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“Div Sigs” — Divisional Signals — was a specialist unit of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, whose members were seconded to the various Brigades, Battalions etc to maintain communications. There were two ways to communicate: by radio or by phone (i.e. landlines — likely to be cut at any time by bombardment or military traffic).

Radio comms in 1940 were not as we know them now. Radio range was very limited and much of the traffic was by morse code. At Sidi Resegh Cliff’s set required a truck and a two-man team to operate, and it made a good target. When, by contrast, Stephen phoned Cliff on his brand new “brick” Motorola while we were driving through the back roads of the Manawatu in the 1990s, his grandfather became very emotional.

Because of his role, Signalman Baugh (as he remained throughout the war) probably had a slightly better idea of what was going on than most of the Other Ranks — but Sidi Resegh, part of Operation Crusader in Libya, and the first engagement he describes, was not just lethal but confusing at every level. ~ Ian