A pity this magazine didn't get widely distributed in Canada because in his article, Millar also stated...'In spite of YLs holding identical commercial licenses to their male counterparts they faced a closed door both during and after the war. They were a very small number, this group of pioneer wireless operators.' and he followed this declaration by listing the names of these women, all Canadian, their ships, and theatres of war in which they sailed.

That handful of Canadian women served at sea during the war years, and immediately following, is virtually unknown here in Canada and would perhaps be met by disbelieving stares, shrugs or indifference.

Such was the attitude also shared by the Canadian government back in the war years. When the Norwegian tanker Kaptein Worsoe arrived in an Australian port late in 1944, newspapers 'Down Under' made much of the fact that the 2nd and 3rd wireless operators aboard were two young women from British Columbia. No mention was made of the name of the ship, or port of arrival, only that the girls were serving aboard an allied (not Canadian) vessel.

Inevitably this story was picked up by news services in Canada and a reporter asked a Canadian official if this now meant that women would be allowed to serve aboard Canadian vessels. The response was a horrified, 'Good God no, we have enough trouble on ships now without having women on board!'

When war broke out in 1939 Fern was employed in the steno pool of a large manufacturing firm in Toronto. Bent on doing something to fight against the Germans, Fern's youthful wish to go to sea was reawakened when the Merchant Marine began recruiting wireless operators in Canada. She applied to three wireless schools before being taken seriously and accepted as a student. Working as a steno by day, Fern attended night school for almost 18 months before writing her exams, which she passed among the top of the class. Her 2nd class wireless operator's license and a call to go to sea arrived on the very same day. There was no chance of her forgetting that date - it was a Friday the 13th, June of 1941. Fern had often told her radio school principal that she would like to become a ship's Sparks and when he learned of an opening in Montreal, he immediately phoned to her place of employment and asked if she was still interested? Her answer - a very definite 'Yes'.

That same night Fern was on the train to Montreal, and when she arrived there next morning, authorities were dismayed to discover that F. Blodgett was a woman. There was nothing in regulations to say that a woman could not sail as a wireless operator, but it was pretty obvious the 'powers that be' weren't exactly enamoured of the idea. Fortunately for her the decision was left up to the ship's master. Captain Gerner Sunde of the fruit carrier Mosdale had been waiting days for an operator and didn't want to wait any longer. He spoke with Fern, and since she seemed self assured and sounded competent, he hesitated only a few moments before agreeing to sign her on.

Once clear of the St. Lawrence River on that first trip, Fern became violently seasick. However, being the sole operator, she had no choice but to stick it. Handed a bucket to keep at her feet, she somehow coped. Fern gained her sea legs in time and soon proved to be a capable operator, but she often battled seasickness and only fellow sufferers can truly empathize.

Fresh from radio school, with absolutely no experience in operating, decoding, or any of the necessary copious amounts of paper work, Fern found herself in charge of Mosdale's radio shack. At first, as the only operator, she later became the Chief Operator with an English 2nd and a Norwegian 3rd.

Of the half dozen fruit carriers from Norway to start the crossings in 1940, only Mosdale survived. A fast ship capable of 15 knots she often traveled alone. The crew hated it when they were assigned to so-called fast convoys of 8 knots.