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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

A.V. Section, R Section and 31 Section, RE


Hoplophile

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Whilst perusing the war diary of the Signal Company of the Canadian Corps, I ran into three mysterious units - A.V. Section, R. Section and 31 Section, RE.

31 Section seems to be an "air-line section" - a signals unit that strung wire on telephone poles.

A.V. Section and R. Section seem also to be in the land-line business, whether as cable sections or air-line sections.

What makes me particularly curious is the system of naming these elements. Was there a difference between sections that were named and those that were numbered?

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Motor airline sections were numbered and cable sections lettered (either one or two letters). There does not appear to have been an AV Cable Section and I wonder whether the reference is actually to AU Cable Section.

Charles M

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Many thanks for the reply. As I am dealing with a handwritten war diary, "AV" may be "AJ."

If air-line sections were numbered and cable sections lettered, how were wireless sections named? (The War Establishments for 1914 give an establishment for wireless sections. I don't think, however, that any were sent over to the Western Front until well into 1915.)

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There is no AJ Cable Section listed for Nov 1918, but there is AU. The only two wireless sections listed are Nos 7 and 8 Light Motor Set Wireless Sections, which came under GHQ BEF.

Charles M

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Many thanks.

It seems that the air-line sections and cable sections were more numerous than the wireless sections. The former were present on the Western Front from the early days of the BEF, the latter did not start to arrive until November of 1915. Prior to that, wireless communications at echelons above division were handled by the wireless companies.

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