Roses Planted In Cambridge Honour Those WRENS That Had A Hand In Outcome Of War
WRENS Changed The Roles Of All Canadian Women
By Thomas Hagey

WRENS Honoured In Cambridge

The great war effort of WWII was greatly influenced by Canadian women. This weekend at Queen's Square there was a dedication and a rose planting ceremony in honour of the women that served our country in wartime and a celebration of the countinuing role women now play in the armed forces as a result of those women that came before.

This is the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy. It is only fitting that the memory of the WRENS is brought into focus as true, key contributors to the freedoms we now enjoy and share.

Those guest speakers at the ceremony included: Margaret Haliburton, President of the Wrens, Commodore Jennifer Bennett, Comander of Naval Reserve Canada, Peter Braid MP Kitchener Waterloo, Mayor Doug Craig and the roses were blessed by Rev. David Mulholland.

Councillor Pam Wolf and her brother Ron have a personal connection to the Wrens through their aunt Mary Walker who served alongside 6000 other Wrens.


The Rev. David Mulholland Blesses the Roses



Women Naval Cadets with dignitaries




Wrens United again




A Photo with Commodore Bennett



Cadet Band



Pam Wolf and brother Ron Walker with photo of Wren Aunt Mary Walker



Young Cadet Flag Bearers



View Video of Rose Planting Ceremony highlights





More About The Wrens

Announcing the 2010 Canadian Naval Centennial Rose. The Wren Association of Toronto, along with Wren Associations across Canada, chose this rose developed by Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and grown exclusively by J.C. Bakker Nurseries in St Catharines, to celebrate the Canadian Naval Centennial, 1910-2010. Ceremonial plantings will take place across Canada in the commemorative year 2010 and onward, in locations of naval significance, attended by Wrens, other Naval Veterans, serving Naval personnel and local officials.

"Navy Lady" has been named as a dedication to the thousands of Canadian women who served in the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS), known as Wrens, and the women who continue to serve today as members of the Canadian Navy.

In the 2010 celebration year we dedicate this rose as a tribute to our Shipmates, all the gallant men and women who served at sea and ashore in Canadian Navy, past, present and future.

Due to the serious wartime shortage of sailors for sea billets, the Navy decided to organize a women's division of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) "to release a man to go to sea." On July 31, 1942, the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service was established.

The WRCNS, unlike other Allied female units, was not an auxiliary but rather a formed unit of the RCN and its officers held the King's commission. At peak strength, over 6,000 women were fulfilling the various roles of coders, confidential clerks, messengers, telegraphists, cooks, stewards and some 35 other important duties. The WRCNS was disbanded in 1946. In 1951 a Wren section was reformed in the RCN, initially in the Reserve but becoming full-time regulars by 1955. Wrens continued to serve in the RCN and RCNR (reserve) until unification of the Canadian Forces. Women in the navy were still known as Wrens until the late eighties. Today, no longer called Wrens, women serve in the Canadian Navy, both regular and reserve, ashore and at sea.