ABSTRACT
By 1916 all three armed services were depending heavily upon wireless. In the great offensive of June 1916 it was often the sole means of communication between aircraft, artillery and infantry, mobile wireless stations following the infantry and the R.F.C., keeping divisions in touch. Paratroops were first employed in 1916 when Belgian soldiers, who in civilian life had been marine wireless officers, were asked to volunteer for special duties. After parachute instruction and a period of training by Marconi’s, these men were dropped into enemy territory with small sets manufactured by the Company strapped to their backs, their task being to transmit intelligence from behind the German lines.
