One woman’s war: unraveling German secrets

DAN BENOIT

Remembrance Day has special meaning for Marje Lalonde of Iqaluit.
While Canadians remembered the sacrifices that fighting men made in far away lands during conflicts like the Second World War, Lalonde remembers that men weren’t the only ones who served this country in its hour of greatest need — nor was all the service done overseas.

Lalonde was one of more than 13,000 women across Canada who served their country during one of the darkest chapters of the world’s history.

Lalonde served with a corps of women volunteers during the Second World War who replaced soldiers gone overseas in vital military positions in Canada. Some were mechanics. Some made munitions. Some folded parachutes. Lalonde encoded and decoded secret messages.

Lalonde, who is originally from the Gaspé in Quebec, laid a wreath for her father, mother and husband at this year’s Remembrance Day ceremony held by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 168 at the Cadet Hall in Iqaluit.

During the Second World War, Lalonde, whose name then was White, served with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps.

“It started off as a volunteer outfit,” Lalonde said on Monday, sipping a cup of coffee at a table in the hallway of the Frobisher Inn.

But an act of parliament gave it a real mandate, she said.

“In August of 1941, Parliament decided to make the CWAC official. I was 18 in 1941,” she said.

The CWAC’s mandate was to take over the vital military jobs of soldiers who had gone to overseas theatres of operation.

“I was attached to what was then known as the Signal Corps,” she said.

Her job was to encode and decode secret messages, especially captured German codes.

“As fast as I’d decode a message, they’d have another one,” she said.

The work the corps did was vital, she said.

“I know I personally saved lives by breaking all those codes.”

Lalonde, who will be 83 later this month, saw a lot of wartime Canada during her service, serving in Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The women had basic training where they learned the fundamentals of military service, she said.

“They taught us to drive, they taught us to shoot handguns.”

But it wasn’t all work, she said.

“We had a lot of fun back then. I sang a lot in the army shows. I had a beautiful voice. I don’t anymore, but I did then.”

The citizens of Canada were not particularly welcoming of women who served early on, she said.

“Life was totally different. At first, in between the first six months to a year, they thought we were whores for the military. Canada was so uneducated,” she said.

But by early 1942, the whole country seemed to change in its opinion of women in the service.

“We couldn’t go anywhere without them cheering us on and clapping and thanking us. It got a little embarrassing,” she said with a smile.

The military gave the women 90 cents a day to pay for their transportation — buses and trains — but the vast majority of the servicewomen depended on a much older form of transport: two feet and a heartbeat. They banked their $28 a month for a rainy day, or more often, a night out on the town.

“We were permitted out between 7 to 10 in the evening. I washed a lot of pots for coming in a little after 10,” she said, laughing.

A lot of the big name performers of the day made themselves available to entertain those who served, she said.

“I saw most of the major stars. Vera Lynn, Gracie Fields, they donated their time.”

She had a few wartime adventures as well.

“I had an interesting experience in Halifax,” she said.

Lalonde found herself in the middle of a parade, where all the troops were getting ready to travel, she said.

The men were about to board a fleet of ships and head overseas. When it was discovered she was privy to top secret information — information where loose lips literally could sink ships — she was placed in protective custody for the next week, until the ships and the men aboard arrived at their destination.

Conditions in “jail” weren’t as bad as you might think though. In some ways, they were better than those on the outside, she said.

“They gave me ice cream. I hadn’t had ice cream in three years,” she said.

The corps had a strong work ethic and took their task seriously, she said.

“You had to get the job done. No matter what job they gave you.”

By the end of the war, there were more than 13,320 members of all ranks in the CWAC. In all, 21,624 women served in the armed forces during the war. After the war was won, the corps was disbanded. And across the nation, girls joined the victory celebrations.

“There were parties and dances and hoopla in the streets,” she said.