1941-03-17 — Page 23

THE CHINA MAIL, MARCH 17, 1941.

CHINA MAIL

-WINDSOR HOUSE

HITLER'S WEAPONS

Nearly six

months

have passed since Adolf Hitler told a wildly cheer- ing crowd in Berlin's Sportpalast that an inva- sion of the British islands was imminent. "The peo- ple of England," he said with scorn, "are very curious and ask: 'Why in the world don't you come?' And his answer was: "We are coming."

He did his best to come. On the day he spoke these words, an afternoon early last September, the Ger- man air force had just be- gun its series of furious daylight and day-long at- tacks on Britain

at-

tacks in which, according to Germany's own claims, as many as 2,000 'planes were used against a single objective. Those attacks were beaten back. The losses inflicted on the

German air force by the R.A.F. were so heavy that Hitler halted his daylight raids. Not since last. September has he made another attack by day with anything remotely like the numbers he then used.

THE BALKAN SERENADE

T

DARDANELLES.

MATURED INVASION PLAN

Join

ME

MY

FET HEART

SWEE-EFT

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GIN ME!

JOIN ME

Yates

The "Signals" Never Sleep

efficient means of communication. | ried out completely by mechan-

In this age of mechanisation, isation. the employment of pigeons might appear

almost primitive, but winged messengers very reliable means of communi-

A fortnight ago, Hitler, spoke again to the Ger- man people. This time

The Service That Never Sleeps. there was no prediction in That is the title earned by the

Royal Corps of his speech of an early in-

Signals, one of the hardest-working and least vasion of Britain. There publicised units

of the British these was no repetition of his!

Army.

No bitter joke at the expense of the British people: "Keep your shirts on is coming."

feats

of fighting valour cation. adorn the pages of their records; tasks which, nevertheless, instead, mere accomplishment of call he for the same courage and heart

that make heroes There was

of the battle-

was

fleld.

ments they employ in supplying Their weapons are the instru-

the communicating arteries the major fighting body.

are a

Avoid Gunfire Extensive experiments were at one time carried out in the use of pigeons equipped to

The speed of this laying im- pressed me immensely when I accompanied a crew of four men and an officer on a training spin across country.

The "layer" is a mechanical device which looks much like # small agricultural implement with its driver perched carry extended metal seat, with wheel

on brake

small cameras worked by auto-in hand and foot

on an

S

matic time-shutters to secure though steering a plough. photographs of enemy positions. to

There were,

however, obvious

It is mounted on the lorry, and its 1% h.p. engine drives a pulley system of rollers and belts.

No matter where the battle

rages, there must be communica tion; without it would be chaos And so it devolves on the "Signals" to establish and

110 boast, as there last September, that the Luftwaffe can "drop 150,000, 180,000, 300,000,| 400,000 kilograms of bombs and more" on Bri- and defeat, tish cities in a single day whenever it chooses to do SO. There was, instead, value and necessity of such com- the promise of a new sub-munication been shown as in the marine campaign.

Egyptian and Libyan campaigns.

maintain a continuity of contact.

Never before has the great

Faster Signals

How was it done? The answer,

or in short, is: by the synchronisa-

defects in such a system, which

gave way to more modern means. Still, the pigeon remains an active member of the Corps, used

By William Gibbons

in of progress in the methods as it was in

the

are

the last war 115 #

Nevertheless, for what his these in conjunction with the them.

heliographs, and ground strips they wait in pairs and prey on

The two-mile drum of cable is slipped on a spindle, which is actuated

а by belt from the engine directly on to the spindle roller.

It was a simple enough process when the right men were on the job, and I soon saw they were that all right. The layer engine was started up, No. 1 of the crew gave the signal to the driver, the lorry moved off, and as though in a complete motion, the cable like manner.