Phonetic alphabet

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

The 1952 War Office Signals Pam lists the phonetic alphabet that includes S for Sugar, but the 1955 pam lists the NATO standardised phonetic alphabet which includes S for Sierra. Not sure when this version was introduced into Australia, but probably around the same time. It was certainly the phonetic alphabet in use in Australia by the mid-1960s.

Mike

It was obviously an evolving system.

The 1907 (printed 1911) manual lists the partial alphabet in use at the
time, since telephony was still rather new:

"The letters T, A, B, M, S, P and V will be called Toc, Ack,
Beer, Emma, Esses, Pip and Vic respectively, so as to
phonetically distinguish them from similarly sounding letters,
and to ensure uniformity, no other names will be given them
or to any of the other letters of the alphabet."

(Page 220 of "Training Manual - Signalling, 1907 (Reprinted, with
amendments to 1st May 1911) Part III, Chapter XI, Section 216 -
Course of Instruction, Subsection 7, paragraph 3".)

I find that odd, as C or E are not mentioned and do sound like T, B or V, while A doesn't readily sound like any other letter and shouldn't require Ack.