IN MEMORY OF MORSE

IN MEMORY OF MORSE

By

Maj Gen V.K. Singh

            When we arrived at the School of Signals at Mhow in July 1965 as newly commissioned second lieutenants, the monsoons were in full swing. During the six-month Young Officers Course we were taught the basics of signalling, one of the first lessons being the Morse code. After giving us a brief biographical sketch of Samuel Morse, the inventor of the electric telegraph, the instructor proceeded to acquaint us with the famous code devised by him to send messages. The code consists of dots and dashes that are used in various combinations to represent alphabets and numbers. The smallest error by the operator can change a word, and sometimes the import of the message itself. To underline the significance of this point, he told us the story of the signaller during World War II, who was given an urgent message from a beleaguered post to be sent to the rear, reading “send ammunition boxes”. The operator who received the message could not read two letters in the last word, and using his imagination, wrote down ‘boots’ instead of ‘boxes’. One can imagine the consternation of the troops when they received an airdrop of ammunition boots, instead of the much-needed ammunition. The instructor informed us that the careless operator was shot for this lapse, and warned us of a similar fate if we did not pay attention to the Morse code. 

            One of the in unique features of the Morse code is its universality. It can be used to transmit messages using sound, light, electricity or electro magnetic waves. Even an ordinary torch or a whistle can be used, sometimes with interesting results. There was a young officer who had a reputation as a ladies’ man. One of his conquests was a young lady who lived close to his quarters, and the two lovebirds could often be seen blowing kisses through their windows. Casanova soon realized the immense value of the Morse code and promptly taught its rudiments to his ladylove. When her parents were away she used a whistle or a torch to signal that the way was clear and he would sneak up to her house. This went on for several months before disaster struck. The lady had just sent the letters COME when she spied her father returning – he had forgotten his spectacles. She frantically signalled GO and repeated the message to make sure that it was read. But she sent it so quickly that Casanova read the G (two dashes and a dot) as M (two dashes) and E (one dot). He thought that she was repeating COME and walked up to her house. When he rang the bell the door was opened not by his sweetheart but her father. Casanova almost fainted, but he quickly recovered and asked if he could use the telephone. There was no electricity in his room and the telephone in the building was also not working, he explained

            Another well-known story is about the district collector and the washerwoman. (In some versions, the collector is an admiral, in others a general, and so on). The collector was out on tour, accompanied by his entourage of servants and followers. The washerwoman fell ill, and a message was sent to the district headquarters to send a replacement. The message read “collector’s washer woman sick. Send replacement.” Due to an omission, the message was sent as “collector’s woman sick. Send replacement.” Fortunately, someone noticed the error, and an amendment was promptly sent: “ insert ‘washer’ between collector and woman.”

            During World War I, two divisions of Indian troops were sent to France to assist the British Expeditionary Force. When the first contingent disembarked at Marseilles on 14^th October 1914, almost the entire population of the town was at the quay to receive them. The Indians were pleasantly surprised, especially by the large turnout of the fairer sex. It transpired that an indent had been sent by Morse code several days earlier, listing out the requirement of rations for the Indians. This included the requirement of ‘meat on hoof’ for non-vegetarian soldiers, in the form of several hundred goats. Due to an oversight, the word ’goats’ had been transmitted as ‘girls’.