An unusual civilian deployment in uniform

Walter Page was a telegraphist working in London for a private company, but attached to the British telecommunications giant Cable and Wireless. Walter started working for the company at 14, first as a messenger. After training in telegraphy, he worked with connections to New York and Paris. In 1943, aged 43 and leaving his young family (including daughter Jeanette) back in North London, he deployed to Algiers and Naples on a government contract to provide mobile communications. Due to it being a wartime deployment, Cable and Wireless devised a uniform and special cap badge for the men. Walter's daughter Jeanette was always led to believe this was to avoid them being shot as spies. Whilst in Naples, he purportedly saw Mount Vesuvius erupt. His deployment with Cable and Wireless lasted until 1946.