Different Forms Of Communication During World War I

There were many forms of communication used during World War I including animals, technology, and signals. One form of communication during World War I is probably not thought of as much as it should be. During WWI people used to use animals to send messages to one another. An animal that was commonly used for this was pigeons. Pigeons that had nests near military bases would be caught by others at sea and far away. They would tie a message to their feet and then send them back home so that the others at the base could get their messages. Another animal that was used by soldiers while on the field was dogs. The dogs would be trained to carry messages through battle areas in order to pass messages along while a battle was occuring. Dogs were a

Telephones were used to ensure that all soldiers knew and understood the plans of defense and attack throughout the war. They were also commonly used in trenches. There was normally one telephone per unit, connected to one switchboard by wires. One issue with this form of communication is that the telephone lines could easily be broken by the enemy. Another technological form of communication during World War I were wireless radios. These were used to send messages at sea and to planes in the air. This could also be intercepted by the enemy though, which made this form of communication ineffective at times. Lastly, soldiers used signals to notify soldiers while in battle. The heliogram was used to create flares from the sunlight to signal other units on the field. The heliogram was made of a mirror attached to an adjustable wooden tripod. Flags of different colors were also used to signal soldiers when to do something. These were a quick simple way to show soldiers what was going on. Begbie lamps were also used to give signals in morse code. One issue with this, was that the enemy could easily decode morse code and get their message as