Popular Science Monthly 



797 



/!=^ 



in the monotony of trench life. 



In addition to these schools for the train- 

 ing of operators, there was also one for the 

 officers, to which I myself was attached for 

 some time in the capacity of lecturer. The 

 wireless section is now, of course, one of 

 the largest and most important factors in 

 the Royal Engineers, but at that time it 

 was comparatively unimportant, and there 

 was naturally a shortage of officers fully 

 trained in this branch of the work. 



Consequently to meet this deficit it was 

 the custom to bring back signaling officers 

 from their brigades for a short, sharp 

 course of two weeks. This, coupled with 

 their previous knowledge of telegraphy and 

 circuits, was found to be sufficient to make 

 them efficient leaders. 



The operator naturally took longer, being 

 absolutely untrained in such work, and his 

 course usually lasted from three months 

 to four or even more. The measure of 

 his qualifications, however, was high and 

 definitely fixed. He had to be able to send 

 <ind receive at the rate of twenty-five words 

 a minute, English, and twenty words a 

 minute code and foreign languages. He 

 had to be able to assemble and dismantle 

 Marconi 1 3^ K. W. ; also to have a working 

 knowledge of trench sets and a thorough 

 knowledge of army procedure. 



As a matter of fact, he rarely needed to 

 work to the full height of his ability, for, 

 in actual warfare, he found that the nec- 

 essary speed rarely exceeded from fifteen to 

 twenty words a minute, according to the 

 activity of the Boche gunners. 



The wireless, as I have said, is now an 

 essential part in all trench warfare. When 

 the infantry advances to an attack, the 

 operator is always slightly in the rear. 

 Where formerly a detachment of men had 

 to reel out hundreds upon hundreds of yards 

 of cable to establish telephone communica- 



6 MILES 





HEADQUARTtRS 



Wireless stations along a line for six miles, 

 the last one using an umbrella type aerial 



tion between a trench newly taken from the 

 enemy and the first line reserve behind, now 

 the operator simply picks up his box, his 

 ground mat and his aerial single-handed 

 and advances simultaneously with the at- 

 tackers. Arriving at his new position, he 

 props up his aerial, lays his ground mat, 

 and communications are established almost 

 at once. 



It would be hard to overestimate the 

 imp>ortance of his duties. When an enemy 

 trench is being taken, it is he who reports 

 the progress of the encounter — the number 

 of the enemy, the nature of their defence, 

 the amount of the casualties on either side, 

 the condition of the trench when it is 

 finally taken — whether it has been badly 

 damaged by artillery fire, or whether it is 

 practically intact. If a gas attack is com- 



