Buzzers in the Trenches: Morse at the Front, 1914-1918 MORSE AT WAR | MORSE CODE WORKS The First World War's armies marched in with telephones and discovered the telephone's weakness: voice needs a decent line, and the Western Front ate lines for breakfast. Shellfire shredded cables faster than linemen - doing the war's most dangerous repair job - could restore them. So the trenches fell back on Morse. Buzzer telegraph sets and earth-return circuits carried orders through mud-grade wiring. The cleverest tool was the Fullerphone, invented by Major A. C. Fuller: it sent direct-current Morse pulses that survived lines too leaky and damaged for speech, and were far harder for the enemy to overhear. Key points - Signallers laid and repaired lines under fire - a decorated, deadly trade - Buzzer training made Morse the common language of the front-line network - Fullerphones stayed in service into the Second World War - The lesson endures: when conditions degrade, Morse degrades last Try it yourself Translate any text to Morse code and hear it with sound, free: morsecodeworks.com