I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety

This is my final blogpost on I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety Blog. I’ve enjoyed writing my Tinned Variety blogposts and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. You can still find me at Cathy's Family History Stories . Very best wishes, Cathy Murray

Following on from an earlier post ,  I've been looking on YouTube for some material on the history of the WRNS. This film clip is from 1918  and shows an inspection of the WRNS by Commander Sir R. William Buleley, Bart,. C.B., R.N.R. The film is remarkably clear and you can see the uniforms really well. Sir William barely looks at the WRNS as he walks past but they don't seem to care. The WRNS was founded in 1917  and by 1919 there were 7,000  Wrens including Cooks and Stewards, Despatch Riders, Sail Makers and those in Intelligence. Tellingly, their motto was ‘Never at Sea’. At the start of WW2, 3,000 women were recruited for the WRNS into the same roles as before and also in new roles such as Radio Operators, Meteorologists, Bomb Range Markers together with sea-going  Cypher Officers, Coders and Boat’s Crew Wrens. By 1944 there were 74,000 WRNS Officers and ratings. This time their motto was ‘Free a Man for the Fleet’. This is another nice clip.  It shows

I found this advert in the British Newspaper Archive . It's from the Sunday Mirror on Sunday 28 December 1941. I've saved the clipping in three sections to make it easier to read. Image © Trinity Mirror. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. Image © Trinity Mirror. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. Image © Trinity Mirror. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. I wonder if anyone took any notice of the exhortation. And how the Ministry defined a war worker? And what essential job the woman in the picture is involved in? This second promotion was designed to encourage women to join the WAAF.  It was in the Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail on Monday 27 October 1941. Image © Johnston Press plc. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. Image © Johnston Press plc. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was the female auxiliary of t

Some while ago I discovered an amazing war artist called Anthony Gross.  In 1942 he sailed on a troop carrier, the m.v. Highland Monarch, from England to Egypt via Sierra Leone and the Indian Ocean.  He made a series of drawings during the eight week voyage which are a fantastic record of daily life on board ship. Check out: Anthony Gross, official war artist, and the Convoy series of drawings and Official war artist Anthony Gross to read more about him. More recently, I've discovered that Anthony Gross had a sister, Phyllis, who was also an artist. 1940 Born Phyllis Isobella Gross, her lifelong nickname was PIG.  Phyllis became one of Britain's most intriguing entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires. After an eight year marriage to Richard Pearsall and subsequent divorce, Phyllis had to support herself and so she became a portrait painter. This was in the 1930s. While working as a portrait painter and trying to find her patrons' houses Phyllis Pearsal