Wartime Commonwealth Air Force Signals Structure

[David Dunlop]

The wartime Commonwealth Army Wireless Communications pyramid is fairly well documented with regards to what equipment was used at the various levels from the field on up to Army HQ levels.

Was there a similar structure in the Commonwealth Air Forces during World War Two? It would seem at the individual aircraft level, at the bottom of the wireless pyramid, each aircraft had a wireless set for air to air and air to ground communications. There would also have been variations in this equipment, but most would likely have shared common frequencies.

The Army used Command Vehicles in the field to monitor combat situations, provide direction and relay information back up the pyramid. Did the Air Forces use Command Aircraft for similar purposes during the war, or was this a later, postwar development?

One gets a sense that during the war, aircrew debriefings back at base are the prime information gathering events for the staff higher up the ladder to better understand what went on/happened following any mission, so individual aircrews and pilots were very much on their own, so live, airborne command and assistance was probably non-existent.

The Army used a number of Medium and High Power Wireless Sets as one moved higher up the command structure. Did the Air Forces follow a similar pattern, and if so, what equipment was used at each level?


David