An informal look at the embryonic days of
the Royal Navy's COMMUNICATIONS BRANCH.
Few words but several pictures.
Obviously the BUNTINGS BRANCH [named so as having a direct association with the
material 'bunting' which was used to make flags] had been established for over a
hundred years, when Captain Jackson RN., and Marconi started the wireless
telegraphy revolution in 1898, and these pictures show each of the 'sub'
branches doing their own thing. I am writing a page about the RN Warrant
Officer 1860-1949, and one of the articles I have researched, refers to the
Signal Boatswain, a warrant officer, as the 'admirals servant', he being
about the only man of non wardroom rank he consults in his professional role,
specifically in exercising or manoeuvring the ships under his command.
Thus, at the turn of the century, with a new and untried/untested sub branch
about to merge and form the communications branch, it is understandable that the
bunting would emerge as the senior man in the branch, and indeed, the senior
bunting did become the branch 'regulator' and acted as number two to the
communications officer. By the time I left the Service in 1983, the buntings
were struggling to justify their existence because technology had increased the
importance of the radio side of the branch in employment terms, and the radio
senior men had broken the monopoly held by the buntings in other matters like
divisional, mess presidents, warrant officer appointments etc. Whilst never
written down, the first fifty years of the communications branch was almost as
though the buntings were continuing to be executive branch, and the radio side
[the sparkers] a quasi technical little brother who played with, or
competed against the age old visual signalling techniques, artificially
lengthened and strengthened by the many war years where radio silence was the
order of the day. It seems strange to me that my memories of the Ganges
communications branch instructors [chief petty officer and petty officers],
polarised my reactions to authority, erring on the side of caution when dealing
with the V/S [visual signalling] branch and feeling at ease with the more civil
and approachable W/T [wireless telegraphy] branch. In fact, the more I
think about it, the more I realise that most of the officious and grumpy
old-type commissioned and special duty officers were ex-buntings, and for some
inexplicable reasons, had been blighted by bitterness. OK! Now that is off
my chest lets look at a few pictures from those early days.
At the very start of
the W/T branch
First world war
Yeoman of Signals
some original members of the
W/T branch