Royal Signals Museum - Displays - The Second World War

The Second World War

The Royal Signals with the British Expeditionary Force

When the Second World War broke out, the Army was ill equipped. Royal Signals units went to France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1939. Some of the Signallers were not fully trained and much of the equipment was obsolescent.

In 1940 the civilian telephone system was used in France and Belgium as messages were less likely to be intercepted this way.

The Western Desert Campaign

The North African campaign was fast moving and Royal Signal units had to lay and retrieve telephone cables and establish wireless links at great speed. Lessons learnt in the desert proved invaluable in the mobile warfare which followed the Normandy landing in June 1944. An Armoured Command Vehicle (ACV) equipped with signalling units and used throughout campaigns in North Africa and Italy can be viewed in the Museum.

The War in the Far East

Over 100,000 Allied Prisoners Of War were held by the Japanese in appalling conditions. Lieutenant Tom Douglas built an illicit receiver while a Prisoner Of War at Burma Railway. It helped keep POW's informed of the events of the War and is now held in the Museum along with various artefacts brought back to Britain by POWs.

The fighting in North West Europe and the importance of the No. 10 set
(Click above to find out about the No 10 set and view a photograph)

As the Allies moved through North West Europe, Royal Signals laid hundreds of miles of telephone and telegraph cables and made use of civilian networks wherever possible. Communications to the United Kingdom were made via a cable laid under the Channel connected to signal stations at Bayeaux and Cherbourg.

The No. 10 set made use of newly developed radar techniques to carry eight channels over any obstacles between land and line links. Numerous radio sets are on display in the Museum including the original No. 10 set.

Royal Signals in Airborne Units

During the Second World War, troops were dropped by parachute or glider for the first time. British Airborne Forces were first used on the Bruneval raid in February 1942. The equipment of the Airborne Signals had to be portable so it could be carried by man in a hand-cart or in a jeep and trailer.

On 6th June 1944 airborne forces landed in France. A line laying party tried to lay a telephone line across the Caen Canal Bridge. All were wounded but Corporal Waters carried one of the wounded to safety then laid the line across the bridge under enemy fire and maintained the line single-handed throughout the day. For this he was awarded the Military Medal. His bravery is remembered in a painting depicting the events of that day and a model of Corporal Waters laying the line across the bridge in on display in the Museum.

Click here for Details of the Willys Jeep

Encryption, Interception and Spy Radio

Both sides used machines to encrypt messages. The Germans used the Enigma machine. The British used the Typex. Intercepted signals were usually in code and had to be deciphered. The resulting intelligence, code named ULTRA, had to be carefully used to ensure that the Germans did not realise their codes had been broken. The breaking of the Enigma code played a major part in the Allied victory.

THE RECEPTION SET CR100

This is a high performance super heterodyne receiver that was used in fixed locations. It could intercept voice and morse code transmissions in the range 30 to 60 MHz. It was made by Marconi. It is typical of the equipment that was used in the war of interception.

Other exhibits include the Mark III suitcase set. Weighing 9lbs it was built in 1944 and was the smallest transceiver conceived during the Second World War. Different types of cipher machines are also on display including the Enigma machine which can now be seen in the interactive Enigma exhibition.

Displays