199903 – Hickey – Railways at War

Since early civilisation signalling has been an important and noble profession. Generals, when summoning their troops, used signalling or heralds in various ways to concentrate their forces at the appropriate time or retreat to fight another day.

Today’s paper is about another aspect of signalling in warfare.

The ‘Art of War’ by the Chinese General Sun Tzu, states ‘you need to know
your enemy’. Success in war has depended on:
1. Concentrating your forces for maximum advantage
2. The element of surprise
3. Attacking your enemy where he is most vulnerable. This has usually meant disrupting an enemy’s supply lines so that the forces in the field are restricted.

Since the first railway in 1829 these concepts have been used successfully by the earlier forerunners to signalling and communications in their warfare with the track.