AN EPS. TRIAL

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 96, 24 April 1942, Page 7

AN EPS. TRIAL

"TELEPHONES OFF"

Paper plans were .put to the test last night by the communications sec- ; tiom.of the city E.P.S., which is under the control of Mr. W. B.Veitr!h. Communications are obviously of great im-. pqrtance, with- first reliance upon normal means of communication, particularly telephonic, but telephones may go out in a raid, and the section has alternative plans tb maintain contact between posts arid headquarters and between various sections of the organisation by means of runners, cyclists; r car drivers^ etc.' The trial last - night was a; test bfHhe efficiency .of the ; plans to meet the loss of telephone services. Naturally' there were catches, but the main purpose" of the exercise : Was to discover where^ they are and ' how best they; can 'be~put right."r'

The trial'began;'af 7.30, and the first messages came in about a' quarter of an hour later. Four points were used for the reception of messages from outer areas fdr' ~ dispatch to headquarters. Runners; had their" routes marked on the special message covers, which routes were varied as needed bysupervisors. Headquarters kept a map record (flags and "pins) of reports of .damage, repair gangs dispatched, and so on.

v Arrangements were made for checking the bona fides of dispatch carriers and the scheme of reporting was designed to provide for every contingency likely to arise; It enabled dispatch carriers to become familiar with their routes, and the alternatives offering in emergency. . .