Yorkshire Regiment heliograph team signalling from New Zealand Hill, Boer War, 1900 (b/w photo)

‘Yorkshires signalling from New Zealand Hill to Rensburg, S.A’, 1900. Stereoscopic photograph, Boer War, 1900. The soldiers, from the Yorkshire Regiment, are shown using a heliograph. This device used a mirror to reflect sunlight to a distant observer. By moving the mirror, flashes of light could be used to send Morse code. It was an ideal tool in the vast open spaces of South Africa as it allowed long distance communication without a fixed infrastructure. From a box of 89 stereoscopic cards entitled, ‘South African War through the Stereoscope Pt 2 Vol 1', published by Underwood and Underwood, and produced by Works and Sun Sculpture Studios, 1900 circa.