Women of the Special Signal Services
20th Century
Women of the Special Signal Services (SSS) receiving training, including Morse code training. Image: Johannesburg Historical Archives
During the Second World War German submarines routinely targeted and sunk Allied ships across the Atlantic Ocean. Once South Africa entered the war, its coastline provided necessary supplies for Allied ships, but it also drew its coast into the war. Not only did German submarines and ships pose a problem, but South Africa feared coastal attacks by the Japanese.
South African radar operators were trained and placed at outposts along the coast, from Saldanha Bay to Durban. Initially a handful of active service men manned these posts. However, they would soon be enlisted to perform active service duty in North Africa. It was then decided that women with a university education would be trained and stationed at the posts.
These young women took an oath of secrecy and after a six-week training course they were assigned to work at one of the stations. By 1945 the South African coast had over 50 radar stations, with more than 17 in the Western
Cape. These included the Cape Point station, Blouberg Hill, Betty’s Bay, Darling and Simonstown.
Once stationed at her post an operator’s shifts were four to five hours long. One operator turned the handle rotating the aerial and listening for sounds while another the plotted the sounds on a map. If any sounds or radar activity were suspicious the information was relayed to the main filter room (nicknamed Freddie). At the height of the war the filter room was set up at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. Once the operators relayed the information, filter room staff would take over. The post operators never knew the results of their observations, as the work of the special signal services was one of absolute secrecy. Over 500 women were part of this special unit. Once the war ended, they were disbanded and much of the SSS correspondence was destroyed. Only nine operators were kept on and flown to North Africa to assist with the expatriation of South African prisoners of war.
The remains of the Elands Bay radar station. Image: Jaline de Villiers
