Page 112 - The Secret War in the Italian front in WWI (1915-1918)

THE SECRET WAR ON THE ITALIAN FRONT IN WWI (1915 – 1918)

the 2 and 3 Armies quickly increased, until they were
rd
nd
positioned along all the frontline, to connect forward units
with rear commands. The large number of pigeongrams
held at the Engineer Corps Museum in Rome proves the
extensive use of this kind of message transmission, for
instance by frontline units engaged in harsh battles to ask
for various forms of relief, artillery support, or ammunition
supply (picture 6.1).
Reconstructing the feats of the pigeon service during the
conflict would require an entire volume at least. We only
mention the expeditions by Italian aircrafts performed
in 1918 to create links with units ‘resisting’ behind the
frontline, in territories occupied by the Austro-Hungarian
army. For this purpose, pigeons were released toward the
ground by small parachutes (picture 6.2).
Hunting horns, sirens, and similar tools, along with other acoustic
instruments such as trumpets and drums, had been employed for

6.2 Pigeon basket being parachuted military purposes since an unmemorable time, in addition to the
(ISCAG Museum) human voice. Even when amplified by megaphones, the human
voice can reach limited distances, which also partially happened
to many acoustic instruments, particularly during battles when noise is strong and persistent. However,
whistles, sirens and klaxons proved particularly useful for broadcasting orders such as an infantry attack
or alarms concerning for instance a gas bombing inception.

oPTIcal coMMunIcaTIons

Forward units largely adopted the so-called ‘signal telegraphy’ relaying on flags, coloured discs,
lanterns, and other devices, which allow very slow transmission and only fit for short dispatches.
Such telegraphic means could only be used during the day and in good weather conditions, being
also at risk of enemy detection and observation.
Coloured rockets fired for instance by Very pistols found large application, day and night, in all
Armies turning out to be, together with the telephone, the most popular communication media
adopted in WWI, especially during battles, despite deception attempted by enemies which often
fired similar flares . Smoke signals, visible in daytime from a few kilometres and Donath lamps,
1
portable battery-fed spotlights, were also adopted for light air-to-ground signals.
Heliographs and dioptres as that shown in picture 6.3 , offered several advantages including
2
larger range and speed of transmission in comparison with signal telegraphy, as well as easy
transportability of equipment, absence of conducting wires and difficulty of interruption by the
enemy, so that this telegraphy systems found large application during the conflict.
However, along with the above-mentioned advantages, heliographs and dioptres also presented
several drawbacks, since they required stable weather conditions and favourable environments

1 Very pistols fired three-coloured flares (red, green and white) reaching a 100-m height approximately. By combining colours,
one could also convey a considerable number of messages, while in battle it was more convenient to simplify the use of such
ciphers as much as possible.
2 Heliographs use sunlight intercepted by a mirror to transmit flashes of light obtained by covering the mirror with a shutter
or by rotating it, according to a code, often the Morse code. Dioptres performed the same function thanks to artificial sources
such as a lamp.

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