and although supplies essential not exciting work.

It was the "off duty" that afforded the excitement and opportunities. There were swimming trips to St Paul's Bay and photographs show all the historic sites of the island were visited. Through attending a local church and public concerts the WRENS came to know some of the Maltese people. A programme shows that on 6th May 1944 "The British Institute in Malta" held an orchestral concert. Rations and facilities for service personnel were very basic but compared to the civilian population they lived in luxury.

There were trips [official/unofficial!!] to Sicily on ships supplying water from Sicily to Malta, with a motor bike ride nearly to the summit of Mount Etna. Despite war time conditions there were postcards and souvenirs to be had.

Official entertainment for the vast numbers of troops passing through Malta, to and from the Far East, was a welcomed duty for WRENS to organise and included: "The First Officer and Members of the WRENS" invitation to a "Grand 'Poppy Day' Dance to be held at the Modern Imperial Hotel on Wednesday 25th October 1944" with a "buffet", "bar" and "continuous dancing from 2000 - 2345".

And when Churchill and Roosevelt met in Malta, en route for the historic meeting at Yalta, everyone was released from their duties to wave and cheer.

While the journey to Malta held all the dangers of the sea - a diversion along the West Coast of Africa to avoid enemy submarines and a slow maneuver through the mine fields at the Straights of Gibralta - the return to the UK in Decmber 1945 was by Royal Air Force Transport Command. The envelope containing the ticket notes the importance of warm clothing for the flight and in later years of air travel Joan always recalled the bitter cold of her first flight with a welcome stop-over in France to warm-up.

Discharge from the WRENS on 19 January 1946 brought to an end "The biggest adventure of my life."

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