The Box is a major cultural and heritage attraction and archive, which opened in Plymouth’s city centre in September 2020. Its collection, formally the South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA), is the regional film archive for the South West of England, comprising the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and Television South West (TSW). It also includes a significant number of donated film collections dating back to the early 1890s.
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Women Royal Naval Officers pass out at Dartmouth Britannia Royal Naval College
WRENS pass out - All female passing out parade at Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth
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Overview
In 1973 the first women Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) join Brittannia Royal Naval College followed in 1976 by the Women's Royal Naval Service moving from Greenwich to Dartmouth. The Naval Discipline Act 1977 saw women training alongside men at HMS Britannia and HMS Raleigh for the first time. Patricia Gould, Director of Naval Nursing Services from 1976 to 1980 helped female officers through their training.
The Women’s Royal Naval Service is the women’s branch of the Royal Navy, first formed in 1917 to 1919 for WWI then reinstated for WWII. The college was bombed in 1942, and as women and men trained together during WWII, the only fatality was Petty Officer WREN Ellen Whittall. In 1992 there was full integration of men and women in BRNC and equality of choice for courses. QARNNS and WRNS fully integrated into the Royal Navy in 2000 and 1993. In 2013 the first women served on submarines.
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