That could have been so as back then you couldn't call directly abroad like you can now. The operator would have put you through to the international calls. Because the handset was off the line would have remained open.
Lookout, I know this to have been true back in the 80's, from personal experience, I always had to be connected by the Operator! Now, the way forward, as I see it was that somebody who was still very much alive inside whf at about 5.55am, attempted to make an international call, and the only person inside the farmhouse who might have been interested in one form or another, in making such a call, would have been Sheila Caffell, to her natural mother, Christine Jay...
To me, this makes absolute sense as to why the operator by 6.09am, was able to claim that she had patched the line from whf through to the control room at Chelmsford police station using the '999' emergency system, which ordinarily she was not suppose to do, but which she did...
Now, Lookout, I have heard various rumours that in fact Christine Jay visited Sheila at whf on the night of the tragedy, and that at the material time, Christine Jay was on some sort of a European tour, and that in fact, it was she (Christine Jay) who had phoned Sheila at 5.55am, from somewhere on the continent, such as Belgium. Now, if I recollect correctly, when an international call was being made to you in the UK back in the 80's, that the operator had to speak to you to see if you were prepared to accept an international call, from wherever...
This has got me pondering...
Imagine that Christine Jay was attempting to make an international phone call to her Daughter (Sheila caffell) at lets say 5.55am, but the handset was off its cradle back at whf, what was the operator to do?