Joan Streeter, ( Ritchie; 25 April 1918 – 14 April 1993) was an Australian naval officer. Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Streeter attended a business college and worked as a clerk before joining the

Women's Royal Australian Naval Service The Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) was the women's branch of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). In 1941, fourteen members of the civilian Women's Emergency Signalling Corps (WESC) were recruited for wireless telegraphy work at ...

(WRANS) in 1943. She was trained as an officer and served at the bases ''Penguin'', ''Kuranda'', ''Kuttabul'' and ''Rushcutter'' before the discontinuation of the service after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The service was reformed at the onset of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

; Streeter, who had in the interim moved first to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and then to Canada, returned and was in 1958 named director of the WRANS. She served in this role until her retirement in 1973 and "was influential in developing government policy to encourage women to enter naval careers". Significantly, in 1968 she spearheaded a reform to allow women to remain in WRANS after they were married. Streeter was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1964.

References

1918 births 1993 deaths Australian military personnel of World War II Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Melbourne Royal Australian Navy officers Women in the Australian military 20th-century Australian women {{Australia-mil-bio-stub