Technological adaptation in a global conflict : the British Army and communications beyond the Western Front, 1914-1918

Hall, Brian

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to recent scholarly analysis of the British Army’s military performance and its leadership’s willingness and ability to adapt during the First World War by examining a maligned, though vital, aspect of its command and control system, communications. It offers a comparative assessment of the development and contribution of communications to British operations beyond the Western Front and concludes that the army was, on the whole, remarkably successful at adapting its communications system to suit the demands of fighting a modern, global conflict.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Nov 23, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: Journal of Military History
• Print ISSN: 0899-3718
• Electronic ISSN: 1543-7795
• Publisher: Society for Military History
• Volume: 78
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 37-71
• Publisher URL: http://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/jmhvols/781.html
• Related Public URLs: http://www.smh-hq.org/jmh.html
• Additional Information: Additional Information : The article was awarded the 2015 Moncado Prize by the US Society for Military History; Access Information : There is a five-year gap between articles being published in the Journal of Military History and then being released for public consultation via JSTOR; Funders : Author