SHOWCASE 7L. CELL 7-01
German
Field Telephones of WW I
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iTD1 (Armeefernsprecher
a/Art) - Army field telephone, old model of
1905 with phonetic signaling. Cylindrical telephone body
made of aluminum and covered with black leather. Long
push-to-talk key going along the telephone body. Earpiece
with thick felt cushion. To
be continued after the picture set...
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During
WW I the German Imperial Army used two principally different
lines of field telephones for its infantry units. A fairly
heavy Feldfernsprecher
or "Field Telephones" were
in use by signalers in the 2nd and 3rd line positions or at
headquarters while each infantry regiment in the front line
was equipped by several more lightweight Armeefernsprechgerät
or "Army field telephones". The
Army field telephones originated in 1899 when the first
communications units (Telegrafen-Bataillons) of German Imperial Army
were raised. The first model of the Army field telephone
was of
Siemens design of 1894 and was called "Patrouillenapparat".
Next the 1905 model has arrived which was in use all thru WW I despite the newer model of 1913,
Eiserner Armeefernsprecher
or "Iron Army field telephone", has come into production. On
top of push-to-talk key, "Armeefernsprechgerät alter
Art" had two round shaped keys, one at each side of the
telephone body. White key on the right side was Calling
Button (Summerknopf) while black key on the left side
allowed to increase temporarily, the strength of incoming
signals. Length
of the telephone - 275 mm, receiver diameter -
100 mm, weight - 1.4 kg. We
have another sample of Armeefernsprechgerät
alter Art together with its standard leather carry bag in our
Showcase
No. 12.
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