Wireless was only one of the four main methods of communication in use at the outbreak of WW2. The full range of communications were as follows :
Wireless
Line
Visual signaling
Messenger
Wireless and line communications were either voice or telegraph. On wireless, voice was called 'R/T' (radio telephony) and telegraph was 'W/T' (wireless telegraphy). Line telegraphy was sometimes called 'L/T'.
Morse code was used for telegraph, lamp and heliograph signaling and in 'continuous wave' (CW) mode on normal HF radios however; this was not just simple Morse code. In addition to the alphabet and numbers, there were codes for some special characters such as "/". There was also a large set of two and three letter brevity codes for all manner of military expressions.
The British Army officially recognised three types of communications traffic:
Conversations
' Unregistered Messages '
' Formal Messages '
More generally; all three types of communication traffic were transmitted in accordance with 'Voice Procedure' or 'Telegraph Procedure'. The first real organised introduction of voice and telegraph procedure took place in 1907. In 1927, as wireless use expanded, the phonetic alphabet was fully introduced. It included call signs, the phonetic alphabet, standard words and phrases and their meanings. Examples of this are the letters ' A ' , ' B ' and ' C ' which phonetically would be ' Ack ', ' Beer ' and ' Charlie '. In addition to this introduction, procedures for establishing and operating communications, including such things as relaying messages, standard code names and low level ciphers for protecting the content of messages were incorporated. The next major change to the phonetic alphabet and procedures did not take place until 1943.
In line with the rules of voice or telegraphy procedures, all messages were automatically repeated back by the recipient to the sender and if incorrect the sender repeated their message prefixed with the proword ' wrong '. This was a critical element in the system of preventing mistakes; associated with it was the practice that orders and messages were always written down by both the sender and receiver in the wireless log. Numbers were spoken without the proword ' figures ' and ' owe' was used instead of ' zero ' to avoid confusion with ' zero lines '. The term ' net ' was not officially used as ' wireless group ' was the official term however; ' net ' became the adopted phrase which probably came about from the ' netting call ' procedure used to establish communications on the ' wireless group '.
Visual signaling used semaphore flags, marker panels, heliographs and signaling lamps. The most common of these was the ' Aldis ' lamp. Although visual signaling was extensively taught pre WW2; its use rapidly died out as the war progressed after being used effectively in the East African campaign in 1940, apart from some very specialised uses however; a specialised form of visual signaling, in the form of marker panels, was used for ground to air communication.
Lastly; there were the Royal Signals despatch riders. They formed part of the Signals Dispatch Service (SDS) that used many modes of transport. Despatch riders were tradesmen and hence paid more than the non-tradesman orderly. Contrary to common belief, a despatch rider was also considered as such if on foot.
The attraction of line was that it offered security, a lesson the British had learnt from WW1. Intercepting of German wireless traffic in 1914 had led to a rapid British victory in West Africa and the compromise of their own plans through telephone intercept by the Germans, most notably at the Somme in 1916, was an influential experience. WW1 telephone interception was possible because British field telephones used a single wire cable with the ground itself as a return and British and German positions were close to each other on the Western Front. This proximity was never a problem in WW2 and single core ('assault') cables had a weight advantage. However, most cable was twin core.
The problem with line was that it took time to lay and was susceptible to battle damage. In WW1 it had been British practice to bury cables 6 feet deep to protect them from German 15-cm howitzer fire. In WW2 most cables were laid on the surface and most damage, about 70%, was from own troops, although when enemy artillery was active it caused many cable breaks. However, as operations became increasingly mobile cable laying could not always keep up so units and formations relied increasingly on wireless. The intercept threat to cables was well recognised and lines were patrolled to detect listening devices and in the forward areas line was treated as an insecure communications medium.
One shining example of the dedication and sence of duty ' linies ' had can be found in the deeds of Cpl. Thomas Waters of 5th Parachute Brigades Signal Section, 6th Airborne Divisional Signals. He was awarded the Military Medal for laying and maintaining the field telephone line under heavy enemy fire accross the Caen Canal Bridge on D-Day.
Units generally had 20-line switchboards, with 40-line ones used at smaller headquarters and 200-line ones at major headquarters.
Line layouts were usually planned to provide redundant circuits. There was no fixed configuration and the basic link layout could be either a 'ring' or a 'star' .
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