1900 to 1919 (Pre Royal Signals years)
The real reason for the outbreak of the First World War can be read here... (opens in a new window)
Before we get into the First (also claimed to be the last) Great world war, it should be noted, that many of these Horse-drawn and mounted devices were also used in the first and second Boar-War and also in part in the Crimean wars... The Royal Signals was founded in 1920 from the Royal Engineer Signal Service which had already filled the role of the Signals during WW1 with these vehicles...
Two Horse-power pigeons were not the only form of communication available at the outbreak of WW1. Marconi made a 1500W “Mobile Wireless System” for field use as shown below.
The wagon had two compartments, one for the Wireless equipment and one for the accumulators. These accumulators were either swapped out on location and taken away to be charged at a common central charging station (see the steam Charger picture below) or a mobile Charger came around once a day to each location. During WW1 the British supplied Serbia (then an ally of the UK and France) with the same Marconi Mounted Wireless wagons as can be seen in this old photo...
Batteries for the larger equipment like the 1500w Mobile Wireless wagon above were charged at mobile charging stations using 1904 petrol driven generator mounted on a lighter weight horse drawn wagons
However even during WW1 Steam powered field charging generators like this 1900 model were being used.
Apart from Horses, WW1 also saw the introduction of Motorbike Dispatch Riders, such as this 1917 “Henderson”
Here the Bike is fitted with an Assault Basket to carry pigeons back to the front line trenches, The headlight is acetone and the gas held in the small tank just behind it. Sometimes the assault baskets were carried on the Backs of runners, or extra (to increase the load) baskets on the back of the M/C riders. Here two baskets are on top of each other, and the instructions (delivery note) are in a Canvas envelope under the straps. The R.E. Signals Pigeon take-away was the forerunner of many of today’s pizza and Chinese take-away delivery services. :-)
A motorbike and sidecar fitted with a field wireless set type “M” was one of the first really mobile radio sets. The set was mounted on the rear carrier frame only during actual use.
A frame on the Tank held a small generator that was connected to the bike engine via a drive belt and used to power the radio when the Bike motor was run in neutral. An Accumulator (or today we would say Battery) could be had built into a similar sized wooden box as the Set. This allowed it to be used in “Silent mode” when near to enemy positions, etc.
The two wooden boxes (Set and Battery) as well as a set of wooden Poles to erect a mast and aerial Would be carried on the flat wooden floor of the side car. There was no need for a seat for a passenger, as this was a one man set.
An Enfield with the Army’s British No.1 Set introduced 1917, also known as the Marconi B1. The B1 set (The British version introduced 1917) was a two motor cycle arrangement, the Set having two halves taking up the side car meant that there was a need for a second side car to carry spare accumulators and mast, etc., so effectively making it a two man set. This also solved the problem of guarding during use, then the enemy sent out snatch squads to try to capture lone Mobile wireless operators who gave their positions away by use of the Radio mast and often could not hear the enemy approaching due to being to intensely involved with their set and the headphones.
A Leyland bus with Pigeon Loft body rework by the LGOC - there were three major and several smaller coach works The different bus companies used vehicles of different makes. At outbreak of WW1 the main ones were Tilling's, the LMOC (London Motor Omnibus Company), and the LGOC (London General Omnibus Company) who used Leyland’s, or the more popular Milnes-Daimler. When asked to give up busses for war work, they offered their lesser loved models first.
Ironically the Busses were confiscated and put to war work to transport the troops, and in the cities the busses were replaced with open Army Lorries to transport the civilians...
A second ironic issue was that the Omni Bus as we knew it was invented by the French almost one hundred years before we made this historic export drive and while we were re-importing Busses to France, the French sent their troops to the front in Taxis. However for some task the lorries (no matter how basic) were preferred.
The above is an American “FWD” 30 Cwt Lorry which the UK made under licence from 1916 onwards.
Early “Fitted for Wireless” Tanks.
The new invention Tank was fitted with an also relatively new invention “Wireless” FFW. - The enormous size of the Radio equipment however took up all the internal space, so there was no room for guns or ammunition. Battle Tanks that wanted to keep their firepower, therefore had a hole in the Side which could be opened and used to release Pigeons. A One-Way only communication. When two way instant communication was needed, some had a Popham Dingbat “Telegraph” fitted on the rear to exchange their communications with the Officers who stayed back at a safe distance. The official name of the tanks was HMLS (His Majesty’s Land Ship)
Top right in that picture, the King and Queen Mary send “Wish you were here” telegrams from a mobile Wireless telegraphy office and Ice cream van on the UK south coast to those plucky (but not lucky) boys in France... on the left another view of the Antennae and the Wireless set up inside the tank.
It appears to be a Marconi 2 KW 500c/s (yes very very Long Wave) spark gap rotating alternator driven set. A massive Aerial mast meant hiding behind the few bushes left in wartime France was not an option... Inside the tank (remembering that there was also a huge engine in the middle) the space normally held for gunners and shells was filled with this lot...! The non electric alternatives were a pigeonhole and/or mechanical Stanley Unwin device fitted on the back
When using the mechanical Stanley Unwin, arms flailing excitedly like a windmill, the light colour when seen from the front was supposed to stop the enemy being able to read what the tank sent back to the generals, however the commands to the tank from the rear were easy to read not only by the tank crew but by the Huns who had an excess of excellent optical equipment like telescopes and binoculars.
A surprising fact... Did you know the UK used more “female Tank” drivers in Battle during WW1 than “male Tank” drivers??? (reason at bottom of this page)... Other than staff cars, bikes, and american equipment bought up at the end of the war such as ambulances, all Vehicles used by the Army had solid tyres until 1920 (Below Photos from WW1 and early post war versions of these vehicles) First a Douglas Motorbike with a Mk2 Army’s British No.1 Set also known as the Marconi B1 field set.
Marconi B1 Tx/Rx set on a Motorbike and side car. The operator had to sit on the uncomfortable wooden spares box, and many sat on the wheel arch and deformed it. Later modifications included a better seat. Note the sideways mounted generator over the three chamber tank.
The B1 was a two part back to back set. the M1 was the same but with a set of cables to connect both halves over the carrier on a mule pack.
The set of wooden poles to erect the aerial can be seen under the Battery box. The radio is on the other side as is a coil of wire to make the aerial. On top is a device not often seen or known about today, the Steam Generator.
A small steam driven charging set could recharge the battery when needed. All the signaller needed was water and some wood, and some means of starting the fire and keeping it going.
The Goon Show kept referring to Steam Wireless. Now you know where the strange term came from.
Wireless still had to compete with not only Pigeons, but also flag-waving semaphore, heliography and mechanical semaphore... but by the end of the war however wireless had made its mark and was soon moved onto “modern” lorries with pneumatic tyres... Not for the comfort of the crew but to simply to save wear and tear on the radio equipment and in particular the fragile Valve filaments.
After the war, a WW1 version ambulance body was selected (typically a Ford Model T, or Chevrolet - sent from USA as a kit and assembled by Bedford - or a Morris Commercial) to be fitted with a bedstead. the insulated feed outs in the cab roof above the driver and passenger seat show that this one had the Long wave wireless equipment from the war.
The picture above left (from about 1925) is a loaned set of equipment and expertise which the army (and the newly formed Royal Corps of Signals) provided on loan to the Metropolitan Police, to see if vehicles equipped with Wireless could be used to better fight fast moving motorised crime.
In 1935 the original WW1 sheds and bedsteads were fitted onto Military pattern Morris Commercials and shadow factory made alternative vehicles.The newly formed (from the RFC) RAF, also used these mobile wireless bedsteads... Due to the higher frequencies (Short waves) the feed to the antenna was however here (Above right) a centre fed “T” tap from the middle of the Box-body.
Later the same “Sheds” less their bedsteads were clad with thin metal sheeting and became a standard that was still being used up to the mid 1980s. In the next section we will cover Vehicles Introduced from the mid 1920’s to about 1936 (Many were still in use into the 1950s)
Note “Aircraft Window” and canvas doors as “improvements” on the WW1 open cab. Also the Long wave fold back loop wiring of the Antenna.
Tank facts... the Mark IV tank was to be the most heavily manufactured 1,015 being made during WW1 (Male 420, Female 595) !
The previous Marks were made 50:50 male / female, and in much smaller numbers...
Mk 1: 150 built, divided into 75 male and 75 female machines.
Mk 2: only 50 Built, 25 male, 24 female, one Supply tank experimental (a mixture between a Mk 1 and Mark 2) Mark II, called “HMLS Dragonfly” it was designated a hermaphrodite, and was later renamed Flying Scotsman
Mk 3: 50 built, 25 male, 25 female.
The Mk 2 and 3 tanks were not built from tempered steel, and so found to be effectively unarmoured and unsuitable for front line work, so were used for training, for experiments, etc.
Now the Male referred to tanks with big guns (6 pounder naval guns ) in each sponson (the sponson was the name for the bit on the side that stuck out) and the female was those with two small machine guns in each sponson...
Incidently during WW1 both the males and females had sponsons, later however the Tank Museum at Bovington calls them Sponsons only on the male tanks and on the female tanks “barbettes”
Click here for Vehicles from the 1920 to 1938 timeframe
