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Love and War in the WRNS
Sheila Mills came from a sheltered middle class upbringing before she joined the WRNS in 1940. The working life of a women’s naval officer in World War II was a hard one. The discipline and trials of living and working as a "Wren" plunged her head first into a life of bed bugs, last minute travel, secrecy, and huge responsibility. But while Sheila met with hard and exciting work during one of the world’s most dangerous conflicts, she also found love, friendship, fun, and the human spirit. Her fascinating encounters, assignments, events, and, of course, the many loves she found and lost, are all seen through her eyes in this lively collection of letters home. A unique insight into the coming of age of a young girl in the 1940s, Sheila’s letters will have readers laughing—and crying—at the extraordinary life of a young girl who traveled all over the world and witnessed key events in the war.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2015
8 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
About the author
Vicky Unwin
5 books5 followersVicky Unwin has had a long career, centred round her African roots, in both book and newspaper publishing. She was Publisher of the African Writers Series and authors such as Chinua Achebe, Enterprise Director of the Telegraph Group, Managing Director of PR Newswire and latterly Media Director for The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development.
After her daughter's death in 2011 she spearheaded a campaign to introduce compulsory drug education in schools to warn of the dangers of ketamine and legal highs. As a result, she has an extensive media profile and contacts. She started writing in response to her daughter's death and then to help overcome her illness.
Her book Love and War in The WRNS (History Press), a collection of her mother's letters home in the Second World War, was published in June 2015 and received favourable reviews, the Evening Standard saying 'Unwin's selection manages to both illuminate the history of the war and draw the reader in to Sheila's personal story...it offers a tantalising glimpse into the rarefied world of the WRNS'.
Her second book, The Boy from Boskovice: a father's secret life, a memoir exploring her father contradictory personality and what makes a good man bad, nature or nature, will be published by Unbound in January 2021.
She gave up full-time work following her daughter's death but continues to contribute to public life. She is Chair of an international literary magazine, Wasafiri; former Judge and current Council Member for the Caine Prize for African Writing; Chairman of a contemporary London Art Gallery, Art First; Trustee of Transform Drug Policy Foundation, former Trustee of the Angelus Foundation, the drug awareness charity; and a Trustee of United World Schools, whose charter is to 'teach the unreached'.
Living in London, she has a website http://www.healthylivingwithcancer.co dedicated to her successful strategies to overcome her illness and to help others in similar situations. She also writes a travel blog, http://www.vickygoestravelling.com and film reviews on www.vickyatthemovies.net. She has accounts on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook and posts frequently.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 16, 2015
A labour of love from author Vicky Unwin as she deciphers her mother’s letters and creates a fascinating insight into life in the WRNS during wartime.
Rescued from bin liners these letters catalogue history as seen from the perspective of a young woman from a sheltered middle class background. The importance of letters during this period can be summed up by the fact that a 3 day disruption in the post causes “depression to fall over all of us”. Writing several letters a day seemed to be part of Shelia’s routine.
We learn a great deal about Shelia’s wardrobe and indeed maintaining that wardrobe seems to be quite a task and involves a lot of support from her mother. She has many admirers and is rather skilled at managing their affections and keeping them all interested. Seen from today’s perspective it is striking that such an attractive and intelligent woman in her mid-twenties is so pre-occupied with finding a husband and worries about being left “on the shelf”.
Shelia’s social whirl is evident and includes dining, dancing, sightseeing, yachting and the races – as she often says – it is all very “gay”. It is impressive that she kept her slim figure as she is always taking about food and confessing that she has eaten “far too much” but at least she did not seem to get “tight” as some of the “ratings”.
One gets quite caught up in Shelia’s hectic life and almost forgets that it is wartime – the casual reference to the “Belsen trails” is quite chilling.
Obviously censorship would have limited her but as time progresses she refers more to the “big picture.” Her work with Admiral Ramsay obviously made a great impression on her as she made her contribution to “Operation Husky” Her social conscience emerges during her time in post-war Germany as she compares “yet another sumptuous British feast” with the horrors going on around them.
The author’s linking pieces are an invaluable part of this chronicle – the historical pieces help us with context and we hear that Shelia in fact has a “prickly” relationship with her mother – something we might not have picked up from her letters. It is a great shame we could not see “granny’s letters” – I would have particularly liked to see the response to Shelia’s news that she is getting married in a registry office and her fiancée did not want “any fuss” – not even a notice in the newspaper!
The book ends with a very interesting piece by author Vicky Unwin about her father Tom – the suitor finally selected by Sheila to be her husband.
This book gives a unique perspective to wartime life in the WRNS and is difficult to put down!
Rescued from bin liners these letters catalogue history as seen from the perspective of a young woman from a sheltered middle class background. The importance of letters during this period can be summed up by the fact that a 3 day disruption in the post causes “depression to fall over all of us”. Writing several letters a day seemed to be part of Shelia’s routine.
We learn a great deal about Shelia’s wardrobe and indeed maintaining that wardrobe seems to be quite a task and involves a lot of support from her mother. She has many admirers and is rather skilled at managing their affections and keeping them all interested. Seen from today’s perspective it is striking that such an attractive and intelligent woman in her mid-twenties is so pre-occupied with finding a husband and worries about being left “on the shelf”.
Shelia’s social whirl is evident and includes dining, dancing, sightseeing, yachting and the races – as she often says – it is all very “gay”. It is impressive that she kept her slim figure as she is always taking about food and confessing that she has eaten “far too much” but at least she did not seem to get “tight” as some of the “ratings”.
One gets quite caught up in Shelia’s hectic life and almost forgets that it is wartime – the casual reference to the “Belsen trails” is quite chilling.
Obviously censorship would have limited her but as time progresses she refers more to the “big picture.” Her work with Admiral Ramsay obviously made a great impression on her as she made her contribution to “Operation Husky” Her social conscience emerges during her time in post-war Germany as she compares “yet another sumptuous British feast” with the horrors going on around them.
The author’s linking pieces are an invaluable part of this chronicle – the historical pieces help us with context and we hear that Shelia in fact has a “prickly” relationship with her mother – something we might not have picked up from her letters. It is a great shame we could not see “granny’s letters” – I would have particularly liked to see the response to Shelia’s news that she is getting married in a registry office and her fiancée did not want “any fuss” – not even a notice in the newspaper!
The book ends with a very interesting piece by author Vicky Unwin about her father Tom – the suitor finally selected by Sheila to be her husband.
This book gives a unique perspective to wartime life in the WRNS and is difficult to put down!
July 21, 2015
Wonderful insight into the times of a normal middle class girl joining up and doing her bit in wartime Britain. Through the book she comes of age and blossoms from a young thing into a highly committed member of the service, working for Admiral Ramsay on Operation Husky. Her journey starts in WRNS training where her letters talk of clothes, her social life and having to mix with girls from other walks of life, sometimes shocked that they get 'tight' at socials events. She finally gets the commission she wants and is posted to Alexandria, describing her work and the war going on around her, her boyfriends and the social life of the times with a lightness and fluency which makes her letters so interesting to read. Her language is straight out of a black and white movie and I can hear my own mother in every line. Fascinating piece of social and military history and difficult to put down.
July 22, 2015
If one wanted further proof that it’s a dreadful shame that people don’t write letters anymore, look no further than LOVE AND WAR IN THE WRNS, by Vicky Unwin which details to a fare-thee-well Sheila Mill’s War (WW2 that is). It is the perspective of a very young girl, 18, and takes the reader on the illuminating journey of an innocent girl enjoying being away from home and having a bit of an adventure with lots of opportunities for amorous encounters to a deeply engaged and thoughtful young woman who considers herself privileged to support the war effort in far flung places. Her perspective, one that we don’t often get, is unique and paints a picture of a time and place that is our history. Vicky Unwin masterfully edits her mother's letters and interlaces "the rest of the story" that Sheila couldn't tell due to the need for secrecy. An excellent and enlightening read.
January 18, 2018
After buying this book I forced myself to finish it but thought it lightweight and nothing like the other war diaries which I have read and enjoyed. The emphasis seems to be on having a good time with no real sense of the person behind the letters or the role she had in the Wrns which is a real shame as it could have been so much more interesting
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews