Once in a while even a skilled signalman makes a mistake. One foggy morning a troop ship approached. Signals were exchanged. As the ship disappeared in the fog it was ordered to delay entry because of the intense fog inside the harbor. But the ship was totally fogged in before it could respond. The signalman on duty had no way of knowing whether or not the ships captain had received the message. He reported that a troop ship was on its way into the docks to load troops for the U.S. The Army ordered troops to the docks for loading.

What the signalman did not know was that the ship had indeed received the message and sailed out again on the far side of the channel, unseen because of the fog. When the ship came in again a couple hours later the same signalman was on watch. But this time he misread the Morse code and reported a second ship on its way into harbor. Troop ships were arriving and departing in large numbers. The Army ordered more troops to the docks.

Next thing we knew a small Piper Cub aircraft came flying out of the bay. We found out later that it was searching for that second ship.

Some of the troops on the dock had to be taken care of until the next ship arrived. Our commanding officer received a reprimand and so did the signalman. They were both soon on their way home.