V Corps. 1916.

[MikeMeech]

Hi All

In Peter Hart's book 'Somme Success', page 112, he has a quote from a Lt. Thomas Hughes of 1 Sqn. RFC. In this he says a "Major Lumsden of V Corps also arrived with a couple of ordinary umbrellas, painted half white, in sections. His idea was that the infantry should indicate their position to an aeroplane by opening and shutting their umbrellas." This was for Contact Patrol purposes, Lt. Hughes thought it was all rather amusing, however, this rather shows his unawareness of the problems facing the infantry in developing adequate equipment for the task. Indeed it could be argued that it was quite a good idea. The umbrella method of showing infantry location on the ground was used in Burma in WW2 (orange coloured). But I have yet to find, in my research on Contact Patrols, any mention of it being tried out in battle or exercise in WW1. Does anyone who has researched V Corps or its units in 1916, during the Somme, come across any mention of this being used?

Many thanks

Mike