230 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



most front-line areas. It is recorded that, on one occasion, a 

 telephone line I kilometer long, near Soissons, had 350 breaks 

 in it, due to shell-fire. On another occasion, a Signal Corps 

 officer had laid down eight separate and independently insulated 

 telephone lines along the same shell-swept route to an artillery 

 outpost, on the principle made famous by Shakespeare's Maria 

 " If one break the other will hold " and so that one at least 

 might be hoped to remain in serviceable condition for a few 

 hours. To his dismay, a tank crossed this area shortly after- 

 wards, caught the wires in its advance, and twisted them into 

 a battered tangle of loose ends. In all such cases, reliance had 

 to be placed on other methods of communication. These were 

 wireless electric methods ; but there were also flash-light signal- 

 ling and flag signalling, where suitable protective cover could 

 be secured. Moreover, carrier pigeons and despatch runners 

 remained as ultimate resources. 



Radio Communication in Front Areas. Radio communica- 

 tion was very extensively used in the War by all the armies. 

 It is not entirely new in war ; because it was used to a limited 

 extent both in the Boer war and in the Russo-Japanese war. 

 Nevertheless, it was a novelty of this war, in the sense that 

 never before has such great reliance been placed upon wireless 

 methods, and never have armies used it on so large a scale. 

 Moreover, in the next war, which every one hopes may be long 

 deferred, the expectation, from past experience and present 

 knowledge, is that the radio apparatus will play almost as 

 important a part in infantry tactics as the rifle. 



The improvements in radio signalling as carried on in our 

 army were of three kinds, which may best be considered sepa- 

 rately ; namely, 



(i). Improvements in the apparatus used for radio- 

 telegraphy, particularly in vacuum tubes. 



(2). Improvements in radiotelephony, particularly as used 

 for airplanes. 



(3). Improvements in radiogoniometry, or direction find- 

 ing. 



