The Walkie-Talkie (originally called Handy-Talkie), was invented by Donald Hings (Canadian), in 1937. It needed some work so engineers from Motorola got involved and over a couple of years, it became a very effective communications tool.
Our Department of Defense was extremely excited about the advantage it could give us in military conflicts so they modified the unit to make it more durable. It was introduced to Allied forces in the second year of WWII to much fanfare. It was one of the greatest inventions for combat the military has ever known. Even though it wasn’t classified as a weapon, the military looked at it this way as it was so instrumental towards achieving our victory over Germany that Donald Hings received military honors even though he was a civilian.
The first walkie-talkies used in the war were connected to a large backpack. If you can picture it from the movies, the radioman was always within an arm’s length of whoever was in charge of the battle so that individual could grab the handset off the radioman's pack and communicate with other military divisions. If a radioman was killed, another soldier would immediately grab the backpack and take his place. There were few things on the field of battle that everyone kept a close eye on and the Walkie-Talkie was one of them.
All these years later, walkie-talkies are hotter than ever before. What kid, somewhere along the way, hasn't used a walkie-talkie? If a young person has a friend who lives within 3 to 5 miles, it can be a good and fun way to communicate especially if his or her cellphone were confiscated. And in my world of family and friends, there's a not of confiscating going on especially at bed time. :)
By the way, over 70 years later, Motorola, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, is still one of the leading providers of not only walkie-talkies, but also numerous communication devices. They are an amazing success story.
Our Department of Defense was extremely excited about the advantage it could give us in military conflicts so they modified the unit to make it more durable. It was introduced to Allied forces in the second year of WWII to much fanfare. It was one of the greatest inventions for combat the military has ever known. Even though it wasn’t classified as a weapon, the military looked at it this way as it was so instrumental towards achieving our victory over Germany that Donald Hings received military honors even though he was a civilian.
The first walkie-talkies used in the war were connected to a large backpack. If you can picture it from the movies, the radioman was always within an arm’s length of whoever was in charge of the battle so that individual could grab the handset off the radioman's pack and communicate with other military divisions. If a radioman was killed, another soldier would immediately grab the backpack and take his place. There were few things on the field of battle that everyone kept a close eye on and the Walkie-Talkie was one of them.
All these years later, walkie-talkies are hotter than ever before. What kid, somewhere along the way, hasn't used a walkie-talkie? If a young person has a friend who lives within 3 to 5 miles, it can be a good and fun way to communicate especially if his or her cellphone were confiscated. And in my world of family and friends, there's a not of confiscating going on especially at bed time. :)
By the way, over 70 years later, Motorola, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, is still one of the leading providers of not only walkie-talkies, but also numerous communication devices. They are an amazing success story.
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