Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

Marjorie Fletcher

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(21 September 1932 - 11 October 2008), who served as Director of the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

(WRNS) between 1986–1988.

Career

Marjorie Fletcher was born on 21 September 1932. In her youth, she attended Avondale High School and

Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls (formerly Sutton Coldfield High School and Sutton Coldfield Girls School) is an 11–18 girls secondary grammar school and sixth form with academy status in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands, ...

. After leaving school she became a solicitor's clerk, and joined the

(WRNS) in 1953 as a rating with the post of telegraphist. She was commissioned as an officer and over the following two decades she was promoted from third officer to chief officer. Her postings including two tours in Malta, including on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

. Fletcher attended a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

staff course in 1979, and became director of the naval staff college. She was then posted for three years to Nato headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Afterwards Fletcher became the first WRNS officer to become director of the naval staff duties division in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. She was named director of the WRNS in 1986, and retired upon her departure from that post in 1988. Fletcher was subsequently named a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE). Early in retirement she wrote a book on the history of the WRNS, ''The WRNS: A History of the Women's Royal Naval Service,'' published in 1989. Fletcher died on 11 October 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Marjorie 1932 births 2008 deaths Women's Royal Naval Service ratings Women's Royal Naval Service officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire