Jean Davies

Commandant Dame Jean Lancaster, (née Davies; 11 August 1909 – 29 August 1996) was a senior British naval officer who served as Director of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) from 1961 to 1964.

Early life Jean Davies was born on 11 August 1909 to Elizabeth (Hutton) and Richard Cameron Davies. She was educated at Merchant Taylors' Girls' School, an all-girls selective private school in Great Crosby, Lancashire (now Merseyside). After leaving school, Davies worked as a secretary to the headmaster of Merchant Taylors' Boys' School in Crosby.

Naval career Second World War In December 1939, with the Second World War having broken out, Davies joined the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS).

From 1940 to 1942, Davies was a member of the staff of Flag Officer Liverpool; her tasked included encoding and decoding messages concerning the Royal Navy's fight against the German U-boats.

In 1942, Davies was selected for signals officer training; She then worked at the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches in Liverpool. She was then part of the Churchill's entourage to the Cairo Conference (22–26 November) and the Tehran Conference (28 November – 1 December).

Davies then returned to the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches, where she worked until the end of the war. Davies was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1944 King's Birthday Honours.

Later career After the end of the Second World War, Davies remained in the military but transferred to the Administrative Branch.

On 17 May 1961, she was promoted to commandant (equivalent to commodore) and appointed Honorary Aide-de-Camp to Queen Elizabeth II. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1963 Birthday Honours, and retired from the military in 1964. He died in 1981, predeceasing her. In her final years, Dame Jean Davies Lancaster lived at Warren Park Nursing Home in Blundellsands, Merseyside. She died on 29 August 1996, aged 87.