NAVAL LADIES STATION
From Sentinel Magazine , Vol 6
July-August 1971 pages 34-35.
CFS Coverdale’s commencement of phase-out in mid-June recalls a period of hilarity to some, anguish to others, when it was in naval hands in the early 1950s.
Wrens had been reintroduced to service and a number attached to this (naval) radio station just outside Moncton, N.B. The hub city’s phone book was being updated around the same time. The entry for HMCS Coverdale, instead of reading Naval Radio Station, sang out in large, bold type NAVAL LADIES STATION. The telephone company, although sympathetic to the embarrassment of the Coverdale authorities, couldn't see its way clear to recalling all the phone-books and correcting them somehow.
Perhaps too there was an element of gallantry in the fact that there wasn't a full scale investigation. The answer was too obvious: a smitten male somewhere in the system. After all, the Wrens there were darned good looking gals!
Coverdale, first becoming operational in early 1944, now transfers its functions to the expanded CF station at Gander, Nfld. That's a masculine name if there ever was one!
July 25/04