Category Archives: Online Resources

British Pathe wireless films from World War One

The entire British Pathe archive of over 85,000 films is now available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/britishpathe

This collection includes some wonderful wireless-related films, see https://www.youtube.com/user/britishpathe/search?query=wireless

Two particular films of interest are:

Arriving For Instructions In Wireless – Telegraphy At Marconi House (1919) which opens with a scene of army wireless operators arriving at Marconi House in London for training

Wireless Installation On Train (1914-1918) which shows a wireless mast being installed on top of a stopped train.

It was the latter of film which was of particular interest – the description below the video stated that the location of events was unknown and that the nationality of the soldiers were not absolutely certain but might be Belgian.

Screenshot of wireless mast being put up from British Pathe film, Wireless Installation On Train (1914-1918).

Screenshot of wireless mast being put up from British Pathe film, Wireless Installation On Train (1914-1918).

An answer came via one of our subscribers and Len Blasiol on the Modern Conflict Archaeology Facebook group that the soldiers were definitely French officers and men:

The helmets look a bit like those of Poilu although it’s difficult to tell with certainty whether they have the metal ridge. However, there are two officers in the scene. One leans out of the railroad car at two points, and the other walks up near the end. Both of them have a quatrefoil on the top of their kepi.

Screenshot of group of soldiers beside the train from British Pathe film, Wireless Installation On Train (1914-1918).

Screenshot of group of soldiers beside the train from British Pathe film, Wireless Installation On Train (1914-1918).

So this rather begs the question: why and how were they using a wireless system on a stopped train and where and when might this film be from?

Please answer in our comments below!

Update: Chris Phillips from the University of Leeds, an expert on the logistical administration, in particular trains, of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918, suggested that this might be an advance headquarters.  For example, Haig had a train advanced headquarters but Chris was unable to comment on how common this might have been in the French Army.

Might anyone be able to provide any further information?

British Army and Royal Engineers rates of pay, 1914-1915

Royal Engineers Cap Badge, as of 1900

Royal Engineers Cap Badge, as of 1900. Image available in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The wonderful blog The Long, Long Trail: The British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918 has posted an article on British Army minimum daily rates of pay in 1914 and 1915, as defined by War Office Instruction 166 (1914). These rates were later revised in December 1915.

Daily rates of pay are divided into Officers and Warrant Officers, NCOs and men and are divided according to Corps.

In both categories – Offices and Warrant Officers, NCOs and men – the Royal Engineers (which then incorporated the Signals Service) were amongst the best paid men in the British Army in 1914 and 1915, particularly at the more junior officer rank levels. Officers in the Royal Engineers shared the same basic minimum daily rate of pay as other corps but were awarded “Engineers Pay” which was an additional payment of between 20-50% of their baseline pay. In addition to their basic pay and additional “Engineers Pay”, Second Lieutenants could be awarded a further 1s 6d if they were certified by their Commanding Officer as to their technical efficiency.

Table of Officers’ daily rates of pay by rank and by corps (excluding the Royal Flying Corps)

These are the minimum daily rates of pay for typical ranks or appointments of all arms. All rates in Shillings (s) and Pence (d).

Cavalry of the Line, Irish Horse, King Edward’s Horse and Yeomanry Royal Horse Artillery Royal Field Artillery and Mountain Artillery Royal Garrison Artillerya Royal Engineersb Infantry Army Service Corpsc Royal Army Medical Corps Army Veterinary Corps
Lieutenant-Colonel 29s 6d 29s 9d 28s 0d 29s 6d
24s 6d
35s 0d
21s 0d
28s 0d 27s 0d
21s 0d
30s 0d 30s 0d
Major 17s 0d 18s 6d 16s 0d 19s 6d
16s 0d
25s 0d
16s 0d
16s 0d 19s 0d
15s 0d
23s 6d 20s 0d
Captain 13s 6d 15s 0d 13s 6d 15s 6d
13s 6d
17s 6d
13s 6d
12s 6d 15s 6d
12s 6d
15s 6d 15s 6d
Lieutenant 9s 6d 10s 6d 9s 6d 10s 6d
9s 6d
12s 6d
9s 6d
8s 6d 11s 6d
8s 6d
24s 0dd
14s 0d
13s 8d
Second Lieutenant 8s 6d 9s 6d 8s 6d 9s 6d
8s 6d
11s 0d
9s 6d
8s 6d
7s 6d 10s 6d
7s 6d
N/A 11s 6d
Quartermaster 11s 6d 11s 6d 10s 6d 10s 6d
10s 6d
12s 6d
10s 6d
10s 0d 10s 6d
10s 6d
10s 6d 30s 0d

a The figure in bold for the Royal Garrison Artillery includes Armament Pay which was payable only if certified by Commanding Officer with regard to the Second Lieutenant’s technical efficiency.

b The figure in bold for the Royal Engineers includes Engineer Pay and in the case of the Second Lieutenant the higher figure in bold and italics also includes a further 1s 6d payable only if certified by Commanding Officer with regard to the Second Lieutenant’s technical efficiency.

c The figure in bold for the Army Service Corps includes Corps Pay

d Temporary Lieutenants in the Royal Army Medical Corps serving under civil contracts receive 24s 0d per day

As can be seen by this table above, the Royal Engineers’ rates of pay (marked in red) were some of the highest across the different corps and different ranks. They were comparable with those of another technical occupation, that of the Royal Flying Corps which has been omitted as their ranks do not necessarily map readily onto those of the other Army corps at this time.

The high rates of daily pay offered to the Royal Engineers and indeed to some other Army corps show the financial value and importance of technical and specialist expertise to the British Army in the early stages of the First World War. Further to this, these figures also offer a fascinating comparison of the importance and value of engineers, especially younger officers with technical expertise, in the British Army at the start of the First World War.

See British Army 1914 rates of pay for the minimum daily rates of pay for the different corps of the British Army in 1914 and 1915.

UPDATE: For an excellent overview of the Royal Engineers between 1914 and 1918, see The Long, Long Trail: The Royal Engineers of 1914-1918.

About the author: Dr Elizabeth Bruton is postdoctoral researcher for “Innovating in Combat”. See her Academia.edu profile for further details.

World War One online resources, February 2014

I came across a few World War One online resources which were worth sharing.  These have all been added to our updated links page too.

The Centenary of the First World War: commemorating the centenary of the Great War of 1914-18
A website provided by The Western Front Association to record items of interest during the course of the Centenary of the Great War 1914-18. The aim of the site is also to include a comprehensive calendar of Great War Centenary events provided not only by the WFA itself but by many others in the UK and internationally.
http://www.firstworldwarcentenary.co.uk/

David Doughty
Australian website about all things World War One with a particular focus on the ANZAC experience.
http://www.ddoughty.com/

the Online Book Page: World War, 1914-1918
A regularly updated list of digitised books on the subject of World War One, sub-divided by subject
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/browse?type=lcsubc&key=World%20War%2C%201914-1918

World War One propaganda posters
Assorted propaganda posters from all participants in World War One
http://www.ww1propaganda.com/

IWM Putting Art on the Map
A collection of First World War artworks from Imperial War Museums has been added to Historypin for you to explore, curate and update with comments, suggestions and stories. The site features the work of artists including John Singer Sargent, Paul Nash and Eric Kennington.
http://www.historypin.com/project/41-putting-art-on-the-map#!photos/gallery/

Podcast from Royal Society lecture: “Sacrifice of a Genius”: Henry Moseley’s role as a Signals Officer in World War One

The podcast from our recent lecture at the Royal Society, “Sacrifice of a Genius”: Henry Moseley’s role as a Signals Officer in World War One, delivered by Elizabeth Bruton on 11 October is now available on the Royal Society website at http://royalsociety.org/events/2013/henry-moseley/

The podcast also incorporates the PowerPoint slides from the lecture.

The Great War Archive and RunCoCo

In 2008, the University of Oxford and Bodleian Library, Oxford digitised World War One-related material from the general public and made it available online in the Great War archive at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa. They have now made the platform for this, RunCoCo, available as a free open source platform at http://projects.oucs.ox.ac.uk/runcoco/

This platform is also used to run Europeana 1914-1918 at http://europeana1914-1918.eu/en which was mentioned at our workshop back in June. Europeana 1914-1918 is running a project to gather World War One material from across Europe with further details being available athttp://pro.europeana.eu/web/europeana-collections-1914-1918.