Photo of Ruby Boye-Jones, credit: Royal Australian Navy

Ruby Boye-Jones was Australia’s only female Coastwatcher during World War Two and was made an honorary Third Officer in the WRANS. The messages and weather reports she relayed to the American Navy at the New Hebrides were vital for numerous naval passages and battles in the South Pacific.

photo of Ruby operating the radio, credit: Royal Australian Navy

Ruby Boye and her husband Skov Boye were living on the island of Vanikoro in the Santa Cruz group of the then British Solomon Islands Protectorate. When World War Two broke out, the Navy installed a powerful AWA tele-radio on Vanikoro for communication with Tulagi, the capital of the Solomon Islands. The operator of this radio decided he wanted to join the forces serving overseas in 1940 and gave Mrs Boye a few training sessions so she could temporarily operate the radio until a replacement came. However, no replacement was sent since the Australian Navy was reluctant to send a man to a remote area during wartime.
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As a radio operator, Mrs Boye’s job was to compile a weather report three times a day using data from instruments on the wall, mainly describing the rainfall, cloud type, height and amount, as well as visibility. She also had to give reports of activity around the Vanikoro coast and take messages using the tele-radio, at first by voice only but later by Morse code as well, which she learned herself.

Photo of Vanikoro, credit: NASA

When Japan entered the war in 1941, they began pushing downwards towards the Solomon Islands. Many residents feared for their safety and fled to Australia. Ruby and Skov Boye, however, elected to stay because they realised the importance of Vanikoro as a strategic point for Coastwatching and wanted to do their bit to help. Skov wished to keep an eye on his tinder company and Ruby wished to continue operating her radio.
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She later had to start sending her reports to an American Radio Station in the New Hebrides after Tulagi was bombed and then occupied by the Japanese. It was to the New Hebrides station that she reported meteorological data during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. She also acted as an emergency relay station between the other Coastwatchers and the US Navy Base and relayed a coded message to the base which she was later told proved vital to allied success.

Photo of Ruby Boye-Jones, credit: Royal Australian Navy​

At one point in 1943 the Japanese got so far south and were constantly flying over Vanikoro that it was decided the radio would be moved away from the main buildings to the other side of the Lawrence river. However, the bridge to get across the river was destroyed soon after in a cyclone. Mrs Boye had to punt across the river four times a day, even though it was full of crocodiles and often pouring with rain, to operate the radio. Mrs Boye also recalled a scary experience where a Japanese man speaking in English came over her radio one day saying: “Japanese Commander say you get out.” Fortunately, the call was intercepted by another Coastwatcher in the area. An American ship called in soon after that and landed at Vanikoro to update the radio. They adjusted it to a new frequency and asked Ruby to only use Morse code from then on.
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It was also decided that because the risk of her being caught by the Japanese was so high, she should be made an honorary member of the WRANS and given a uniform so she wouldn’t be executed as a spy. Commander Phelps of the Royal Australian Navy travelled to Vanikoro and appointed Ruby honorary Third Officer in the WRANS. She later received a uniform by parachute.
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Ruby Boye continued to relay reports of weather and aircraft or ship sightings for the rest of the war.

Photo of Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey, credit: US Navy

Mrs Boye was even visited by the US Commander of the South Pacific, Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey, who was reported to have walked into their home one day and said: “My name’s Halsey. I just want to meet the marvellous Australian woman who runs the radio.” He also admitted to be “playing hooky” by visiting. When Ruby developed shingles, Halsey personally arranged for a patrol plane to pick her up and fly her to Vila in the New Hebrides. Whilst there she said the Americans treated her like royalty and later flew her down to Brisbane for hospital treatment.

Photo of Ruby Boye-Jones with her medals, credit:

She received a number of awards for her work: the British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service— granted by King George— the 1939-1945 Star, the Pacific Star, the War Medal, the Australian Service Medal and the Badge for “Returned from Active Service.”
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Skov Boye died of leukemia in 1947. They had two children, Ken and Don. In 1950 she married Fred Jones and became Ruby Boye-Jones, but he died only 11 years later in 1961. Ruby herself died in 1990 at 99 years old.