Gallery 2: The South African and First World Wars. This exhibit contains a Fullerphone Mk.III and the carrier pigeon Rex.
Fullerphone and
Winged Messenger
The Fullerphone was a portable DC line, Morse telegraph. Its transmissions were immune from interception by the enemy, which made the system suitable for forward use in trench warfare. The Fullerphone could only be tapped by using a similar instrument directly connected to the line.
King George V donated 50 racing pigeons from the royal lofts for military operations. One was Rex, a red check cock, who joined to the RCAF Pigeon Service. He was taken on strength in June 1929. Rex hatched April 1925 and died May 1940 at Dartmouth N.S.