It’s a Galley, Not a Kitchen, You Landlubber!

This book is a great addition to the full corpus of Canadian wartime naval history. The author describes the puzzlement and shocks of a youngster joining a highly organized (by 1943!) force, and takes us on a very personable, often humorous voyage from basic training to on the job experiences in galleys at large working bases. Hospitalized a couple of times with infections and even a tonsillectomy, she manages to give us, from memory, notes and a scrap book, the story of what it was like for those not at sea. From the latter we have had a shelf-full of tales; this is a unique picture of another life. Much illustrated, both with wartime snap shot photos, posters and ship’s routines, there are also at the back several recent photos of Margaret herself and other Wren events of recent days.