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"War is hell," as
famously stated in various forms by notable generals. This advertisement by Bell
Telephone System appearing in the May 29, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening
Post magazine bears witness to one aspect of it. Per the piece, "Wire repair
crews are made up of four men. Three stand guard while the other works." While U.S.
Marine Corpsmen and civilian technicians were installing and maintaining telephone
communications in war-torn regions in the European, African, and Pacific Theaters
of Operation, personnel and material shortages back home required learning to live
without some of what were previously routine products and services. Citizens were
expected to patriotically sacrifice their creature comforts for the sake of their
country; most did so. Note that the cover art for this issue happens to be the famous
"Rosie
the Riveter" painting by Norman Rockwell.
Telephone Exchange on Guadalcanal
 Marine communications men built it under
fire. And it has been kept built. The "Guadalcanal Tel & Tel" covers well over
a thousand miles of wire.
That is where some of your telephone material went. It's fighting on other fronts,
too. We're getting along with less here so they can have more over there.
Telephone lines are life-lines and production lines in a war. Thanks for helping
to keep the Long Distance wires open for vital calls to war-busy centers.
"Just getting the wire laid was a tough problem. Keeping it intact in bombings,
shellings and adverse weather is a twenty-four-hour proposition ... Wire repair
crews are made up of four men. Three stand guard while the other works." (From stories
by Sgt. James W. Hurlbut, Marine Corps Combat Correspondent)
War Calls Come First.
Bell Telephone System
Posted December 15, 2018
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