Five Brothers and a War

“V” for Victory

There are at least three things that are ubiquitous to British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill—his cigars, his hats and his “V for Victory” sign flashed with his right hand. The “V” became a rallying symbol for the allies, and a symbol of hope for millions of people who were suffering at the hands of the Axis Powers. In a world without digital devices that control nearly all parts of modern life, the telegram was the normal method of long-distance communication. Telegrams were sent through the use of Morse Code, a precursor of the digital use of zeroes and ones, but one where letters were comprised of “dots” (or “dits”) and “dashes” (or “dahs”).

history

Morse Code was transmitted with a simple machine that sent signals where a dash was the length of three dots. Ships at sea would communicate with each other by use of lights that could be turned on and off according to the Morse Code pattern.

Five Brothers and a War

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