Chapter 12
WW2
The Build-up to D-Day supplement.
More memories.
Communications?
During the build-up to the invasion, I
don’t think we knew exactly what was going on, but we were excited by all the
military vehicles, and the many convoys of Bren-Gun-Carriers, DUKWs*, armoured
cars, trucks (often towing guns), dispatch-riders, etc. I now remember that there were several
trucks which had reels of wire-cables belonging to signals regiments, which
drove about throwing out cables onto hedges, and fences. These would go on for miles. All along the
Pilgrims Way from Otford village to Wrotham, for example. I can’t remember how they ran the cable
across at road junctions, probably on high poles (Hop-poles?). These were (I assume) telephone wires for
communication. There were no mobile phones, and few land phones in those days, and radio
communication was in its infancy.
They seemed to have problems at times
getting this to work, as you can imagine.
I suppose someone must have gathered up
all these wires once they were redundant, as the troops moved away as part of
the invasion forces. They may have
reeled in, and re-used the wires, in other spheres, I don’t know if that was
so.
I raise this, what may seem to be of little importance as
feature of the war, but it does draw added attention to how very different (and
limited) communications compare with today.
T.P. 04.07.2010.
* Amphibious
landing-craft.
In the Summer of 2005 Kent County Council's Archives Unit's Bob Illingworth, based at Maidstone, became interested in my WW2 Childhood Memoirs account. He carried out some further research and unearthed handwritten Air Raid Wardens Incident Reports, which had been kept throughout W.W. 2; from these reports he was able to indentify, and relate to, several of the incidents recorded in my account, which I found to be fascinating. It also establishes that, whilst the details of the incidents I recalled in my memoirs may not always be 100% accurate, I didn't make the whole thing up!
© Ted Prangnell
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