Signals Equipment

A friend I had he was an operator in the telegraph and it's the same machine as they used at the telegraph office then at that time. You had to carry one of them, you carried a lamp and signal, signal lamp, everything that you needed for that in this, all this was just the machine that you had. They wanted you perfect for this. You wanted to go in the trenches and you wanted to be perfect, you didn't want to mess around anything like that. The whole gang was dependent on you, and do you know, I could tell you maybe a couple of orders, the numbers. A was two dots and three dashes and that's about all. Look, everything is gone because this is way along in 1918 that this started, you see.

Mr. McLeod describes using a telegraph machine and signal lamp in the field, and the need for perfection when signaling. He reflects on the fact that today he only recalls “a couple” letters.

Russell McLeod

Russell McLeod was born on October 9, 1899 in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. His father was a fisherman, and prior to his enlistment, they fished together. Mr. McLeod joined the 219th Battalion in 1916 and trained at Camp Aldershot, Nova Scotia. He was sent overseas that fall, and joined the 25th Battalion in France. He served during Canada's 'Last Hundred Days', seeing action at the Hindenburg Line, Cambrai and Mons. After the armistice, he served as a member of the Occupation Army in Germany.