Untitled - Quarter Century Wireless Association

In 1944 Sgt. Given was selected to attend the Army's
radio school in New York at the Brooklyn Army Base where she
was to study commercial marine radio operating procedures'
This 13 week assignment required the mastery of 45
WPM plain text Morse code. The students were also required to
copy blinker CW (Morse code sent by light between ships and
ship-to-shore) at 13 WPM. Additionally, the WACS were
required to service wet cell batteries and other radio equipment
in lifeboats.
The three most diffrcult problems confronting the
WACs in the new schml environment were breaking the habit
of the mind set for the rhythm of the code groups, unlearning
the formerly learned military procedures and attaining the 45
WPM code speed.
Upon graduation, Esther Given was assigned to the
USAHS Chateau Thierry. The *Chatty," as it came to be
known, was a converted transport ship which was equipped to
handle between 480-500 passengers, in addition to some 400
crew of medical complement.
After Esther and her two fellow WACs arrived onboard,
the ship sailed from Charleston, South Carolina to
Avonmouth, England in ear$ 1945. Adding a female twist to
the name "Spark," which was associated with the GI radio
operators, the WACs soon became known as "Sparkettes."
For this first trip, two of the ship's former GI radio
operators remained aboard to act in an advisory capacity to the
WACs. The chief operator's first offrcial statement to the WACs
was that a Spark stmd a four-hour watch regardless of mal de
mer (seasickness) and that he, along with the other GI
operators, were just accompanying the WACs for the ride on
this trip. The WACs were expected to take over fully although
the men would be there in case of dire emergency. Later, it was
discovered that the two men had worked out a schedule between
them so that they could stand a 24 hour watch when the
experiment of women as radio operators failed.
No indoctrination could have been more wicked than
that oflanding on a newjob in entirely foreign surroundings as
WAC operators with two strikes against trem, one of which was
for being female and the other was the added feature of a North
Atlantic storm brewing for the event. Nevertheless, much to the
credit of the WACs, they proved to be equally capable with the
men in these assignments.
However, for this initial trip, the first two days were
misery for the WACs on the "Chatty." One four-hour watch was
an eon of sitting with cans (headphones) on the ears copying
press at 30 WPM for the skipper's morning news with a bucket
clamped tightty between the knees. By the second day
something had to give. Because it could notbe the WAC guinea
pigs, it had to be the bucket.
Among duties of the radio operator aboard ship was to
care for batteries and other emergency distress equipment in the
lifeboats. According to Esther, probably the most tedious job for
the WACs on hospital ships was this duty.
On the *Chatty" two lifeboats contained such
equipment. These lifeboats hung about 30 feet above the deck
and had to be serviced each week. A long extension ladder was
placed against the boom that ran parallel to the swinging
QCWA Journal
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lifeboats. The radio operator climbed to the top of the ladder,
straddted the boom and waited until the lifeboat would swing
near enough to jump in. All this time the operator was holding
a can of distilled water and a hydrometer. The only change in
the descent was that tlte water container and the hydrometer
could be lowered to the deck by means of a rope.
How€ver, the problem of getting back on the ladder
was greater than that of getting into the boat. It didn't help
matters that a full audience of ambulatory patients was on the
deck below, gling advice and yelling "look out," or "wh@ps"
at tense moments.
Speaking of tense moments, Esther shared an
interesting story of a very tense night. One night, homeward
bound ofr the French coast, lit up like a Christmas tree, in
compliance with the Geneva Treaty, carrytng 434 injured
American GIs back home, the "Chatty" was challenged by a
voice on a megaphone, coming out of the darkness,
commanding the vessel to turn out all lights and stand by or be
blown out of the water.
Needless to say, the ship's lights were turned off and
they stood by immediately. Unknowingly, the ship had sailed
into the middle of a Canadian convoy bound for Europe and,
when fully lighted, the ship's lights would have silhouetted the
ships in the convoy to any lurking enemy.
The next morning, when the sun arose, the hospital
ship stood alone in the middle of the Atlantic with no sign of
the hundreds of ships she had unknowingly jeopardized the
night before.
During W.W.[, radar was considered to be a weapon.
However, incidents like this encounter convinced the military to
install radar systems in all hospital ships after the war.
As mentioned above, trafftc handled by a hospital ship
during and immediately following W.W.[ was all in clear text.
It chiefly concerned hydrographic position rq)orts, navigational
reports, and incoming press (for the skipper, of course). No
commercial messages were handled to or from the ship's
personnel or patients aboard.
Life aboard a hospital ship was not dull because the
ship's mission was to care for the sick and injured. The ship
carried the best supply of food afloat. Current movies were
shovrn nightly. Additionally, Red Cross workers and chaplains
prepared constant fun and entertainment for the patients and
ship's complement.
Another good feature of hospital ship life was that it
returned to the states every month or two which meant a
replenishment of rations, new movies and other stateside
luxuries which many ships and personnel stationed overseas
could not enjoy.
Most patients were ambulatory. However, some were
restricted to bed. In those cases, most of the ship's personnel
made it a point to get acquainted, have a gabfest play cards, or
do something with the folks who were bed patients below deck'
One of Esther's favorite stories is as follows: After the
war ended, the ship came into the lagooil at one stop at
Ineweetok. The ship contacted the shore station in blit*er and
after completion of the ship's business, the shore operator
asked, "Are you a WAC?"