war time communications

By thojak
  • Jan 1, 1000

    Bow and Arrow Notes

    Bow and Arrow Notes
    We probably all know that bow and arrows were used for war, but almost stright after they were invented in 5000BC, people discovered that you could put notes or messages on them. Not really very good if they hit you though.
  • Jan 1, 1000

    Smoke Signals

    Smoke Signals
    In ancient China, soldiers stationed at the Great wall of China would alert each other using smoke signals if there was an enemy attack. This would only take a few hours and would let them transmit a message 300kms away. In 150BC a greek historian came up with a much more complex system of smoke signals, which was transferring letters to numbers.
  • Jan 1, 1000

    Sign Language

    Sign Language
    The first sign language used was in 500BC. Sign language is probably older than speech. Sing language is basically any movement created by your body to create a message. However it is more common to use your hands than any other part of your body.
  • Sep 2, 1150

    Pigeon Post

    Pigeon Post
    Pigeons were used as note-carriers for a very long time. They were used widely for carrying notes in the revolution of Europe in 1848.The longest distance ever made by a homing pigeon was 2300 miles. Flights of 1000 miles were normal!
  • Morse Code

    Morse Code
    Morse code was invented around the 1830's. The international morse code was invented as a simpler form of morse code and was used in World War Two and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
  • Flag signals

    Flag signals
    In the 1850's Albert Myer developed a system using left or right movements of a flag. Myer's sytem only involved one flag and was a combination of left and right. Much like the morse code, but left and right not dot and dash. This system was called wig-wagging and was first used in the american civil war. A system involving lots of flags was developed later.
  • Ballon Observation

    Ballon Observation
    In the American civil war they used balloon observation of the enemy lines, that is they put cameras in small hot-air balloons and airships and then saw what the enemy defences were
  • Messengers

    Messengers
    During the first world war, horse messengers (more commonly known as despatch riders) were first used by the British Army. They either drove motorcycles or rode horses. They were then used again in World War 2 by the British again. In world war 2 though, they were all mounted on motorcycles.
  • Radio

    Radio
    The radio replaced flag and torch signals in world war 1. However the radio was eaisily breakable and was not wireless. A better radio was developedafter the korean war.
  • Telegraph

    Telegraph
    A telegraph is really any systemor device that allows a coded transmission of information over a distance. The most known telegraph is the electric telegraph and for more than 100 years was the basic means of transmitting printed information by wire or radio wave.