CHAPTER THREE

WORLD WAR I
1914 - 1918

In 1914 the Canadian Army consisted of only 3000 in the Permanent Force with no reserves and an Active Militia of only 57,500 partly trained militiamen. There was inadequate equipment, staff shortages and few training areas.

At 2300 hours, 4 August 1914, Canada, as part of the British Empire, found itself at war with Germany. The country immediately began to rally behind the "King and Emperor". 

When war broke out, the 10 officers, eight attached officers and 276 men of the Canadian Signal Corps were attached to the Canadian Engineers (Hatbadge right circa 1960)for discipline and administration. They provided telphony, visual signalling and dispatch riders. Interestingly enough, no additional officers were posted to the Canadian Signal Corps during the war and most eventually became signal officers for various headquarters. Often infantry officers assumed the signal officer duties in Canada. Engineer communicators consisted of five telegraph detachments, each established for one officer and 58 other ranks and one wireless detachment of one officer and 18 other ranks.

On 6 August 1914, General Order 142 authorized the formation of First Canadian Divisional Signal Company. On 20 August 1914 the company began forming at Valcartier. Personnel of this unit were a mixture of CSC, RCE and CE. The commanding officer was Major F.A. Lister (infantry) and he had 5 CSC officers and 1 RCE officer. While Major Lister was serving overseas the appointment of Assistant Director for Signalling was carried out by Captain W.F. Hadley, RCE. Subsequent World War I corps and divisional signal companies were Engineer Signalers.

On 16 September 1914 Sir Sam Hughes, Minister of Militia and Defence, ordered the formation of the Canadian Aviation Corps. This first attempt to form a Canadian air force ended in a fiasco. The corps acquired a commander, one other officer and a Burgess-Dunne aeroplane. It deployed to Salisbury Plain as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The aeroplane disintegrated in the damp winter of 1914-15, the commanding officer resigned his commission and the other member transferred to the Royal Flying Corps where he died in an accident on 4 February 1915.

On the outbreak of war in 1914. L.P. Reading, of Ithaca New York, offered his services to the Canadian Army. A veteran of eight years service in the Imperial army including six years service in India under Lord Kitchener, he was enrolled in the Canadian Signal Corps. Signalman Reading's talents were soon recognised and he soon became Sergeant-Major Reading and an instructor at the School of Signalling at Kingston, Ontario. He was the first of a dynasty of Signals sergeant-majors, his son WO1 S.A.E. Reading was Regimental Sergeant-Major (RSM) of the Royal Canadian School of Signals from 1965 to 1969 and Chief Warrant Officer R.T. Conroy (son in law of RSM WO1 S.A.E. Reading) was RSM of the Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics Engineering (as it later became) from 1975 to 1979 .

On 20 September 1914 1st Canadian Division Cyclist Company was formed by the Corp of Guides. Their role was intelligence gathering, topography interpretation, signalling, tactics and usage of the light machine gun (Lewis Gun). Later, traffic control, dispatch riders, guards for prisoners of war, trench guides, listening posts and snipers was added to the role. Eventually a Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion was formed , referred to as the "Gas Pipe Cavalry". The battalion suffered 22% casualties and was referred to as a suicide battalion.

On 3 October 1914 the first contingent of Canadian soldiers, 33 000 officers and men, the largest army that ever crossed the Atlantic at one time, set sail from the Bay of Gaspé and arrived at Plymouth Sound on 14 October 1914. Lieutenant-General Alderson assumed command of the Canadians. Equipment included nine automobiles, 275 bicycles and nine motorcycles. The 1st Canadian Divisional Signal Company had 14 officers and 252 other ranks. On 13 October 1914 the unit arrived at Enford on Salisbury Plain.

On 27 November 1914 organization of the signal company for the 2nd Division was begun at Ottawa. This was a purely Canadian Engineer unit

On 9 February 1915 the 1st Division Signal Company departed England and arrived in St Nazaire, France on 12 February 1915.

On 10 March 1915, the battle of Neuve Chapelle began. Telephone quickly become the major form of signalling at the front. Only a couple of French wireless sets were held by the Canadians.

By 8 April 1915 the Canadian Engineers had 14 officers and 492 men employed on signals duties including:

1st Canadian Division	8 officers	192 other ranks
2nd Canadian Division	6 officers	22 other ranks
Telegraph operators	80 other ranks.

On 10 April 1915 the Signal Troop (one officer, 23 other ranks) of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade formed at Canterbury, England. Its personnel were initially Royal Engineers who were eventually replaced by Canadian Engineers. On 17 June 1915 it joined its formation in France.

By 13 April 1915 the first expeditionary force totaled 57 692 soldiers.

By mid April 1915 1st Division had taken over a sector of the Ypres Salient as part of the British 2nd Army.

On 22 April 1915 1st Division was attacked by the German Army in the opening rounds of the Second Battle of Ypres. At this time poison gas was used against the allies for the first time with the second use, directly against the Canadians, occurring on 24 April 1915. Fighting had died down by 28 April, 1915.

1st Division fought at Festubert 9-31 May 1915.

In 15 May 1915 2nd Canadian Division Signal Company (an all Engineer unit) with 9 officers and 313 men departed Canada for England, arriving on 24 May. On 14 September 1915 it departed for France.

1st Division fought at Givenchy in June 1915.

In the summer of 1915 it was discovered that the Germans were listening to allied telephone conversations. The Germans had, inadvertently, discovered that telephone conversations could be picked up courtesy of the earth (or ground) return of the single wire telephone circuits then in use. Buzzer signals could be detected at distances up to 300 yards and speech at 100 yards with only rudimentary equipment from enemy front line trenches. German listening posts were soon routinely intercepting front line conversations at ranges of up to 600 yards. The Allied discovery that messages were being intercepted, albeit by means unknown, led to the remoting of "earths" or telephone circuit grounding points from 100 yards to, by 1916, 1600 yards behind front lines, use of twisted cable, elaborate codenames and unit call signs, and to the development of new equipment to defeat such interception. Unit identities, names of officers, locations and timings became prohibited subjects for electronic transmission, backed up by court-martial action against offenders. For the Canadians this was their first introduction to "electronic warfare". Interestingly enough, the secret of how the Germans were listening in was finally solved in 1916 by Sergeant Lorne Hicks of the School of Signalling in Barriefield, Ontario. During a morse class Sergeant Instructor Hicks discovered that his wireless equipment was receiving a signal from a low tension buzzer unit some ninety feet away. This led to scientific investigation of this curious phenomenon and corrective action. The fullerphone (in production by 1916 and in use in brigade headquarters by 1917) used a direct current morse signal sent out by this telephone's buzzer and vibrator to effectively eliminate signals which permitted enemy interception. The fullerphone was used until well into World War II.

The Canadian Corps came into being on 13 September 1915. The Corps Signalling Company, with a headquarters and two airline sections, was initially Royal Engineers however conversion to Canadian Engineers commenced in February 1916 and in April Canadian cable and airline sections were added. It departed for France on 14 September 1915 and, by year end was a Canadian Engineers unit.

In December 1915 3rd Canadian Division Signal Company formed in France. There was another unit of the same number which was formed in Canada and, upon being sent overseas, was disbanded in England without seeing active service.

In 1915, the Pigeon Service became a special branch of Signals controlling 20,000 birds. In 1915 during trench warfare the Canadian Corps used 100 pigeons per day. Pigeons had the advantage of being relatively immune to tear gas. By 1916 mobile vehicle mounted lofts were in use.

In 1916 the Lucas lamp, designed for ground use, replaced earlier Aldis and Hucks lamps which had been designed for air to ground use. The Lucas was lighter, more portable in a ground role and had a narrower focused light beam.

By 1916 telephone had become the main communications medium at the front. It had also become evident that the existing division and corps signal companies lacked the resources to construct and maintain the required lines. In forward areas the only way line could be made survivable was by burying it at least six feet deep, a very labor intensive operation. A number of "lines of communications" units were formed in 1916 to help with this line problem. 

By 1916 each Canadian division had 16 motorcycle dispatch riders (DRs). By 1918 this number had grown considerably to offset increasing security restrictions applied to wireless traffic. Signals DRs wore the winged wheel trades badge on the lower left sleeve and the famous blue and white band on either the right or both arms. The band was a highly visible marking which identified their priority over other traffic. Motorcycles were also used by linemen to patrol and maintain lines.

In 1916 a Canadian Corps Wireless Section came into being. The radios were bulky spark gap sets. By 1916, improved radios began to replace earlier spark gap wireless sets. Many of these radios were known by the name of the manufacturer, the "Trench set", for example, referred to the manufacturer rather than to any usage of the equipment. The Trench set was a 50 watt spark gap low frequency radio which used a 50 foot antenna with 3 foot aerial (antenna referred to the horizontal run while aerial was the height above ground). The instructions suggested that a group of radios worked best if they were all "on the same wave length"! The "Wilson set" was another common early radio set which, if used in conjunction with Trench sets could double the range of the net. the Wilson required a 60 yard aerial 12 feet high to achieve 4,000 yard ranges, hardly practical in front line trenches.

In 1916 power buzzers and amplifiers were used for alternative communications. Despite the drawbacks that operators transmitted blind, that signals were easily jammed, that batteries were heavy, difficult to transport and tended to leak and that any set within range, including the enemy's, could receive signals they had become general issue by early 1917. Ranges of up to 3000 yards between stations were achieved.

In January 1916 Military District #3 School of Signalling opened in Barriefield Ontario. The new school was unique in being the only military school in Canada where wireless (radio) was taught. It soon made its name as the centre of excellence among Canadian and Imperial Signals training centres and graduated many hundreds of signalers for service overseas. Major D.E. Mundell was the Commandant, Captain J.C.K. Munsie, Adjutant and Sergeant Instructors L.P. Reading and Harold Reid were key staff members. Within days four courses were in house including a wireless course with 22 students. Wireless transmissions were only permitted between 7 AM and 7 PM in order to avoid interference with commercial instruments. Wireless communications between the school and Parrott Bay and Gananoque were soon a regular part of these courses as the capabilities of the sets were investigated and stretched to their limits. At 1330 hours, 17 September 1916 the following wireless message was sent by Sergeant Reading from a deployed wireless set on exercise in Gananoque to the Standard reporter (later the Kingston Whig Standard) via the Barriefield station, call sign XWD:
 

ARRIVED	IN	GANANOQUE	5:15 PM*	STOPPED
3	HOURS	SIX	MILES	WEST
OF	TOWN	WHERE	MEN	HAD
LUNCH	AND	ENGAGED	IN	SPORTS
BASE	BALL	AND	FOOT	BALL*
ONLY	ONE	MINOR	CASUALTY	ON
WAY	DOWN*	HE	WAS	TAKEN
CARE	OF	BY	FIELD	AMBULANCE
MEN	APPEAR	TO	BE	ENJOYING
THE	TRIP	ADAPTING	THEMSELVES	TO
EXISTING	CONDITIONS*	MANY	OF	CITIZENS
INCLUDING	SENATOR	TAYLOR	(COLONEL	TAYLOR)
MET	COLUMN	SOME	DISTANCE	FROM
TOWN	AND	LEAD	THE	PROCESSION
IN*	CITIZENS	PROVIDED	PIES	AND
CAKES	IN	ABUNDANCE*	MEN	BEHAVED
EXCEPTIONALLY	WELL	LAST	NIGHT

In February 1916 listening sets or amplifiers became available for the allies to eavesdrop on enemy telephone conversations and to monitor allied telephone security and an allied listening organization was set up. This "electronic warfare" organization was originally controlled by a General Headquarters Inspector of Listening Sets but responsibility for this work was delegated to corps headquarters in late 1916. Security became a major Canadian concern. With the 1917 adoption of the Fullerphone at brigade level allied transmissions became more secure. This phone had a morse key which utilized a small direct current for transmission of its morse signals rather than the alternating current used by buzzers and telephones, making it much harder for the enemy to intercept. When used as a voice telephone, however, the Fullerphone had no advantage over other models, an aspect often overlooked by users as late as World War II.

On 3 April 1916 2nd Canadian Division replaced the battered 3rd British Division in the heavily cratered line at St Eloi. Faced with massive German attacks the Commander, Lieutenant General Sir Richard Turner decided, with the approval of the Corps Commander, General Sir Edwin Alderson, to withdraw from St Eloi and to "suck" the Germans into a deliberate killing ground. On 19 April 1916, after three weeks of fighting, the massive Allied artillery barrage was let loose, only to fall on Canadian troops. The Canadian positions had been incorrectly identified. Canada suffered 1,373 casualties to the Germans 483. Many senior British officers involved were cashiered although Canadians, due to political sensitivities, were not. General Alderson was removed from command and replaced by Lieutenant General Sir Julian Byng who was to lead the Canadian Corps through some of its greatest, and successful, battles.

On 14 May 1916 4th Canadian Division Signal Company formed at Shorncliffe, England from Canadian Engineers personnel. On 10 August 1916 it went to France. CE Cable Section was formed on 20 August departing for France on 9 October and CF Cable Section on 7 November at Crowborough, the home of the Engineer Depot in England. CF Cable Section departed for France on 17 January 1917.

In June 1916 the Engineer Depot moved from Ottawa to Valcartier less the signals portion which remained in Ottawa. This Signals Training Depot in Ottawa was limited to visual and line telegraphy only as the four Marconi pack wireless sets available were out of date and of little use. The Signals Training Depot closed in mid summer 1918.

On 2 June 1916 it was the turn of 3rd Canadian Division at Mount Sorrel. Following a massive artillery bombardment and the exploding of four mines under Mount Sorrel the Germans attacked. The PPCLI, despite 400 casualties held on to the left flank while the 4th and 5th Battalions , with almost 90% casualties were obliterated. In the immediate, and unsuccessful, Canadian counterattack Signals "went awry", the artillery was badly coordinated and inadequate and further massive losses occurred. Many officers were "fired" as a result of the debacle and Lieutenant General Sir Julian Byng, the Commander of the Canadian Corps put Major General Arthur Currie in charge of the battle. On 12 June 1916 the Canadians counter-attacked. The preliminary bombardment, equal to the original German assault, was stopped four times to allow the Germans to man their defences and then restarted. Within an hour the lost ground was regained and then held despite ten days of German counter- attacks. There were 8000 Canadian casualties versus 5,675 German casualties. The battle also saw the end of the infamous Ross rifle which Sir Sam Hughes, the Canadian Minister of Militia, had insisted upon. Despite some 80 modifications the Ross simply did not work in mud and, after Mount Sorrel, Canadian soldiers were finally reequipped with the Lee-Enfield. The demise of the Ross also began the demise of Sir Sam Hughes as Minister of Militia and Defence.

From 6-13 June the Battle of Hooge took place.

By 31 August 1916, Canadian casualties were 8,644 dead, 27,212 wounded, and 2,005 missing.

On 16 September 1916, Canadians captured Courcelette taking 1,200 prisoners.

On 8 November 1916, concerned about security, Canada excluded all Hearst papers and the International News Service was refused use of French telegraph cables.

On 13 November 1916, General Sir Sam Hughes resigned as Minister of Militia and Defence.

In December 1916 the British authorized a sub component of the Royal Flying Corps called the Royal Flying Corps, Canada and the establishment of training squadrons in Canada. This, on a smaller scale, was a forerunner to the British Commonwealth Air Training Program of World War II. Pilot training began at Camp Borden in early May 1917 and the country's first military airport opened there on 2 June 1917. To avoid the harsh conditions, winter training took place in Texas as part of a reciprocal agreement whereby American pilots were trained in the program. Canadian flying and ground crew personnel were seconded to the Royal Flying Corps from the Canadian Army and came under British command. However, they remained on the Canadian payroll and consequently did not receive the British flying allowances nor promotions, a source of dissatisfaction.

In 1917 messenger dogs became part of the Pigeon Service. During World War I both dogs and horses were fitted with and wore gas masks or respirators when required so that they could continue to function in a "chemical environment".