Wireless in the Sahara Desert

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 27, 18 January 1929, Page 25

Wireless in the Sahara Desert

A Story of French Enterprise and Endeavour

THE Sahara, known to the averag person as .a vast desert in the north of Africa, and the home of the Foreign Legion, has now come before us with a new interest. It has claimed its right in the great wireless fraternity. Inhabitants of that vast sea of sand before the advent of wireless have had no means of communication with the outside world except by the painfully slow camel. Now it has changed and wireless is doing its best to alleviate the burden of the desert dweller. Early Radio. ‘THE establishment of the first radio stations in this wilderness date back to the days of the war. Faced with a danger of a rebellion which threatened to disrupt Southern Algiers, the French Ministry for War ordered in 1915 the erection of two radio stations in the Sahara.. Working under very adverse conditions, the engineers of the French Army succeeded in completing the first of these stations in 1916. In the south of Algiers several stations were erected. At the end of hostilities all the stztions in Algerian Sahara were converted into radio telegr raphic stations. Staffed by capable operators, these had per- formed a very useful service .during the war period. From then on little teal progress’ was registered. During these years the only move was to erect a new station and to reorganise two of the existing ones. Other than that, the scheme to link that great waste with a network of stations stood still. This was due to the difficulty of getting anyone to remain at the stations. The existing staff was from the sappers of the Foreign Legion. These operators after a training extending over several] months were sent out to staff these outposts of France. It has been found that this term of instruction was not

long enough to turn out experienced operators for such important posts. To meet this difficulty the military considered that the sending out of more experienced operators and the formulating of arrangements for their periodic relief would do much to improve the position. These measures were put into effect and showed good results. Travellers pay great tribute to the service in spite of all its shortcomings, In addition to a traffic, civil and military, the stations transmit a considerable number of private messages addressed to the families of the colonists or to commercial houses. In this manner the radio network is doing great work to assist the colonisation of: the great Sahara. . Portable Transmitters. N accordance with the nature of the country and the nature of the work the legion have to perform, the question of equipping the motor transport with wireless eyuipment arose. A conference held some 12 months ago decided that in the interests of the colony the motor convoys should be provided with portable transmitters to operate on shortwave. One of the detachments already possessed such a transmitter, and it was proving that equipment of this nature was indeed beneficial. Acting on the advice of the Commission the Governor of the Colony then set about equipping the various mobile detachments with wireless. The business of training the young suppers ;to become efficient radio operators has been seriously considered, and a large post in Algiers has been turned into a wireless school. In addition, four new posts are being equipped with radio-these correspond to the: four companies of the legion, and are for the use of the police. Everything now points to the establishment of an effective service in these desert regions, and the opinion of the French is that these new developments are to make for greater solidarity, both within the colony and between it and Mother France.