THE TYNEMOUTH DIVISION.

DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR: MISS M JAMES.

The work of the W.R.N.S. in this Division has occupied exactly a year up to the time of writing. It was started on March 20th, 1918, and reached the total of outstanding requirements on the day the armistice was declared, since when, this being a temporary base, demobilisation was in view. So that no time elapsed between the building up of the W.R.N.S. as a "machine" in this area, and the taking of it to pieces again.

Our history has been uneventful to all appearances, but it has involved hard work for those responsible to prevent the results of inexperience from seriously interfering with the important work carried on in this busy district, and it was only by the local co-operation of those concerned that this result has been achieved. There was so much to be learnt before proceeding in any direction, and so few who could be found with enough time to give the necessary information and instruction. Even a messenger in a busy office could cause irritation and delay to a naval officer unless able to disguise her unfamiliarity with many of the orders given until someone could be found to interpret them. In the same way it took some time for other ratings to be able to judge correctly the destination of abbreviated messages passed as signals through the telephone.

Clerks, telephonists, motor drivers, mine-net workers were the members chiefly employed, in small units, at a number of different offices scattered over a wide area, including Newcastle, Tynemouth, and Middlesbrough. No more than 25 were employed at any one station, which made the formation of a corporate body, able to meet for the exchange of ideas and for social purposes, a somewhat elusive idea. Even the opening of a hostel at Tynemouth hardly provided opportunities for this, its members being out on different watches every day of the week, Sundays included.

An inspection and sports was, however, achieved on August 31st, 1918 (in conjunction with South Shields, which came into the area at that time), attended by the Senior Naval Officer, Captain Bowden-Smith, who inspected, and Assistant Director Recruiting, Miss M. Currey, who addressed the W.R.N.S. members and presented the prizes. We were indebted on this occasion to the Fishing Fund, Tyne Naval Base, for a grant towards expenses, and on a later occasion for help in defraying the cost of a fancy dress dance.

Two attendances at recruiting rallies, three Church parades, and a few special gatherings at the Hostel were all otherwise that marked the monotony of the work, but no cases of complaints on this score occurred, everyone appreciating apparently the value of the tasks with which they were connected, and expressing, as a whole, enthusiastic satisfaction with their term of service at the end. There was little evidence anywhere of an inclination to treat the work lightly, although it took a good deal of understanding on the part of some to arrive at the point of regarding "forgetfulness" as a crime in the Navy, rather than an excuse, and to realise that an apology for absence was not the same thing as obtaining leave beforehand.

The members employed in the Signal Room, S.N.O.'s Office, probably had the most interesting occupation, as information passed over the telephone and taken down as "signals," concerned vital happenings at sea and the coming and going of the great variety of vessels that could be seen entering the River Tyne from the office windows. Otherwise not much opportunity was afforded to the W.R.N.S. of seeing the navy at work, as the only sailor-like establishment in the vicinity was the depot ship, H.M.S. Satellite, at North Shields, whence came pay and rations.

Especially favourable reports on the work of the ranks and ratings employed were received from naval officers at the Auxiliary Patrol Office, Northumberland Dock, and Port Convoy and Naval Transport Offices, Newcastle, the members there having apparently exceeded expectations in the performance of their duties.

How far Tynemouth Division could have maintained its records for a clean crime sheet had it become a permanent base is a matter of conjecture, but it has been put on record by the S.N.O. of the area that "all ranks and ratings have loyally done their duty and assisted to raise the standard of efficiency in this base," a result which was well worth a year's work to achieve.

M. JAMES