Communication of World War II
Radio technologies and communication methods
Did new radio technologies and communication methods benefit the war cause for the Allies?
Radio Navigation
One of these new developments in communication was radio air navigation. Radio air navigation was necessary to fix a position with accuracy and used airways that reached almost all of the world. It resulted in new equipment for air navigation and allowed any type of person to be able to navigate. When planes and bombers during the war had a tough time navigating and figuring out when and where to attack, this caused lots of concern and it needed to be changed. New radio-based systems such as the Oboe, Gee-H, and GEE were developed to increase precise plane navigation instead of being blind, and making landing, flying, and bombing a lot easier which aided at the strength of the Allies.
"By World War II, a web of air navigation radio stations and beacons connected by “airways” began to cover the globe. When war broke out, new military equipment revolutionized air navigation. This allowed less experienced users to achieve the same results as highly trained celestial navigators and eventually decreased the need for professional navigators" (Smithsonian).
Radio Teletypewriters
The Radioteletype was invented and evolved around the time of World War II and allowed two or more teleprinters to have a wired connection. People could communicate to multiple people a lot faster. These radioteletypewriters enabled operators from different capitals to communicate with other individuals in a vast amount of different locations. A commander or others under him could send messages back in forth from across the country or to another country. These conversations were called telecons and benefited the Allies greatly and helped them become stronger in the war.
"The need for communication between the homelands and many far-flung theatres of war gave rise to the need for improved long-range overseas communication systems. A system of radioteletypewriter relaying was devised, by which a radioteletypewriter operator in Washington, London, or other capitals could transmit directly by teleprinter to the commander in any theatre of war" (Britannica).
Enigma Machine/Code Breaking
"The British developed and progressed electronic computers which were primarily used for breaking the “Enigma” codes, which were Nazi secret codes. These codes for radio messages were indecipherable to the Allies. However, the meticulous work of code breakers based at Britain’s Bletchley Park cracked the secrets of German wartime communication, and played a crucial role in the final defeat of Germany" (Wikipedia).
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