Former Wren Heather recognised for WW2 service on 100th birthday

A wartime sailor finally received the medals she was owed for her service when the Royal Navy dropped in on her 100th birthday.

Heather Johnson from Stockport spent four years as a Wren – the Women’s Royal Naval Service – supporting the national war effort, reaching the rank of petty officer and being recognised for her good conduct.

But she never received her final set of medals recognising her time in uniform: the 1939-1945 War Medal and the Defence Medal.

Thanks to the efforts of her family and sailors at HMS Eaglet in Liverpool – home of the Royal Navy in northern England – that was put right as Mrs Johnson celebrated her centenary surrounded by friends and family.

To add to the occasion, Big Heritage, who manage the Western Approaches Museum in Liverpool, provided a WW2 vintage Packard Salon staff car – as used at the time by leaders including Field Marshal Montgomery and Admiral Sir Max Horton, who directed the fight against the U-boat from the Mersey – to transport Mrs Johnson from her home to the venue in Stockport.

Mrs Johnson, who mostly served in Portsmouth between 1942 and 1946, was one of more than 640,000 women who volunteered to serve in the Armed Forces during the conflict.

The 20-year-old Heather Francke, as she was then, picked the Navy ahead of the Army and RAF, she told her family, because she liked the look of the uniform.
 
She served as a typist/writer – clerk/secretary/assistant – received glowing reports from her superiors when it came to both her character and ability, and was singled out for a good conduct stripe to add to her uniform in the final months of her naval career.
 
As a keen sports woman, she saw success on the tennis court winning several tournaments representing the Naval Base’s women’s team, and joined in amateur dramatics, performing in wartime pantomimes.
 
Lieutenant Commander Ellen Shephard and Warrant Officer Rob Lockyer, from the staff of the Naval Regional Command, made the short journey to Greater Manchester to formally present Mrs Johnson with her awards.
 
“It is really important veterans like Heather receive the recognition they deserve.  It was an enormous privilege to present Heather with her medals on such a special day,” said Lieutenant Commander Shephard.
 
When asked why she had not applied for her medals previously, Mrs Johnson modestly said “I didn’t think I did much to deserve them, I was just doing my job.”