Communication Collection (page 18)

NFS firewomen in dispatch rider training, WW2
London Region NFS firewomen undergoing dispatch rider training. Taught to do everything with a motorbike that could be done, these women would undertake all-terrain training

NFS London Region control room, HQ, WW2
Firemen and firewomen of the NFS (London Region) at the telephone switchboard of the control room at Lambeth HQ

LFB motorcycle dispatch riders in training, WW2
LFB dispatch riders in training under a Brigade instructor at the New Cross speedway track in SE London

Marginalia

Advert for Swan fountain pens 1914
For the Naval men and Admiral to A.B. A necessity for the Paymaster, Doctor and writer. Date: 1914

Girls on the telephone
Fabulous illustration showing a number of teenage girls, all wearing 1950s style checked capri pants and boat neck sweaters while lounging around chatting on the phone. Date: 1950s

London Sea Scouts in semaphore display
London Sea Scouts in a semaphore signalling display at Hyde Park. They are signalling the letter C, meaning Ready. 1947

Leaflet Raid at London Theatre, 1939
A shower of leaflets descending upon the audience at the London Palladium which was staging its first wartime revue, The Little Dog Laughed

The Carrier Dove. The Return. Two women holding a bird with a message Date: ca. 1847

Sea Scouts receiving signals by flag. October 1935

Sea Scouts signal lamp training
Sea Scouts undergoing signal lamp training. circa 1944

Message from King George V after marriage of Princess Mary
Message from King George V to his people after the marriage of his only daughter Princess Mary to Viscount Lascelles, later 6th Earl of Harewood, on 28th February 1922

Metropolitan Police officers inside a car
Three Metropolitan Police officers inside a car. The man in the back is wearing headphones, and is making notes. By this time some cars were fitted with two-way radio transmission equipment

Shepherd bellows into horses ear
Rather Hard of Hearing A young Shepherd fails to get the message across to his trusty steed, who appears to be stone deaf. Date: circa 1910s

French Post Office, Port Said, Egypt Date: circa 1910s

Metropolitan Police communications control box
A man in civilian clothes in a Metropolitan Police communications control box. He is surrounded by communications equipment, is wearing headphones and holding a speaker in his hand. Date: early 1930s

Two Morse Code operators, Metropolitan Police
Two Morse Code operators at work in the Metropolitan Police communications office. Date: circa 1940s

Metropolitan Police vehicle database, London
View of the Metropolitan Police vehicle database at New Scotland Yard, London, with officers working at computer terminals, checking the details of stolen vehicles. (2 of 3) Date: 1974

Two Metropolitan Police telegraph operators at work, New Scotland Yard, London. Date: late 1930s

Metropolitan Police Information Room, London
General view of the Metropolitan Police Information Room at New Scotland Yard, London, with officers busy taking calls. In the foreground are the Inspectors and Sergeants positions. Date: May 1974

Two Metropolitan Police radio operators in the control room. One officer is giving instructions for an announcement to be broadcast over the microphone. Date: mid 1950s

Switchboard operators
Two female operators by a witchboard of Western Electric system, 1927. Date: 1927

Metropolitan Police communications room, London
View of a Metropolitan Police communications room, showing three officers sitting at desks on the right. There are several push button telephones

Metropolitan Police telephone operator
A Metropolitan Police telephone operator at the controls, which link him with Police Boxes in the London area. He is wearing a combination microphone and headphones. Date: circa 1930s

British Chaplain writes for a wounded soldier
A British Chaplain writing home for a wounded British Tommy, seated on a stretcher with injuries to his right leg circa 1916

Courier between Vienna and Stockholm bringing the message of the peace in Altranstadt between, Sweden, Poland and Sachsen implying the king August II lost the crown of Poland, 1706. Date: 1706

Woman listening to crystal set
Woman listening to her crystal set, 1927. Date: 1927

Military Pigeon Loft and attendants - Kazakhstan Date: 1904

Telephone Operators
Men and women working as telephone operators. Trelleborg

Lovers chat using a string telephone
A courting couple chat over the telephone, while cupid listens in. The dapper gentleman attributes his robust health to the taking of Enos fruit salt

Serbia - Card issued by the National Post Office, showing a postman and the varied means of conveying ones letter around the globe - by train, by plane or by sea. Date: 1936

D Annunzios propaganda drop over Vienna, WW1
Aerial view of the centre of Vienna, Austria, with thousands of propaganda leaflets dropped by the Italian poet and nationalist Gabriele d Annunzio from his Ansaldo SVA biplane

Busy communication trench, Mesopotamia, WW1
A busy communication trench in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) during an action, with walking wounded and stretcher cases, during the First World War. Date: circa 1915-1918

Kenya, Africa - General Post Office Nairobi Date: circa 1910s

Demobilization leaflet for soldiers
A printed demobilization leaflet for soldiers, Army Form Z 70, explaining why, although the Armistice has been signed, demobilisation must be a gradual process because of the large numbers involved

War Office letter to Mrs G G Ranstead, from the Director General of Mobilization, concerned the expected demobilisation of men who enlisted in 1914 and 1915. 11 June 1919

Laying transatlantic cable
Laying the Atlantic Cable : paying out the land end of the cable from the stern of the Niagara. Date: 1857

George V Christmas radio broadcast
King George V (1865 - 1936), seated at the microphone in a room at Sandringham from where he broadcast a Christmas message to the British Empire. Date: 1934

Argentina - Madero Port, Pier No. 4 - Buenos Aires
Argentina - Madero Port, Pier No.4 - Buenos Aires Date: circa 1910s

General Post Office, Yangon, Myanmar Date: circa 1910s

Early US Televsion Shop Advertisement - Park Incorporated - First with the finest in television service and test equipment. Meeting arrangements to be made with Tony or Campy! Date: 1950s

Indonesia - Jakarta - The Telephone Exchange. Jakarta was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa (3971527), Jayakarta (15271619), Batavia (16191942), and Djakarta (19421972)

Little girl writes a letter to her granny
A little girl writes a letter to her grandmother, and makes sure to check her grammar before posting it. Date: 1908

Packet for Balloon Post
An actual envelope for a letter sent by balloon post out of Paris during the Siege. The letters were limited to a weight of 4 grams ! Date: 1870

Social / Newspaper 1963
A man reading a newspaper in a Newcastle street Date: 1963

Sixth form lecture theatre, Rosebery County School
6th form lecture theatre at Rosebery County School (probably the one at Epsom, Surrey). Date: 1968

Cycle messengers
Bicycling, New York Streets. Group of bicycle messengers in front of the New York Herald building

The Atlantic Telegraph Expedition: on board the Great Eastern, the crew prepares for the final attempt to grapple the lost telegraph cable which had snapped at the beginning of August

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