Women's Royal New Zealand Naval Service

Raised during the Second World War, most of its personnel, known as Wrens, served as signallers and operators of naval equipment on the Home Front.

At that time, female civilian employees of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) had already replaced men in some roles, mainly in supply and clerical work.

[1] Following further discussion, one topic of debate being whether women would be required to work at nights before it was realised that this would overly limit their potential contribution to the war effort, the New Zealand War cabinet approved the establishment of the Women's Royal New Zealand Naval Service (WRNZNS) in April 1942.

Applications were then transferred to the National Service Department, responsible for recruitment into the New Zealand Military Forces.

From November 1942, under the terms of the Women's Royal New Zealand Naval Service Emergency Regulations, the WRNZNS was incorporated into the RNZN.

[9] Some of the early recruits to the WRNZNS were the civilians previously employed by the RNZN; their dates of commencement of service was antedated so that they were prioritised for promotion.

[10] Some were employed at the naval wireless telegraph station at Waiouru Military Camp in the central North Island.

Although a secret at the time, from late 1942 eight Wrens served in an intelligence station in Blenheim, monitoring Japanese navy radio traffic.

To help remedy this, the WRNZNS was re-established so that Wrens could assume some of the onshore duties performed by RNZN personnel, freeing the men up for service at sea.

[13] In its reconstituted form, the WRNZNS struggled to attract personnel and Corbin maintained the high standards for recruits set by her predecessor.

This followed the introduction of the Human Rights Commission Act 1977, leading to a decision to do away with separate services for women in the New Zealand military.