Signallers at Anzac
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- Private William McIntosh, 4th Field Ambulance AIF, with his semaphore signalling flag on Gallipoli. [AWM P01116.066]
During warfare, a commander needs to know not only where his troops are, but also what they are doing and whether they have sufficient supplies. Signallers are responsible for these military communications.
Before 1925, signals were part of the responsibility of the Royal Australian Engineers. In 1914, a syllabus for the grading of signallers was announced. Signallers were required to be proficient in morse signalling on flag, lamp and heliograph, as well as in map reading. Successful candidates were classified as first-class signallers and wore crossed flags with a star on their right forearm; those with slower speeds qualified as second-class signallers and wore the flags without the star. Signallers were also dispatch riders and they usually supplied their own bicycles or motorbikes.
With the outbreak of World War I, signallers had to be found for each new division that was raised as well as within individual battalions. The assembly area for the 1st Division Signal Company was Broadmeadows, Victoria, and the sappers (signallers) who arrived there came from every state. Most of them had been chosen after passing a morse reading test, so there was some basic proficiency in the unit.
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- Two members of the 1st Division Signals AIF laying cable along a trench at Anzac, 1915. [AWM H05440]
As soon as they landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, they established a divisional signal office and laid wires between the divisional headquarters and the advanced brigades. By midnight, the Headquarters’ signallers sat with telephones and message-forms, constantly in touch with the brigades.
The sappers were constantly exposed to danger as they repaired telephone lines or were forced to show themselves as they relayed messages manually. This manual signalling was vital when the army moved too quickly to establish a telephone network. They were also dispatch messengers and had to ride or run with messages throughout the trenches:
It was across this exposed spot that many times I had to run despatches. The ridge on the right, where shrapnel can be seen bursting, was thick with snipers, who had this patch so well set that they rarely missed their mark. The poor chaps seen in the drawing all got caught when trying to get across. I wondered if I was to join them.
[Ellis Silas, ‘Dead Man’s Patch’, Anzac, May, 1915, drawing, Crusading at Anzac, A.D. 1915, London. 1916]
Sources:
- Theo Barker, Signals: A History of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals 1788-1947, Canberra, 1987.
- Ellis Silas, Crusading at Anzac, A.D. 1915, London, 1916.