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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0355.PDF
FEBRUARY 8, 1940 Members of the Anglo-French Parliamentary Committee inspecting the bomb racks of the Westland Lysander. room and shown this means of practising flying during bad weather, and bad-weather flying at any time. Ex- ceptional interest was shown in the Haskard Target, which is a large-scale relief model of a landscape as seen from some 6,000 ft. ; on it all the features of army co-operation work can be imitated. Artillery shoots are depicted by tiny flashes of light and puffs of smoke ; tanks and transport columns—actuated by magnets— move along the roads, and the whole affair is true to scale. Apparently the French have nothing compar- able with this for indoor training and practice. In the photographic section aerial pictures were on view of the West Wall, Wilhelmshaven and Cuxhaven, in addition to a display of cameras and darkroom equip- ment. A visit to the parachute section, where the latest parachute equipment was displayed and where a demon- stration of the packing of supply-dropping parachutes and containers was given, completed the business side of the inspection. Refreshments were served in the Officers' Mess, and officers of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, who are now a familiar part of most Royal Air Force stations, were presented to the Deputies. ' "SIGNALS" Use of Telephone, Teleprinter, Wireless, Despatch Rider and Pigeon " is one of the most important sections in any Command of the Royal Air Force, for it is essen- tial that messages should always arrive. To provide a service that never fails is a task which taxes the capacity of the officers responsible as much as any duty in the R.A.F. They are all regulars with flying experience. Messages are sent by telephone, teleprinter, wireless, despatch rider or pigeon. Each of the methods of trans- mission entails a separate organisation. The whole of Great Britain is covered with a network of communications by these various means. The signal lines enable the forces of Fighter Command, charged with the air defence of this country, to come instantaneously into action when danger threatens. The network has been pieced together so skilfully, partly before the war and partly since the outbreak, that communication can never be interrupted at a point of importance. Countless telephone lines link up every R.A.F. station. This is one of the reasons why civilians sometimes experi- ence delay in telephoning. Certain of the R.A.F. telephone lines are " untappable." Even if a spy "plugged in" on one of these secret lines he would hear only a confused humming. Wireless is used in every possible way. Radio telephones enable instruction to be given to fighter pilots in the air and their reports to be received. If you could listen-in you might sometimes hear unconventional conversations between pilots in the air. The teleprinter machines are used for the rapid trans- mission of written messages or reports. They are type- writers which print the messages at the end of a telephone line as the words are typed at the transmitting station. Instantaneous reception of news is as necessary to the R.A.F. as to newspapers, for which the teleprinter was originally invented. Certain communications can only be sent by hand. For these despatch riders are used. A number of men au always on duty with their motor cycles at every R.A.I , station. They scour town and countryside at all hou) t of the day and night on various errands. The other bearer of despatches by hand is the pigeoL., Large numbers of birds have been recruited for service on board the reconnaissance aircraft of Coastal Command. On their long flights over the North Sea and Atlantic these craft often need to send a message ashore. It is not always advisable to use wireless. The pigeon is a reliable if slower substitute. Many of the King's racing pigeons are serving aloft on this duty. The signals officer is responsible for the transmission of messages by all these methods. He has charge also of the cyphers department. He must see that there is no delay in the secret coded messages that are flashed to and fro day and night. Some of these officers describe their job as a "hum- drum " one. Yet they are occasionally startled. One was talking to a squadron which was taking off on patrol a few days ago when he heard a voice say calmly : — " I am about to hit the fence." The signals officer replied: '' Did you say you were about to hit the fence? " The answer came back immediately: "1 did. I have now hit the fence." The young Canadian pilot's engine had "cut" soon after he had taken-off, but quite coolly he had put the aircraft down again, though he was outside the area covered by the aerodrome. He then clambered out by the wrecked fence, and rushing back to the flying field, took off in another aircraft and caught up with his squadron. He wasn't going to miss any of the fun, he said afterwards.
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