Royal Signals Museum - Displays - The First World War

The First World War
The Great War

The Role of the Royal Engineer Signal Service

In 1912 the Royal Engineer Signal Service was formed and made responsible for the visual, telegraph, telephone, signal despatch and later wireless communications from HQ down to Brigades and for artillery communications down to Batteries. However, throughout most of the Great War the primary means of communications were visual, telegraph and despatch. Most despatch was either by runner or horseback.

The development of the military telephone and wireless

By the outbreak of WWI the army had a small number of wireless sets. These were mainly spark transmitters which operated on long wave and were cumbersome, heavy and unreliable. In 1914 the Royal Flying Corps had begun to use wireless to direct artillery fire. An example of the Marconi transmitter which would fit into an aircraft and send morse signal to be picked up on the ground is held in the Museum. In 1915 trench sets were involved on the western front but were not a great success, partly because the enemy could easily overhear the messages. A trench reconstruction can be seen in the Museum.

10 LINE FIELD SWITHBOARD MARK 236
UC 10 LINE SWITCHBOARD

A considerable amount of cable and line was used in the war. It was constantly being damaged by shell fire and movement of troops. The MARK 236 was self contained with its own instrument, calling generator, night bell and speaking set. two or more could be set up in tandem to increase the number of subscribers. Having given excellent service until 1918 it went on to serve during the Second World War. The UC was a portable field switchboard which had 10 discreet units. This allowed for repair of one unit without disturbing the remaining subscribers.

At the beginning of the war civilian telephones were pressed into front line services. However, they were not designed to operate in damp, muddy conditions. The telephone D Mark III became the standard army field telephone an example of which is displayed in the Museum. It incorporated a buzzer unit and a morse key so it could be used to send and receive morse if the circuit was too noisy for voice transmissions.

The use of visual signalling in warfare

The main types of visual signalling were flags, lamps and lights, and heliograph.

Click here to see details of some of these forms of early signalling.

Although visual signalling was generally unsuitable for trench warfare because the operator had to show himself, the heliograph, flags and lamps, all of which can be seen on display, had an important communications role, particularly where the army was moving too quickly to establish a telephone network. In 1915 signalling discs and shutters were introduced which could be operated from cover and read using a periscope.

Telegraph Troop

Telegraph Troop was formed as a mounted unit and horses were used as draft animals until 1937. A life size model of a horse carrying an early military wireless stands in the Museum. Dogs were trained to carry messages between trenches and horses, mules and dogs were all used in war to lay cables.

Pigeons have been used to carry messages since the Greeks. The British Army had Pigeons bringing back messages from the front line. Stories of heroic pigeons such as Pigeon 2709 and William of Orange can be read about in the Animals in War Section and items such as the parachute used by pigeons and medals awarded to pigeons for outstanding flight, can be seen in this display.

At various periods during the war there were over 20,000 pigeons and 370 pigeoneers in the war zone. Very often pigeons were the sole means of communication.