Rank:
Petty Officer Wren
Birth date:
26.07.1904
Birth Place:
England, United Kingdom
Service Number:
1659
Date Joined:
18.09.1939
Date Discharged:
22.09.1945
Death date:
18.07.1991
Place of death:
Auckland, New Zealand
Display No. 6E
TUCKER, Kathleen Alice
Kathleen ‘Kitty’ Tucker joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. She primarily served in the shore establishment HMS Drake in Plymouth, though she also had a short period in HMS Foliot III at the end of the war. Throughout the war she undertook many duties including ledger clerk, writer, telephonist, distribution, mail clerk, and anti-gas instructor. In 1954 she immigrated to New Zealand with her husband Leonard, who was also in the Navy. Leonard’s medals are also on display here.
Awarded medal(s)
Medal Description [Left to Right]:
The Defence Medal
The Defence Medal was awarded to British and Commonwealth forces who served during the Second World War. It was awarded to New Zealand military personnel who served overseas in a non-operational area such as Great Britain, Palestine or Fiji. The ribbon’s flame-coloured orange centre band and green edge bands symbolise enemy attacks on Britain’s green and pleasant land. The narrow black stripes represent the black-outs against enemy air-attacks.
The War Medal 1939-1945
The War Medal 1939-45 was awarded across the British Commonwealth to all full-time members of the Armed Forces in the Second World War for 28 days service between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945, irrespective of where they were serving. The ribbon is the red, white, and blue of the (British) Union Flag. There is a narrow central red stripe with a narrow white stripe on either side. There are broad red stripes at either edge, the two intervening stripes being blue.
A bronze oak leaf on the medal ribbon denotes that the recipient was Mentioned in Despatches. To be Mentioned in Despatches a member of the armed forces had their name mentioned in an official report, written by a superior officer, and sent to a higher command. The report would describe the individual’s gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.