Themes

Margaret Hodgson

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Working abroad

The Wrens arrived in Singapore after a trip lasting nearly eight weeks. They immediately began working, watch keeping at Kranji Wireless Telegraphy station.

There were personnel from all three armed services based at the station, working to gather and intercept Japanese naval signals. Bletchley Park, the codebreaking establishment in England, received this information.

The Wrens worked in four hour watches in wooden huts. The huts had no windows and very little ventilation, so conditions were extremely hot and humid They also lived in wooden huts on the base.

Hodgson and the others enjoyed a good social life, despite the hard work and difficult conditions. They would go for dinner and attend dances at local hotels, as well as visiting various sights around the island. They also had the opportunity to swim, play tennis or go sailing.

The realities of the conflict seemed far removed to the civilian population of Singapore at this time. Hodgson felt that it almost seemed as if there was no war in progress. She recalled in an interview on 16 July 1943 in the 'Bromley and Kentish Times' that 'the city was largely given up to gaiety, and what was happening in Europe seemed a long distance away.'

Japan declared war on 7 December 1941, which created fears for the safety of the staff at Kranji. The Wrens only served for a short duration in Singapore before their evacuation was organised.

They sailed onboard HMS Devonshire to Colombo in Sri Lanka, arriving in January 1942. Their duties, receiving and decoding messages sent by the Japanese, began once more. They also continued to visit the cinema, attend dances and sail in their free time.

There was a lot of heavy bombing by the Japanese of the city of Colombo, as well as shipping in the harbour. Hodgson watched the Easter Sunday morning raid on 5 April 1942 over Colombo through her bathroom window. The Ceylon RAF and fighter planes of Japan engaged in an air battle over the city.

The Japanese forces continued to keep moving towards Ceylon and the Admiralty were concerned how much further westwards the Japanese would advance. The Admiralty feared the capture of the W/T staff as the Colombo station was the only one in the area. Another evacuation of the Wrens was organised.

Hodgson and the others soon sailed west to Kilindini, Mombasa in Kenya, sailing as Naval Personnel in the Armed Merchant Cruiser 'Alaunia'. Various hotels housed the Chief Wrens before they finally transferred to WRNS quarters in December 1942.

Hodgson again had the chance to engage in a variety of enjoyable social activities, such as parties and hockey matches. She even went big game hunting whilst on leave in Kenya. She found herself surrounded by a herd of African buffalo on one occasion, but luckily the animals were scared away before they spotted her.

The first draft of WRNS to serve overseas returned to Britain in 1943 after a further year of duty in Kilindini. The first party to return consisted of six chief Wrens, who left in February 1943 aboard the Empress of Canada.

A torpedo hit the ship as it sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. A rescue party found the Wrens after they had endured two nights at sea in open boats and took them to Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Hodgson finally sailed home, without incident, with the rest of the draft from their service abroad on 27 June 1943.