Notebook of Gerard Henderson Cowan - Part 7

Hand drawn picture- see original document
 

6 men cable laying section

No 1 Base operator No 2 carries telephone earth pin and assistto
carry wire and acts as operator at terminal

No 3 linesman No 4 carries coils No 5 N.C.O & helps

linesman at crossing and is generally responsible

for the laying of the cable.

When running out cable No 2 will every now and again

report all correct.

Starting No 1 takes up his position linesman connects up

No 2 & No 4 take cable No 3 linesman arranges laying of the

cable. Any road crossings must be at least 15 feet

above ground. Where it has to be laid across road with

no holes or tubing ab available pieces of wood must

be placed each side to protect it this must be rectified

at first opportunity

Keep as far from metalled roads as possible and

where have to follow roads make cable as inconspicuous

as possible.  [* Hand drawing*] where gates in

a hedge take line down and run it then dig

trench across gate about 6 in deep making it

soft at bottom take line across run and take on

to hedge again ∧ leave enough wire to reestablish. same thing applies T'graph in

hedge. Railway. when come to railway linesman

take note of wire needed to cross line cut cable

and run it under rails on inside of sleepers

make necessary field joint and carry-on

Sandy track, will lay it along sand

Bridge lay it along outside parapet of parapet.

Village run right close to house across front of step

close into steps and peg well.

Curve in road with hedges any curves in road line

must be pegged well.

Buildings with no time to make head crossings so run along

gutter close into kurb and tie frequently to

gratings

lay cable to formation of ground

All this terminal reached No 2 installs telephone

linesman goes back installs cable and puts in

test boxes

XX Tree crossing take up 15 feet above ground then outside of

tree tie take across tie take down peg leave enough

wire to reestablish crossings

I	II	III	IV
Hand drawing	Hand drawing	Hand drawing	Hand drawing
Lock not back far enough to allow extractor to drop due to too heavy [[friscee?]] spring friction dirt tight belt light packing around barrel or loss of force due to worn barrel defective ammunition pull crank handle back onto roller and belt to left let go crank handle if failure [[re?]] lighten prissec by 3 clicks	lock is unable to go fully home after recoil due to damaged round [[?]] (1) separated case front [[?]] adhering II or causing an obstruction preventing cartridge from entering chamber Force mcrank handle to rear open cover, examine round on face of extrusion if damaged clear face of extractor III of not damaged clear face of extractor and clear barrel with cleaning plug if [[re?]] of reoccurences connecting rod must [[?]]	extractor is unable to rise to its highest position if feed block is jammed there is a fault in the feed (1) excessive friction remedy strike crank handle on to check lever with glancing blow of the hand (II) A cartridge is fed up cross wise in long brass strip is bent (III) if (I) fails slightly raise the crank handle pull belt to left front let go crank handle then strike it down onto the check lever (III) if (I) & (II) fail examine but block slide	has been no explosion or if any no recoil

Duties of D.R. Contd

met with, the situation[[?]]

any points which it may

be useful to report to his

Signal Office. Villages, houses

and places where the enemy

are likely to be situated

are to be avoided.

Halts must be made at suitable

points to look over the 

country to be traversed and

progress made by passing

rapidly from one look out

point to another the next

Diary

A D.R. will not carry any

written instructions diaries

or papers such as might

give information to the

messages he is entrusted

with

Duties of D.R. Contd

Civilians)

In the presence of civilians,

whether friendly or otherwise,

no mention should be made

of the direction which

he has come or his destination

Capture)

The D.R. must in event of capture

take such steps as are

possible to prevent his messages

falling into the enemy's hands.

Messages must therefore be

carried where they can be

quickly got at, so as to destroy

them or get rid of them where

they will not be found.

On no account should they

be carried in the cap.

If captured he must never

disclose more than his

name and rank when

questioned

Duties of D.R. Contd

Destination)

At his destination he must

obtain a receipt, give any

information, take over any

messages there may be to go

back, and return without

delay. It is frequently almost

as important for the sender

to know quickly that the 

message has been delivered

as it is for the message to

have been got through

Returning Back)

On arrival at his own Signal

Office he must report arrival

and hand in receipts for

messages he took out and

deliver any messages he

may have brought back.

These latter messages

will be acknowledged by

Duties of D.R. Contd

the Signal Office at first

opportunity. He should

also report any facts

of interest noted on the

road. Ascertain how he stands

on the duty roster for duty

and if necessary what time

he can count on for food, care

of his horse or machine, or

rest as the case may be

Verbal

The bearer of a verbal order

or message should repeat

it to the issuer and

understand its purport.

Before delivering his message

he should carefully

consider what he was told

to report or repeat and then

give his message without

flurry. A person to whom

Duties of D.R. Contd

the order or message is

delivered should commit it

to writting and request

the bearer to sign it if

it is of any importance.

Destroy)

The bearer of a written order

or message will not usually

know its purport. In the 

event of having to destroy

it he should try to

master or memorise its

contents before doing so.

In wet weather it may be

advisable to enclose the

dispatch in two envelopes

Addressee)

A D.R. on approaching the

addressee will call out in

a loud tone "message

for ______". He will then

Duties of D.R. Contd

deliver his message and see

that he obtains a receipt.

It is the duty of all to see

assist him in finding 

the addressee

Commanders)

D.R's bringing messages

from advanced bodies of

troops should carry them

unsealed. Commanders of

troops whom such DR's

may pass on their way to 

the addressee are authorised

to read the message which

the should initial.

In carrying this out it is

highly important that

such DR's are not detained

a moment longer than

can be avoided

Notes

Delays on the Road

If assistance is required

the D.R. will apply to the

nearest O.C. of any unit

If compelled to hand over

his dispatches to someone

to deliver. He will take

note of whom the dispatches

were given over to, time

place, and any send information

to the office of origin and

the Office of destination

 

Qualifications of a DR

A I He must be fit

    II A good horse master

    III Able to ride a bicycle

    IV  Know how to look after his

means of transport

B  I  A good map reader

     II  Have a good memory

     III Good at finding his way by

any possible means

C   I  A good scout

      II Must be well trained in carrying

verbal messages

       III  Good powers of observation

       IV  Good knowledge of Commanding

personal throughout his

area of operations and

where to find them

     V  Good common sense