Description:WRENS, male and female officers and an Old English Sheepdog mascot of A16 group pictured in front of a Fairey Fulmar Mark 1 at HMS Fledgling, a Women's Royal Naval Service Training Station at Mill Meece.
In April 1943 the Admiralty decided to release more men for wartime service, by training WRENS as aircraft mechanics, the large camp at Millmeece in Staffordshire was taken from the Ministry of Supply for this purpose, becoming the first purely WRNS technical training camp. The camp opened in 1943 and post-World War Two it became HMS Cabbala which trained servicemen for civilian life. The camp closed in 1948.
Written on the reverse of this photograph are a large number of signatures, which include: W.L. Jackson, Betty Jeffrey, Zoe Hassan, R.B. Young, H.R. Pearce, Judy Halls, S. Pepki, L.G. How, G.P. Donnell, Barbara W. Pellow, J. Hutchins, C.C. Thompson, W. Bunting, 'Geordie' M. Scott, J. Naylor, W. Tomlinson, Mary Elizabeth Comper, Florennce P. Rodgers.
Photographer: J. Templeman, Stoke-on-Trent.