Ethel Kemstead (Cuthbert)

Before arriving in Halifax, Ethel would have gone through highly regulated training for all WRENS as well as strict medical and aptitude testing to determine her placement. Having turned 18, Ethel just met the minimum enlistment age. Virtually every WREN passed through HMCS Conestoga (a converted girls’ training school in Galt) for four weeks of basic training. Here, Ethel learned naval customs, marching, drill and discipline under Commander Isabel Macneil. Depending on her aptitude tests, she would have been assigned a non-combatant trade and sent to specialized school…often learning coding, wireless telegraphy, visual signalling or naval clerk work.

WRENS in Halifax were initially housed at HMCS Strathcona II, a specialized naval barracks segment built specifically to accommodate the massive influx of women. Ethel lived a highly disciplined life under naval watch. WRENS wore distinct uniforms featuring blue-rimmed hats, navy blue jackets and skirts. They marched to meals and lived in communal cabins. When Ethel arrived at the East Coast in 1943, the Battle of the Atlantic was at its absolute peak. Many WRENS worked as Plotters in the secret operational tracking rooms, moving magnetic markers on massive wall maps to track German U Boats and Allied merchant convoys, she may have worked as a Teletype Operator, Coder or Cipher Clerk handling encrypted wartime messages coming off the Atlantic. She may have filled a vital administrative role such as Naval Clerk, Supply Assistant or Pay Writer handling the overwhelming logbook demands of a port managing hundreds of naval vessels.

Ethel would have been in Halifax for the end of the war and would have been present in the city during the infamous Halifax VE Day Riots on May 7-8, 1945 when victory celebrations spilled over into widespread civil unrest across the downtown port area. Following Germany’s surrender, the WRCNS began winding down and Ethel would have gone through the discharge process in late 1945, receiving her war service badges and a rail ticket back home to Ontario to resume civilian life.

One can presume that Ethel met John “Jack” Cuthbert (WW2) while serving in Halifax, the couple marrying at some point, moving to Georgetown and purchasing the home at 43 Churchill Cres. following the war. According to the 1963 List of Electors, Ethel’s parents lived with them at that time. The couple maintained this residence until about 1970 when they moved to Wasaga Beach.

Ethel died in 2012 at the age of 85 and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Georgetown.

Truly a Canadian Hero. Her story lives on.

*Information provided by Chris Cuthbert and taken from Ancestry.ca