Item 05: Alfred Bray war memoirs, ca. 1914-1920 - Page 126

[Page 126]

ground, at the same time he would warn Headquarters, by means of his Claxon Horn, that he was dropping a message. The position of the front line is registered on the clock system with Battalion Headquarters representing the centre of the clock face with twelve oclock always pointing towards the north. In addition to the position being identified by the clock face, the distance from Battalion Headquarters is obtained by the following scale & given to the observer as follows A.- 50 yards, B-… 100 yards C 200 yards & each succeeding letter of the alphabet is equal to another hundred yards. It can be seen by this system, providing the troops are properly instructed, that the contact work between the aeroplanes & Front Line troops is to a great extent simplified. This system only applies to troops during or following an attack, where telephones and other means of communication between the Front Line & Headquarters are practically impossible during the daylight. I give hereunder a specimen of message sent to the Observer from the ground, who then delivers the message to Battalion or Brigade Headquarters also a rough diagram
Message – Meaning
X (drawn inside circle) -..- = we are being held up by Machine Guns
F (drawn inside circle) ..-. A (drawn inside circle) .- = 550 yards
3 o'clock = Direction from Headquarters
[a hand drawn sketch is included showing in diagram form the example messages above.]
On receipt of a message so described above the Officer in Charge of Headquarters will know at once that the advance is being held up & will either instruct the Artillery, by telephone, to fire on the spot indicated or else wait for a further message to see if the Infantry take the position in face of the enemy's machine gun. All of the message are sent by means of Morse Code Signalling which is the Dot – Dash System.