Fascinating Use of Film: WW1 “sound ranging”

[raydm6]

I found this very intriguing. Recording is at the bottom.

Special units used a technique called “sound ranging” to try and determine where enemy gunfire was coming from. To do so, technicians set up strings of microphones—actually barrels of oil dug into the ground—a certain distance apart, then used a piece of photographic film to visually record noise intensity.

Listen to the Moment the Guns Fell Silent, Ending World War I

A new exhibit at the Imperial War Museum uses seismic data collected during the war to recreate the moment the Armistice went into effect

www.smithsonianmag.com

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[seany65]

Thanks for posting this raydm6. Hard to imagine exactly what those in the trenches thought at the moment the guns went silent.

 

[Horatio]

Wild.

 

[ddutchison2]

This technology was used in preparation for the Canadian victory at the Battle Of Vimy Ridge in 1917. In addition to locating the enemy guns, they were able to co-ordinate with "ear witnesses" to correctly identify the types of shells when they exploded. as the resulting explosions were also captured on the traces. This allowed allied counter-battery artillery on the day to take out the enemy's most dangerous guns first.

 

[Freakscene]

I wonder what the poor bird you can hear after 11:00 thought. It’s a small passerine, and would have hatched during the conflict, so it probably never knew anything other than an incredibly loud background level of noise.