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MODERN DIGITAL
AND ANALOG
COMMUNICATION
SYSTEMS
viii CONTENTS

3 ANALYSIS AND TRANSMISSION

OF SIGNALS 91
3.1 APERIODIC SIGNAL REPRESENTATION BY FOURIER INTEGRAL 91
3.2 TRANSFORMS OF SOME USEFUL FUNCTIONS 99
3.3 SOME PROPERTIES OF THE FOURIER TRANSFORM 106
3.4 SIGNAL TRANSMISSION THROUGH A LINEAR SYSTEM 123
3.5 IDEAL VERSUS PRACTICAL FILTERS 129
3.6 SIGNAL DISTORTION OVER A COMMUNICATION
CHANNEL 133
3.7 SIGNAL ENERGY AND ENERGY SPECTRAL DENSITY 139
3.8 SIGNAL POWER AND POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY 148
3.9 NUMERICAL COMPUTATION OF FOURIER TRANSFORM:
THE DFT 155
3.10 MATLAB EXERCISES 160

4 AMPLITUDE MODULATIONS
AND DEMODULATIONS 178
4.1 BASEBAND VERSUS CARRIER COMMUNICATIONS 178
4.2 DOUBLE-SIDEBAND AMPLITUDE MODULATION 180
4.3 AMPLITUDE MODULATION (AM) 190
4.4 BANDWIDTH-EFFICIENT AMPLITUDE MODULATIONS 197
4.5 AMPLITUDE MODULATIONS: VESTIGIAL SIDEBAND (VSB) 206
4.6 LOCAL CARRIER SYNCHRONIZATION 210
4.7 FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (FDM) 211
4.8 PHASE-LOCKED LOOP AND APPLICATIONS 212
4.9 NTSC TELEVISION BROADCASTING SYSTEM 220
4.10 MATLAB EXERCISES 230

5 ANGLE MODULATION
AND DEMODULATION
5.1 NONLINEAR MODULATION 252
252

5.2 BANDWIDTH OF ANGLE-MODULATED WAVES 259

 Contents ix

5.3 GENERATING FM WAVES 272

5.4 DEMODULATION OF FM SIGNALS 281
5.5 EFFECTS OF NONLINEAR DISTORTION AND INTERFERENCE 284
5.6 SUPERHETERODYNE ANALOG AM/FM RECEIVERS 289
5.7 FM BROADCASTING SYSTEM 291
5.8 MATLAB EXERCISES 292

6 SAMPLING AND ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL

CONVERSION 302
6.1 SAMPLING THEOREM 302
6.2 PULSE CODE MODULATION (PCM) 319
6.3 DIGITAL TELEPHONY: PCM IN T1 CARRIER SYSTEMS 332
6.4 DIGITAL MULTIPLEXING 336
6.5 DIFFERENTIAL PULSE CODE MODULATION (DPCM) 341
6.6 ADAPTIVE DIFFERENTIAL PCM (ADPCM) 345
6.7 DELTA MODULATION 346
6.8 VOCODERS AND VIDEO COMPRESSION 351
6.9 MATLAB EXERCISES 361

7 PRINCIPLES OF DIGITAL DATA

TRANSMISSION 377
7.1 DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 377
7.2 LINE CODING 380
7.3 PULSE SHAPING 394
7.4 SCRAMBLING 406
7.5 DIGITAL RECEIVERS AND REGENERATIVE REPEATERS 409
7.6 EYE DIAGRAMS: AN IMPORTANT TOOL 417
7.7 PAM: M -ARY BASEBAND SIGNALING FOR HIGHER
DATA RATE 420
7.8 DIGITAL CARRIER SYSTEMS 423
7.9 M -ARY DIGITAL CARRIER MODULATION 431
7.10 MATLAB EXERCISES 437
x CONTENTS

8 FUNDAMENTALS OF PROBABILITY
THEORY 447
8.1 CONCEPT OF PROBABILITY 447
8.2 RANDOM VARIABLES 462
8.3 STATISTICAL AVERAGES (MEANS) 481
8.4 CORRELATION 490
8.5 LINEAR MEAN SQUARE ESTIMATION 494
8.6 SUM OF RANDOM VARIABLES 497
8.7 CENTRAL LIMIT THEOREM 500

9 RANDOM PROCESSES AND SPECTRAL

ANALYSIS 511
9.1 FROM RANDOM VARIABLE TO RANDOM PROCESS 511
9.2 CLASSIFICATION OF RANDOM PROCESSES 516
9.3 POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY 520
9.4 MULTIPLE RANDOM PROCESSES 534
9.5 TRANSMISSION OF RANDOM PROCESSES THROUGH LINEAR
SYSTEMS 535
9.6 APPLICATION: OPTIMUM FILTERING (WIENER-HOPF FILTER) 539
9.7 APPLICATION: PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF BASEBAND ANALOG
SYSTEMS 542
9.8 APPLICATION: OPTIMUM PREEMPHASIS-DEEMPHASIS
SYSTEMS 544
9.9 BANDPASS RANDOM PROCESSES 547

10 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF MODULATED

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
UNDER NOISE 564
10.1 ANALYTICAL FIGURE OF MERIT 564
10.2 AMPLITUDE-MODULATED SYSTEMS 565
 Contents xi

10.3 ANGLE-MODULATED SYSTEMS 574

10.4 PULSE-MODULATED SYSTEMS 591

11 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 605
11.1 OPTIMUM LINEAR DETECTOR FOR BINARY POLAR
SIGNALING 605
11.2 GENERAL BINARY SIGNALING 611
11.3 COHERENT RECEIVERS FOR DIGITAL CARRIER
MODULATIONS 619
11.4 SIGNAL SPACE ANALYSIS OF OPTIMUM DETECTION 624
11.5 VECTOR DECOMPOSITION OF WHITE NOISE RANDOM
PROCESSES 629
11.6 OPTIMUM RECEIVER FOR WHITE GAUSSIAN NOISE
CHANNELS 635
11.7 GENERAL EXPRESSION FOR ERROR PROBABILITY OF OPTIMUM
RECEIVERS 660
11.8 EQUIVALENT SIGNAL SETS 668
11.9 NONWHITE (COLORED) CHANNEL NOISE 676
11.10 OTHER USEFUL PERFORMANCE CRITERIA 677
11.11 NONCOHERENT DETECTION 680
11.12 MATLAB EXERCISES 688

12 SPREAD SPECTRUM
COMMUNICATIONS
12.1
714
FREQUENCY HOPPING SPREAD SPECTRUM (FHSS)
SYSTEMS 714
12.2 MULTIPLE FHSS USER SYSTEMS AND PERFORMANCE 718
12.3 APPLICATIONS OF FHSS 721
12.4 DIRECT SEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM 724
12.5 RESILIENT FEATURES OF DSSS 728
xii CONTENTS

12.6 CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE-ACCESS (CDMA) OF DSSS 730

12.7 MULTIUSER DETECTION (MUD) 737
12.8 MODERN PRACTICAL DSSS CDMA SYSTEMS 743
12.9 MATLAB EXERCISES 751

13 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS UNDER

LINEARLY DISTORTIVE CHANNELS 767
13.1 LINEAR DISTORTIONS OF WIRELESS MULTIPATH CHANNELS 767
13.2 RECEIVER CHANNEL EQUALIZATION 771
13.3 LINEAR T -SPACED EQUALIZATION (TSE) 777
13.4 LINEAR FRACTIONALLY SPACED EQUALIZERS (FSE) 785
13.5 CHANNEL ESTIMATION 789
13.6 DECISION FEEDBACK EQUALIZER 790
13.7 OFDM (MULTICARRIER) COMMUNICATIONS 793
13.8 DISCRETE MULTITONE (DMT) MODULATIONS 803
13.9 REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS Of OFDM AND DMT 808
13.10 BLIND EQUALIZATION AND IDENTIFICATION 812
13.11 TIME-VARYING CHANNEL DISTORTIONS DUE TO MOBILITY 813
13.12 MATLAB EXERCISES 816

14 INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION
THEORY 836
14.1 MEASURE OF INFORMATION 836
14.2 SOURCE ENCODING 841
14.3 ERROR-FREE COMMUNICATION OVER A NOISY CHANNEL 847
14.4 CHANNEL CAPACITY OF A DISCRETE MEMORYLESS
CHANNEL 850
14.5 CHANNEL CAPACITY OF A CONTINUOUS MEMORYLESS
CHANNEL 858
14.6 PRACTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS IN LIGHT OF SHANNON'S
EQUATION 875
 Contents xiii

14.7 FREQUENCY-SELECTIVE CHANNEL CAPACITY 880

14.8 MULTIPLE-INPUT–MULTIPLE-OUTPUT COMMUNICATION
SYSTEMS 884
14.9 MATLAB EXERCISES 893

15 ERROR CORRECTING CODES

15.1
15.2
OVERVIEW 907
REDUNDANCY FOR ERROR CORRECTION 908
907

15.3 LINEAR BLOCK CODES 911

15.4 CYCLIC CODES 918
15.5 THE EFFECTS OF ERROR CORRECTION 927
15.6 CONVOLUTIONAL CODES 932
15.7 TRELLIS DIAGRAM OF BLOCK CODES 942
15.8 CODE COMBINING AND INTERLEAVING 944
15.9 SOFT DECODING 946
15.10 SOFT-OUTPUT VITERBI ALGORITHM (SOVA) 949
15.11 TURBO CODES 951
15.12 LOW-DENSITY PARITY CHECK (LDPC) CODES 959
15.13 MATLAB EXERCISES 966

A ORTHOGONALITY OF SOME SIGNAL SETS 978

A.1 ORTHOGONALITY OF THE TRIGONOMETRIC AND

EXPONENTIAL SIGNAL SET 978
A.2 ORTHOGONALITY OF THE EXPONENTIAL
SIGNAL SET 979

B CAUCHY-SCHWARZ INEQUALITY 980

C GRAM-SCHMIDT ORTHOGONALIZATION OF A
VECTOR SET 982
xiv CONTENTS

D BASIC MATRIX PROPERTIES

AND OPERATIONS 985

D.1 NOTATIONS 985

D.2 MATRIX PRODUCT AND PROPERTIES 986
D.3 IDENTITY AND DIAGONAL MATRICES 987
D.4 DETERMINANT OF SQUARE MATRICES 987
D.5 TRACE 988
D.6 EIGENDECOMPOSITION 988
D.7 SPECIAL HERMITIAN SQUARE MATRICES 989

E MISCELLANEOUS 990

E.1 L'HÔPITAL'S RULE 990

E.2 TAYLOR AND MACLAURIN SERIES 990
E.3 POWER SERIES 990
E.4 SUMS 991
E.5 COMPLEX NUMBERS 991
E.6 TRIGONOMETRIC IDENTITIES 991
E.7 INDEFINITE INTEGRALS 992

INDEX 995
PREFACE
T he chief objective of the fourth edition is to respond to the tremendous amount of tech-
nological progress in communication systems we have witnessed over the decade since
the third edition was published. At the same time, newer software and teaching tools have
also become available, making it much easier to provide solid and illustrative examples as
well as more experimental opportunities for students. In this new edition, major changes are
implemented to incorporate recent technological advances of telecommunications. To captivate
students’ attention and make it easier for students to relate the course materials to their daily
experience with communication tools, we will provide relevant information on the operation
and features of cellular systems, wireless local area networks (LANs), and wire-line (digital
subscriber loop or DSL) internet services, among others.

Major Revision
A number of critical changes are motivated by the need to emphasize the fundamentals of
digital communication systems that have permeated our daily lives. Specifically, in light of the
widespread applications of new technologies such as spread spectrum and orthogonal frequency
division multiplexing (OFDM), we present two new chapters: Chapter 12 on spread spectrum
communications and Chapter 13 on frequency-selective channels and OFDM systems. As
practical examples of such systems, we provide a basic introduction of current wireless commu-
nication standards including cellular systems and IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n wireless LAN systems.
In addition, we summarize the latest in DSL modem technology and services. At the funda-
mental level, information theory and coding have also been transformed by several important
new progresses. In this edition, we include the basic principles of multiple-input–multiple-
output (MIMO) technology, which has just begun to see broad commercial applications. We
also cover several notable breakthroughs in error correction coding, including soft decoding,
turbo codes, and low-density parity check (LDPC) codes.
To enhance the learning experience and to give students opportunities for computer-based
experimental practices, relevant MATLAB examples and exercises have been provided in
chapters that can be enhanced by these hands-on experiments.

Organization
With respect to organization, we begin the fourth edition with a traditional review of signal and
system fundamentals before proceeding to the core communication topics of analog modulation
and digital pulse-coded modulation. We then present the fundamental tools of probability theory
and random processes to be used in the design and analysis of digital communications in the rest
of this text. After the fundamentals of digital communication systems have been covered, the
last two chapters provide an overview of information theory and the fundamentals of forward
error correction codes.

xv
xvi PREFACE

Ideally, the communications subjects germane to this text should be covered in two
courses: one on the basic operations of communication systems and one on the analysis of
modern communication systems under noise and other distortions. The former relies heav-
ily on deterministic analytical tools such as Fourier series, the Fourier transform, and the
sampling theorem, while the latter relies on tools from probability and random processes to
tackle the unpredictability of message signals and noises. In today’s academic environment,
however, with so many competing courses, it may be difficult to squeeze two basic courses
on communications into a typical electrical engineering curriculum. Some universities do
require a course in probability and random processes as a prerequisite. In that case, it is pos-
sible to cover both areas reasonably well in a one-semester course. This book is designed for
adoption in both cases. It can be used as a one-semester course in which the deterministic
aspects of communication systems are emphasized with little consideration of the effects of
noise and interference. It can also be used for a course that deals with both the deterministic
and the probabilistic aspects of communication systems. The book is self-contained, since
it provides all the necessary background in probabilities and random processes. As stated
earlier, however, if both deterministic and probabilistic aspects of communications are to be
covered in one semester, it is highly desirable for students to have a good background in
probabilities.
Chapter 1 introduces a panoramic view of communication systems. Important concepts of
communication theory are explained qualitatively in a heuristic way. This attracts the students
to the topics of communications. With this momentum, students are motivated to study the
tools of signal analysis in Chapters 2 and 3, which encourage them to see a signal as a vector,
and to think of the Fourier spectrum as a way of representing a signal in terms of its vector
components. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss amplitude (linear) and angle (nonlinear) modulations,
respectively. Many instructors feel that in this digital age, modulation should be deemphasized
with a minimal presence. We hold the view that modulation is not so much a method of com-
munication as a basic tool of signal processing; it will always be needed, not only in the area
of communication (digital or analog), but also in many other areas of electrical engineering.
Hence, neglecting modulation may prove to be rather shortsighted. Chapter 6 serves as the
fundamental link between analog-and-digital communications by describing the process of
analog-to-digital conversion (ADC). It provides the details of sampling, pulse code modula-
tion (including DPCM), delta modulation, speech coding (vocoder), image/video coding, and
compression. Chapter 7 discusses the principles and techniques used in digital modulations. It
introduces the concept of channel distortion and presents equalization as an effective means
of compensating for distortion.
Chapters 8 and 9 provide the essential background on theories of probability and random
processes, which comprise the second tool required for the study of communication systems.
Every attempt is made to motivate students and to elevate their interest through these chapters
by providing applications to communications problems wherever possible. Chapters 10 and
11 present the analysis of analog and digital communication systems in the presence of noise.
Optimum signal detection in digital communication is thoroughly presented in Chapter 11.
Chapter 12 focuses on spread spectrum communications. Chapter 13 presents various practical
techniques that can be used to combat practical channel distortions. This chapter will capture
both channel equalization and the broadly applied technology of OFDM. Chapter 14 provides
an overview of information theory. Finally, the principle and key practical aspects of error
control coding are given in Chapter 15.
One of the aims of writing this book has been to make learning a pleasant or at least a less
intimidating experience for students by presenting the subject in a clear, understandable, and
logically organized manner. Every effort has been made to deliver an insight—rather than just
an understanding—as well as heuristic explanations of theoretical results wherever possible.
 Preface xvii

Many examples are provided for further clarification of abstract results. Even a partial success
in achieving this stated goal would make all our efforts worthwhile.

A Whole New World

There have been a number of major technology developments since the publication of the third
edition in 1998. First of all, the cellular telephone has deeply penetrated the daily lives of urban
and suburban households in most developed and even developing nations. In 1998 there were
very few students with beepers and cellphones in the classrooms. Now, nearly every college
student has a cellphone. Second, in 1998 most of the household internet connections were
linked via low-speed (of approximately 28.8 kbit/s) voice modems. Today, a majority of our
students are connected to cyberspace through high speed DSL or cable services. In addition,
wireless LAN has turned esoteric terms such as IEEE 802.11 into household names. Most
students in the classroom have explored these technologies to some extent.
Vast technological advances have produced a new generation of students extremely inter-
ested in learning about the new technologies and their implementations. These students are
eager to understand how and where they may be able to make contributions in the future. Such
strong motivation must be encouraged and taken advantage of. This new edition will enable
instructors either to cover the topics themselves or to assign reading materials that will allow
the students to acquire relevant information. The new edition achieves these goals by stressing
the digital aspects of the text and by incorporating the most commonly known wireless and
wire-line digital technologies.

Course Adoption
With a combined teaching experience of over 50 years, we have taught communication classes
under both quarter and semester systems in several major universities. On the other hand, the
students’ personal experiences with communication systems have continuously been multiply-
ing, from a simple radio set in the 1960s, to the turn of the twenty-first century, with its easy
access to wireless LAN, cellular devices, satellite radio, and home internet services. Hence,
more and more students are interested in learning how familiar electronic gadgets work. With
this important need and our past experiences in mind, we revised the fourth edition of this
text to fit well within several different curriculum configurations. In all cases, basic coverage
should teach the fundamentals of analog and digital communications (Chapters 1–7).

One-Semester Course (without strong probability background)

In many existing curricula, undergraduate students are not exposed to simple probability tools
until they begin to take communications. This occurs often because the students were required
to take an introductory statistical course disconnected from engineering science. This text is
well suited to students of such a background. The first seven chapters form a comprehensive
coverage of modern digital and analog communication systems for average ECE undergraduate
students. Such a course can be taught within one semester (40–45 instructional hours). Under
the premise that each student has built a solid background in Fourier analysis via a prerequisite
class on signals and systems, most of the first three chapters can be treated as a review in a
single week. The rest of the semester can be fully devoted to teaching Chapters 4 to 7, with
partial coverage on the practical systems of Chapters 12 and 13 to enhance students interest.

One-Semester Course (with a strong probability background)

For curricula that have strengthened the background coverage of probability theory, a much
more extensive coverage of digital communications can be achieved within one semester.
A rigorous probability class can be taught within the context of signal and system analysis
xviii PREFACE

(cf. Cooper and McGillem, Probabilistic Methods of Signal and System Analysis, Oxford
University Press, 1999, ISBN: 0195123549). For this scenario, in addition to Chapters 1 to 7,
Chapter 11 and part of Chapter 13 on equalization can also be taught in one semester, provided
the students have a solid probability background that permits the coverage of Chapter 8 and
Chapter 9 in a few hours. Students completing this course would be well prepared to enter the
telecommunications industry or to continue in a program of graduate studies.

Two-Semester Series (without a separate probability course)

The entire text can be thoroughly covered in two semesters for a curriculum that does not
have any prior probability course. In other words, for a two-course series, the goal is to teach
both communication systems and fundamentals of probabilities. In an era of many competing
courses in the ECE curriculum, it is hard to set aside two semester courses for communications
alone. On the other hand, most universities do have a probability course that is separately
taught by nonengineering professors. In this scenario it would be desirable to fold probability
theory into the two communication courses. Thus, for two semester courses, the coverage can
be as follows:

•
1st semester: Chapters 1–7 (Signals and Communication Systems)
•
2nd semester: Chapters 8–13 (Modern Digital Communication Systems)

One-Quarter Course (with a strong probability background)

In a quarter system, students must have prior exposure to probability and statistics at a rigorous
level (cf. Cooper and McGillem, Probabilistic Methods of Signal and System Analysis, Oxford
University Press, 1999, ISBN: 0195123549). They must also have solid knowledge of Fourier
analysis. Within a quarter, the class can teach the basics of analog and digital communication
systems (Chapters 3–7), analysis of digital communication systems (Chapter 11), and spread
spectrum communications (Chapter 12).

One-Quarter Course (without a strong probability background)

In the rare case of students who come in without much probability knowledge, it is important to
impart basic knowledge of communication systems. It is wise not to attempt to analyze digital
communication systems. Instead, the basic coverage without prior knowledge of probability
can be achieved by teaching the operations of analog and digital systems (Chapters 1–7) and
a high-level discussion of spread spectrum wireless systems (Chapter 12).

Two-Quarter Series (with basic probability background)

Unlike a one-quarter course, a two-quarter series can be well designed to teach most of the
important materials on communication systems and their analysis. The entire text can be
extensively taught in two quarters for a curriculum that has some preliminary coverage of
Fourier analysis and probabilities. Essentially using Chapters 1 to 3 and Chapter 8 as partly
new and partly review, the coverage can be as follows:

•
1st quarter: Chapters 1–10 (Communication Systems and Analysis)
•
2nd quarter: Chapters 11–15 (Digital Communication Systems)

MATLAB and Laboratory Experience

Since many universities no longer have hardware communication laboratories, MATLAB based
communication system exercises will be made available to enhance the learning experience.
 Preface xix

Students will be able to design systems and modify their parameters to evaluate the overall
effects on the performance of communication systems through computer displays and bit error
rate measurement. The students will acquire first-hand knowledge of how to design and perform
simulations of communication systems.

Acknowledgments
First, the authors would like to thank all the students they have had over the years. This edition
would not have been possible without much feedback from, and many discussions with, our
students. The authors thank all the reviewers for providing invaluable inputs to improve the
text. Finally, the authors also wish to thank Professor Norman Morrison, University of Cape
Town, for suggesting a new problem P8-2.3 in this edition.

B.P. Lathi
Zhi Ding
This page intentionally left blank
 1 INTRODUCTION

O
ver the past decade, the rapid expansion of digital communication technologies has
been simply astounding. Internet, a word and concept once familiar only to technolo-
gists and the scientific community, has permeated every aspect of people’s daily lives.
It is quite difficult to find any individual in a modern society that has not been touched by new
communication technologies ranging from cellular phones to Bluetooth. This book examines
the basic principles of communication by electric signals. Before modern times, messages
were carried by runners, carrier pigeons, lights, and fires. These schemes were adequate for the
distances and “data rates” of the age. In most parts of the world, these modes of communication
have been superseded by electrical communication systems,∗ which can transmit signals over
much longer distances (even to distant planets and galaxies) and at the speed of light.
Electrical communication is dependable and economical; communication technologies
improve productivity and energy conservation. Increasingly, business meetings are conducted
through teleconferences, saving the time and energy formerly expended on travel. Ubiqui-
tous communication allows real-time management and coordination of project participants
from around the globe. E-mail is rapidly replacing the more costly and slower “snail mails.”
E-commerce has also drastically reduced some costs and delays associated with marketing,
while customers are also much better informed about new products and product information.
Traditional media outlets such as television, radio, and newspapers have been rapidly evolving
in the past few years to cope with, and better utilize, the new communication and networking
technologies. The goal of this textbook is to provide the fundamental technical knowledge
needed by next-generation communication engineers and technologists for designing even
better communication systems of the future.

1.1 COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

Figure 1.1 presents three typical communication systems: a wire-line telephone–cellular phone
connection, a TV broadcasting system, and a wireless computer network. Because of the
numerous examples of communication systems in existence, it would be unwise to attempt
to study the details of all kinds of communication systems in this book. Instead, the most
efficient and effective way to learn about communication is by studying the major func-
tional blocks common to practically all communication systems. This way, students are not

∗ With the exception of the postal service.

1
2 INTRODUCTION

Figure 1.1
Some examples
of communi-
cations sys-
tems.

Wireless access
point
Wireless
computers

Wire-line
network

merely learning the operations of those existing systems they have studied; More impor-
tantly, they can acquire the basic knowledge needed to design and analyze new systems never
encountered in a textbook. To begin, it is essential to establish a typical communication sys-
tem model as shown in Fig. 1.2. The key components of a communication system are as
follows.
The source originates a message, such as a human voice, a television picture, an e-mail
message, or data. If the data is nonelectric (e.g., human voice, e-mail text, television video),
it must be converted by an input transducer into an electric waveform referred to as the
baseband signal or message signal through physical devices such as a microphone, a computer
keyboard, or a CCD camera.
The transmitter modifies the baseband signal for efficient transmission. The transmitter
may consist of one or more subsystems: an A/D converter, an encoder, and a modulator.
Similarly, the receiver may consist of a demodulator, a decoder, and a D/A converter.
 1.1 Communication Systems 3

Figure 1.2
Communication
system.

The channel is a medium of choice that can convey the electric signals at the transmitter
output over a distance. A typical channel can be a pair of twisted copper wires (telephone and
DSL), coaxial cable (television and internet), an optical fiber, or a radio link. Additionally, a
channel can also be a point-to-point connection in a mesh of interconnected channels that form
a communication network.
The receiver reprocesses the signal received from the channel by reversing the signal
modifications made at the transmitter and removing the distortions made by the channel. The
receiver output is fed to the output transducer, which converts the electric signal to its original
form—the message.
The destination is the unit to which the message is communicated.
A channel is a physical medium that behaves partly like a filter that generally attenuates
the signal and distorts the transmitted waveforms. The signal attenuation increases with the
length of the channel, varying from a few percent for short distances to orders of magni-
tude in interplanetary communications. Signal waveforms are distorted because of physical
phenomena such as frequency-dependent gains, multipath effects, and Doppler shift. For
example, a frequency-selective channel causes different amounts of attenuation and phase
shift to different frequency components of the signal. A square pulse is rounded or “spread
out” during transmission over a low-pass channel. These types of distortion, called linear
distortion, can be partly corrected at the receiver by an equalizer with gain and phase
characteristics complementary to those of the channel. Channels may also cause nonlin-
ear distortion through attenuation that varies with the signal amplitude. Such distortions
can also be partly corrected by a complementary equalizer at the receiver. Channel distor-
tions, if known, can also be precompensated by transmitters by applying channel-dependent
predistortions.
In a practical environment, signals passing through communication channels not only
experience channel distortions but also are corrupted along the path by undesirable inter-
ferences and disturbances lumped under the broad term noise. These interfering signals are
random and are unpredictable from sources both external and internal. External noise includes
interference signals transmitted on nearby channels, human-made noise generated by faulty
contact switches of electrical equipment, automobile ignition radiation, fluorescent lights or
natural noise from lightning, microwave ovens, and cellphone emissions, as well as elec-
tric storms and solar and intergalactic radiation. With proper care in system design, external
noise can be minimized or even eliminated in some cases. Internal noise results from thermal
motion of charged particles in conductors, random emission, and diffusion or recombina-
tion of charged carriers in electronic devices. Proper care can reduce the effect of internal
noise but can never eliminate it. Noise is one of the underlying factors that limit the rate of
telecommunications.
Thus in practical communication systems, the channel distorts the signal, and noise accu-
mulates along the path. Worse yet, the signal strength decreases while the noise level remains
4 INTRODUCTION

steady regardless of the distance from the transmitter. Thus, the signal quality is continuously
worsening along the length of the channel. Amplification of the received signal to make up for
the attenuation is to no avail because the noise will be amplified by the same proportion, and
the quality remains, at best, unchanged.∗ These are the key challenges that we must face in
designing modern communication systems.

1.2 ANALOG AND DIGITAL MESSAGES

Messages are digital or analog. Digital messages are ordered combinations of finite symbols or
codewords. For example, printed English consists of 26 letters, 10 numbers, a space, and several
punctuation marks. Thus, a text document written in English is a digital message constructed
from the ASCII keyboard of 128 symbols. Human speech is also a digital message, because it is
made up from a finite vocabulary in a language.† Music notes are also digital, even though the
music sound itself is analog. Similarly, a Morse-coded telegraph message is a digital message
constructed from a set of only two symbols—dash and dot. It is therefore a binary message,
implying only two symbols. A digital message constructed with M symbols is called an M -ary
message.
Analog messages, on the other hand, are characterized by data whose values vary over a
continuous range and are defined for a continuous range of time. For example, the temperature
or the atmospheric pressure of a certain location over time can vary over a continuous range and
can assume an (uncountable) infinite number of possible values. A piece of music recorded by
a pianist is also an analog signal. Similarly, a particular speech waveform has amplitudes that
vary over a continuous range. Over a given time interval, an infinite number of possible different
speech waveforms exist, in contrast to only a finite number of possible digital messages.

1.2.1 Noise Immunity of Digital Signals

It is no secret to even a casual observer that every time one looks at the latest electronic
communication products, newer and better “digital technology” is replacing the old analog
technology. Within the past decade, cellular phones have completed their transformation from
the first-generation analog AMPS to the current second-generation (e.g., GSM, CDMA) and
third-generation (e.g., WCDMA) digital offspring. More visibly in every household, digital
video technology (DVD) has made the analog VHS cassette systems almost obsolete. Digital
television continues the digital assault on analog video technology by driving out the last
analog holdout of color television. There is every reason to ask: Why are digital technologies
better? The answer has to do with both economics and quality. The case for economics is
made by noting the ease of adopting versatile, powerful, and inexpensive high-speed digital
microprocessors. But more importantly at the quality level, one prominent feature of digital
communications is the enhanced immunity of digital signals to noise and interferences.
Digital messages are transmitted as a finite set of electrical waveforms. In other words,
a digital message is generated from a finite alphabet, while each character in the alphabet
can be represented by one waveform or a sequential combination of such waveforms. For
example, in sending messages via Morse code, a dash can be transmitted by an electri-
cal pulse of amplitude A/2 and a dot can be transmitted by a pulse of negative amplitude

∗ Actually, amplification may further deteriorate the signal because of additional amplifier noise.
† Here we imply the information contained in the speech rather than its details such as the pronunciation of words
and varying inflections, pitch, and emphasis. The speech signal from a microphone contains all these details and is
therefore an analog signal, and its information content is more than a thousand times greater than the information
accessible from the written text of the same speech.
 1.2 Analog and Digital Messages 5

Figure 1.3 A/2

(a) Transmitted t
signal. (a)
(b) Received –A/2
distorted signal
(without noise). t
(c) Received (b)
distorted signal
(with noise).
(d) Regenerated t
signal (delayed). (c)

t
(d)

−A/2 (Fig 1.3a). In an M -ary case, M distinct electrical pulses (or waveforms) are used;
each of the M pulses represents one of the M possible symbols. Once transmitted, the
receiver must extract the message from a distorted and noisy signal at the channel output.
Message extraction is often easier from digital signals than from analog signals because
the digital decision must belong to the finite-sized alphabet. Consider a binary case: two
symbols are encoded as rectangular pulses of amplitudes A/2 and −A/2. The only deci-
sion at the receiver is to select between two possible pulses received; the fine details of
the pulse shape are not an issue. A finite alphabet leads to noise and interference immu-
nity. The receiver’s decision can be made with reasonable certainty even if the pulses
have suffered modest distortion and noise (Fig. 1.3). The digital message in Fig. 1.3a is dis-
torted by the channel, as shown in Fig. 1.3b. Yet, if the distortion is not too large, we can
recover the data without error because we need make only a simple binary decision: Is the
received pulse positive or negative? Figure 1.3c shows the same data with channel distortion
and noise. Here again, the data can be recovered correctly as long as the distortion and the
noise are within limits. In contrast, the waveform shape itself in an analog message carries the
needed information, and even a slight distortion or interference in the waveform will show up
in the received signal. Clearly, a digital communication system is more rugged than an analog
communication system in the sense that it can better withstand noise and distortion (as long
as they are within a limit).

1.2.2 Viability of Distortionless Regenerative Repeaters

One main reason for the superior quality of digital systems over analog ones is the viability
of regenerative repeaters and network nodes in the former. Repeater stations are placed along
the communication path of a digital system at distances short enough to ensure that noise
and distortion remain within a limit. This allows pulse detection with high accuracy. At each
repeater station, or network node, the incoming pulses are detected such that new, “clean” pulses
are retransmitted to the next repeater station or node. This process prevents the accumulation
of noise and distortion along the path by cleaning the pulses at regular repeater intervals.
We can thus transmit messages over longer distances with greater accuracy. There has been
widespread application of distortionless regeneration by repeaters in long-haul communication
systems and by nodes in a large (possibly heterogeneous) network.
For analog systems, signals and noise within the same bandwidth cannot be separated.
Repeaters in analog systems are basically filters plus amplifiers and are not “regenerative.”
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NIEUPORT, SHOWING REMAINS OF PUTNEY AND CROWDER BRIDGES AND
RUBBER HOUSE IN THE DISTANCE.

INDIA-RUBBER HOUSE, USED AS BATTALION HEADQUARTERS.

There were no communication trenches to most parts of the line in

the left sub-sector, and on dark nights it was easy to lose one’s way.
On the night of the 10th-11th of October, Lieut.-Colonel G. E. Hope,
M.C., commanding the 8th Lancashire Fusiliers, while visiting his
outposts with two officers at a point very near to the enemy line, saw
a post ahead and called out: “What post is that?” On this challenge
the German flat-topped caps were seen instead of the expected “tin-
hats.” The three officers got clear, but, the night being very dark, they
stumbled into another enemy post. Bombs were thrown and a
machine-gun opened on them, and in the mêlée the three were
separated. Hope, who had been leading, was last seen in the midst
of the enemy, who were fighting one another in the confusion, and
he was never heard of again. His companions got away, one by
waiting until there was sufficient light to give him his bearings; the
other by the desperate expedient of trusting to the enemy’s
knowledge of the British lines and making for a spot where the
“minnies” were falling.
The 15th of October, 1917, is a notable date in General Solly-
the history of the 42nd Division, as on this day Flood arrives
Major-General A. Solly-Flood, C.M.G., D.S.O.,
assumed command. The new Divisional Commander when war
broke out was a Major in the 4th Dragoon Guards, who were the first
in the British Army to kill any of the enemy. As C.O. of this regiment
he had also fought at Messines, Ypres, and in all the battles of the
Yser in 1914 and 1915, and at Loos in 1915. In the Somme battles of
1916 he had commanded the 35th Infantry Brigade, 12th Division.
For some months prior to taking command of the 42nd Division,
General Solly-Flood had been Director of Training at G.H.Q. in
France. Mingled with gratification there was some uneasiness on the
part of officers, who feared that the new Divisional Commander
might demand an abnormally high standard of “spit and polish” and
take occasion to “strafe” them as mere Territorials, should the latest
drafts fail to conform to a Guards standard. They were quickly
reassured. They soon found that they were commanded by a man
who understood men and how to get the best out of them; who
meant to lead and inspire rather than to drive; one who knew well
how to show appreciation of every trier, and how to stimulate him to
try still harder, and instruct him how to make the best possible use of
his efforts. Officers and men alike began to want to satisfy their Chief
and to merit his approval, for he gave them the impression that he
knew they would bring credit to the Division and that he was not only
their General but their friend. From the outset he identified himself
with the Division and was proud to command it.
Prior to August 1917, all drafts for the Division, and men returning
from leave, had been passed through the Corps Rest Camp, and the
training of officers and men had been carried out in England or at the
Army and Corps Schools. These systems had not been found
entirely satisfactory, and it was decided that drafts be sent direct to
divisions. In August 1917, the 42nd Division Rest Camp accordingly
came into being, and in October was changed into the Divisional
Reception Camp, Lieut.-Colonel H. Grant Thorold, D.S.O., then
assuming the command, which he retained until the end. In this
camp at Ghyvelde the training of the drafts in such subjects as
Musketry, Bayonet fighting, Signalling, Machine- and Lewis-guns,
Scouts, duties of N.C.O.s, etc., was carried out. A Lewis-gun
demonstration in November by men of the 7th Manchesters was the
first of its kind in the Division, and was very instructive. The Division
was fortunate, not only in the officer commanding this camp, but also
in its instructors, most of whom came from battalions of the Division.
But, perhaps, the chief responsibility for the training which was put to
such good account a few months later rests with Captain Edwards,
Coldstream Guards. In his classes for junior N.C.O.s, corporals,
lance-corporals, and selected privates were put through a short
intensive course on all subjects, from cleanliness in billets to tactical
exercises with live ammunition and bombs. Sports were also
included, this being a subject to which the Divisional Commander
attached very great importance. At the end of the month’s course
competitions were held and prizes awarded, the best all-round
student receiving a watch from the Major-General. Competitions
between units in classes and sports became very keen, with
excellent results, and Commanding Officers stated later that they
invariably found that the best students at these classes made the
best leaders in action.
Two or three instances, selected more or less at Incidents at
haphazard as typical of many, must suffice to Nieuport
illustrate the general character of service in the
Nieuport Sector, memories of which are usually associated with the
bridges, canals, and dams, each bridge having its own history worthy
of individual record if space permitted, and such history would be
particularly interesting to the engineers of the three Field
Companies. At 4.20 p.m. on October 22, Putney, Crowder, and
Vauxhall bridges were destroyed by shell fire while a relief was in
progress, and the enemy continued to shell the area to prevent
repairs. Lieutenant J. F. H. Nicholson, Corporal Brightmore, and
Sappers J. Bennett and J. Rylance, of the 429 Field Company, at
once volunteered to repair the bridges, and in spite of heavy shell
fire they had restored communications across Putney bridge by 5.55
p.m. All four were decorated.
Bath Dam (Dam 66) was, perhaps, the worst job the R.E. had to
tackle in the whole sector, as the enemy made a special target of it.
This dam controlled the flow of the River Yser into the Yser Canal,
and by its means the water in the flooded polders was kept at a
sufficiently high level to form a military obstacle. On October 31 a
breach fifteen feet in width was made by 8-inch shells, causing the
flooding of the country up to the third-line trenches. Lieutenant
Mellor, 427 Field Company, promptly organized a working-party of
sappers and men of the 6th and 7th Manchesters, and at once
started on its repair, the enemy, of course, doing their utmost to
obstruct. The indefatigable C.R.E., Lieut.-Colonel D. S. MacInnes,
D.S.O., who never failed to turn up at any hour of the day or night
when his presence could assist and inspire, took charge of one of
the reliefs, and set an example of energy and coolness under fire.[10]
The breach was rebuilt with sandbags before the rapidly rising tide
could take effect. On November 3 York Dam was damaged, but the
same night a working-party closed the gap with 2000 sandbags; but
on November 13 both York and Hull Dams were heavily shelled and
wiped out, and on the 15th, Dam 66 and Mellor Dam were blown up
by concentrated artillery fire. The height of the tide hindered the work
of repair, which on this account could not be completed before the
Division was relieved.
On October 31 Lieutenant K. MacIver, of “B” Battery, 211 Brigade,
R.F.A., during a bombardment of his battery position, which
destroyed two of the three guns, ran out to attend to a wounded man
of another unit. He was knocked down by a shell and his left arm
rendered useless, but, assisted by a driver, he removed the
wounded man to safety. Soon afterwards two dumps caught fire and
MacIver, foreseeing that the flames would assist a hostile plane to
register the battery, ran out into the shelled area and, though one
arm was useless, he extinguished the flames at both dumps. On
November 2 Private T. Brotherton, 5th E. Lancs., while in charge of a
limber taking rations up the line, was wounded by a shell which
dropped three yards in rear of his vehicle. Although in great pain and
under heavy shelling all the time, he coolly unhooked his mules, one
of which had been injured, refusing attention for himself until he had
done everything possible for the animals. He then had his wounds
dressed, and obeyed the order to report to the nearest Field
Dressing Station with great reluctance, as he wished to return to his
transport lines for another mule so that he could carry on. On the
same day Crowder Bridge was shelled while a party of the 6th
Manchesters was in the act of crossing singly, and one man was
seriously wounded and knocked into the water. Sergeant E. E. Parry,
R.A.M.C., attached to the 6th Manchesters, at once rushed on to the
bridge, and remained supporting him and crouching over him until
the shell-storm ceased. The man was saved, and Parry received the
M.M. for this brave deed. On more than one occasion Captain
Brentnall, R.A.M.C., carried wounded men across a bridge on his
shoulders when he considered the shelling too severe to permit a
bearer-party to cross in safety.
On November 4 an enemy shell fired an ammunition dump near
White House, in the right sub-sector. Captains L. Green and M. B.
Bolton, with a number of N.C.O.s and men of the 4th East
Lancashires, hastened to the spot, isolated the fire, and prevented
the destruction of the entire dump. They worked for forty minutes
under heavy shell fire, sometimes carrying burning boxes of smoke
bombs away from the flames. Both officers were decorated, as were
C.S.M. R. Graham, C.S.M. A. Potts, Sergeant R. Driver, and Privates
J. Berry and G. Kay. On the same day Private Isaac Whitehall,
A.S.C., whilst driving a motor ambulance, came under shell fire at
India Post, and was badly wounded in the shoulder. He succeeded in
driving the ambulance under very heavy shelling to the A.D.S.,
where he had to be carried in, his machine being destroyed a few
moments later. So serious was his wound that an operation had to
be performed.
The Nieuport Sector was in many ways an exceedingly interesting
part of the line, but space does not permit of more than an allusion to
a number of places and events that will be long remembered. Among
these were the rest billets at East Dunkirk and Wulpen, the camps in
the sand dunes, Fisher’s Post, Suicide Corner, Cocked Hat and
Triangle Woods; the Lombartzyde Road at night, a storm-centre of
“whizz-bangs” and machine-gun bullets; the assistance given by
artillery and machine-guns to the Belgians in their raids and attacks
on Dixmude; the heavy naval guns on board monitors, on the coast,
and in the dunes; the outbreaks of sand colic among the animals in
the transport lines.
It was in this sector that the Division made the acquaintance of
several Medical Officers of the U.S. Army. These were attached to
Field Ambulances and battalions, and became very popular.
Early in November the system of “Retaliation Fire” was abandoned
as unprofitable. The British positions here being entirely dependent
upon the maintenance of dams and bridges, we had many more
vulnerable points than had the enemy. “Punishment Fire,” consisting
of crashes of devastation fire of all guns and howitzers, including
heavies, on certain well-known tender spots, was substituted, and
was more effective.
On November 19 the 133rd French Division (“La Cementing the
Gauloise”) relieved the 42nd Division, which was Entente
now ordered to La Bassée. The occasion was an
interesting one, as the men were keen to notice differences in
methods and kit. In the middle of the relief the Germans began
heavy shelling, and the Divisional Commander, risking the starting of
an artillery battle, applied his scheme of Punishment Fire and
silenced the enemy in twenty minutes. The relief was completed
without further molestation, all ammunition in the left sub-sector
being brought across the Yser in an overhead cradle. There were no
regrets on leaving Nieuport. “Remember Belgium!” muttered a
Fusilier, in allusion to the posters he had seen when home on leave.
“Can I ever bloomin’ well forget it?” The cool bright weather was
ideal for route-marching, and the day’s march of about twelve miles
was usually completed about 2 p.m. After a short rest, followed by
cleaning up and polishing, the troops would make for the nearest
estaminet, there to drink vin rouge or vin blanc and converse in a
strange compound of English, French, Arabic and sign-language with
the thoroughly competent Hebe, of any age between nine and ninety,
who attended to their wants. While resting for two days at Aire the
Festival of St. Catherine was celebrated, and the local custom which
ordains that any youth, by presenting a girl with a flower, may claim a
kiss, was voted a bright idea, many staunch Protestants from
Lancashire admitting that there was more to be said for some of the
Roman Catholic customs than they had hitherto imagined. It was
said that the flower-gardens of the village were devastated, but the
villagers condoned this departure from the strict respect for private
property normally shown by the British soldier. Indeed, the men’s
conduct in France won high praise from the civilians, who termed
them très gentils. There was a bad moment when a borrowed bucket
fell down a well, and the owner began to express very eloquently her
opinion of such carelessness. Fortunately the cook-sergeant had
“won” a buckshee bucket on his way through France, and the
presentation of this much superior article softened the good lady’s
heart.
The five days’ road-marching acted as a tonic; the splendid
feeding and undisturbed rest night after night revived the spirits and
raised the tone of the troops by the time that they arrived in the La
Bassée Sector. On November 29 they relieved the 25th Division in
the line.
 CHAPTER VIII
LA BASSÉE
(December 1917—March 1918)

The front of the La Bassée Sector ran north and south for nearly
5000 yards, and was intersected in the centre by the Béthune—La
Bassée Canal, at a point roughly three kilometres west of the town of
La Bassée. The left, or Givenchy, sub-sector contained the ruins of
Givenchy, once a mining village, now an important tactical point on a
spur of the Aubers ridge. The right sub-sector, which included the
canal and the village of Cuinchy to the south, was known as the
Canal Sector. The opposing lines had been practically stationary
since 1915, and here could be traced the history of trench warfare
from its early and crude forms to its latest developments, as the story
of the earth’s surface is revealed in strata and fossils to the
geologist. The trenches and landmarks bore names familiar to very
many battalions and units of the B.E.F., as, for instance, Windy
Corner, Harley Street, Orchard Keep, Moat Keep, Poppy and Marie
Redoubts, Death or Glory Sap, Red Dragon Crater, Mill Sap, and
many others. In the reserve line—part of the “Village Line” which ran
as far south as Lens—stood Cambrin, Pont Fixe, Le Plantin,
Festubert, and Cailloux, all in ruins, though in Cambrin, within 2000
yards of the front line, a few civilians still clung to their homes and
strove to subsist by providing light lunches and selling eggs,
chocolates, and oranges to the troops. This sector was popularly
known as “Egg and Chips Front.”
D.H.Q. was at Locon. One infantry brigade held each sub-sector
and the third was in Divisional Reserve, with a system of reliefs
described by an appreciative officer as “beautiful and soothing in its
clockwork regularity.” The villages of Beuvry, Le Preol, Essars, Le
Quesnoy, Gorre, and Oblinghem provided some of the best billets
the Division experienced in France or Belgium, and the
comparatively large town of Béthune was near enough to offer its
considerable attractions to the troops in reserve. Béthune and its
inhabitants had always enjoyed an admirable reputation among
officers and men of the B.E.F., and when the Division first entered
this area the town was not seriously damaged. At a later date,
however, it suffered so severely from aircraft bombing and a long-
range gun that many of its inhabitants were forced to leave; and a
company of the 8th Manchesters on its way from the front to its
billets in the vicinity of the town was surprised by a low-flying plane,
which dropped a bomb that killed or wounded nearly half the
company. By the end of the year 1917 Béthune was like a city of the
dead.

LA BASSÉE CANAL, LOOKING TOWARDS PONT FIXE.

 HARLEY STREET AND WINDY CORNER.

LA BASSÉE SECTOR. THE BRICK STACKS.

LA BASSÉE SECTOR. SITE OF GIVENCHY CHURCH.

GIVENCHY. “J” SAP.

 GIVENCHY. MOAT FARM.

Though the phrase “nothing to report” occurred with unvarying

monotony during the Division’s sojourn in this region, and though the
experiences here seem to have had little in common with those of
the closing stages of the war, it was in the Béthune—La Bassée area
that the 42nd Division was raised to its highest standard of efficiency,
esprit-de-corps, and enthusiasm, and that it received training and
inspiration to accomplish the deeds by which it won distinction in the
great battles of 1918, and helped to break the iron might of the
German armies and bring about the final triumph.
The trench system here was “Bairnsfather-land” The Trenches in
pure and simple. The very names conjure up vivid Winter
pictures—the trenches deep in melting snow; No
Man’s Land, with its almost continuous line of craters, full of
stagnant, green, stinking water, the sides of crumbling earth and
slimy mud converting them into death-traps for night-patrols; the
front line with its saps—eerie and lonely posts for the sentries who
kept watch. As in the leading case of the Curate’s Egg, some parts
were better than others. South of the Brickstacks, and south of the
La Bassée—Béthune road, for instance, the accommodation in
dugouts and tunnels was quite comfortable. Company Headquarters
there were sometimes mistaken by delighted visiting Brigadiers for
public picture-galleries, so elaborately were they decorated with
illustrations from La Vie Parisienne and kindred works. But north of
the canal the water-level was only a few feet below the surface, and
the “trenches” were little more than parapets of turf and sandbag
breastworks. They had been made at a time when little thought was
given to “batter” and “berm,” and, under the influence of rain, frost,
and thaw, shell fire and trench-mortar fire, duckboards had
disappeared under pits of mud, and walls had collapsed and blocked
the trenches in a tangle of wood, rabbit-netting, and mud. It seemed
enough to ask a man merely to keep alive in the awful discomfort of
the trenches in winter, and under such conditions to carry on the
offensive and defensive work of the garrison. But far more than this
was demanded, for there was no end to the work of maintaining
existing defences and constructing a new system. Give the
infantryman a rifle and bombs, and point out where and how he can
use them, and his inevitable grouse is no more than the
Englishman’s traditional method of disguising his real cheerfulness.
But hand him a spade or barbed wire and stakes, and ask him to dig,
or erect “apron” fences, and he ceases to be his old cheerful self.
However nicely the detested term “working party” may be
camouflaged, nothing will ever reconcile him to fatigues, and it must
be remembered that he was attired for war, not for manual labour.
The impedimenta he carried, including the box respirator strapped
across his chest in the “alert” position, placed him under a heavy
handicap. Yet he does the work—no soldier better! He loathed it, but
he put his back into it, and found matter for facetious comment in his
own and his chum’s personal appearance. For the leather jerkin
which had been issued when the frost came had now been
supplemented by a pair of “boots, gum, thigh,” and he looked like a
Yarmouth fisherman in a tin hat.
In this sector sick and wounded were generally conveyed to the
Base Hospitals by the Inland Water Transport’s comfortable hospital
barges. This was a mode of transport much preferred to the
alternative of conveyance over bumpy roads. One badly-wounded
man, on being put aboard one of the barges, expressed the hope
that there were no shell-holes in La Bassée Canal, as he would hate
to be bumped. The men in the trenches regarded the “bargees” with
some envy, and inquiries were made as to the qualifications
necessary to obtain this coveted job.
 An extensive scheme of concrete shelter construction was taken in
hand by the engineers, especially in the support line, known as the
Village Line. Owing to the presence of water a few feet below the
ground level, tunnelled dug-outs were seldom practicable, so a
system of 5·9-shell-proof, ferro-concrete structures was begun. The
Brigade in rest-billets supplied working-parties, and some idea of the
amount of labour required is shown in the records of the 428 Field
Company, where the number of man-loads of material used in the
making of these shelters for one brigade front alone is given as
follows—

Cement 5,036 sandbags

Shingle 19,384 ”
Sand 9,692 ”
Total 34,112 sandbags,

each averaging 60 lb. in weight, a quite sufficient load for a man to

carry over a mile of trench duckboards on a slippery day in winter. A
pioneer battalion (three companies) was lent by the 55th Division,
one pioneer company and one field company being with each
infantry brigade in line, the remaining pioneer company working in
back areas under the orders of the C.R.E. By some men duty in the
line was preferred to any other form of employment. A batman from
rear headquarters was returned to duty for some misdemeanour.
Being seen in the line a few days later looking particularly fit and
cheerful, he was asked how he liked the change. “It’s a cinch!” he
replied. “Keep your buttons clean and call the C.S.M. ‘Sir,’ and it’s a
soft job.”
PTE. W. MILLS, V.C., 1/10 BN. MANCHESTER REGT. DIED OF WOUNDS
 BETHUNE—LA BASSÉE CANAL, SHOWING NO MAN’S LAND, THE
CRATERS, ORCHARD KEEP, ETC.

Though there were no infantry operations Red Dragon

beyond occasional raids, the trench warfare was Crater, December
not lacking in incident, and snipers and patrols 10, 1917
were active. Here the enemy snipers gave little trouble, and our
patrols, of which several went out nightly from each front-line
battalion, rarely encountered the enemy in No Man’s Land, where
British mastery was tacitly admitted. Particular attention was paid to
the systematic collection of intelligence by patrols, and a standard
form of patrol report was introduced, and was incorporated later in
the 42nd Division Pocket Book. Gas projectiles were freely used by
the enemy, and on the first occasion these caused heavy casualties.
But this incident gave the 10th Manchesters the opportunity to show
their grit and tenacity. They seized the chance with both hands, and
grievous as was the loss sustained, the story of the night of
December 10 is one that Oldham men look back upon with pride.
The battalion had only been in the front line for an hour or two when
the enemy, knowing that a relief had just taken place, bombarded
their trenches with gas-drums preliminary to an attack. Practically
every man in Red Dragon Crater, occupied by men of “C” Company,
was affected by the poison-gas, and most were out of action when
the Germans attacked. But though choking, blinded, and reeling—
and well aware from lectures on the subject that exertion under such
circumstances is likely to be fatal—every man who could stand made
for the parapet, and with bombs, rifles, and Lewis guns put up a
memorable fight, one after another sinking back into the trench to die
from the poison. But they held their post and beat the Boche, and
every man who took part merited recognition. Private Walter Mills,
realizing the deadly nature of the gas and the danger of the post
being lost, sprang at once to the top of the trench, and fought
magnificently to save the situation. Though suffering acutely from the
gassing, he remained there, throwing bombs and beating off the
attack, and fell back to die just as victory was assured. He was
selected for the posthumous award of the V.C., and four other men
of the company received the Military Medal.
A snowstorm in December was followed by a frost of more than a
fortnight’s duration. When the sudden thaw came, with torrents of
rain, the old trenches collapsed in many cases and were almost
waist-deep in mud and water. Huge craters, due to former mining
and counter-mining activity, abounded in the sector, and these were
waterlogged, as was most of this marshy region, and the work of the
night patrols was rendered still more difficult and exciting. Every
available man was put to work, and the 55th Division lent their
pioneer battalion and a field company.
Christmas arrived before the thaw, and, with twenty degrees of
frost, the weather was appropriate to the occasion, and the blood
tingled as it ought to do. The festival was celebrated by each unit on
the date most convenient to itself, so the festivities continued well
into January. Quartermasters had become expert in buying pigs “on
the hoof” and fattening them. Béthune yielded oranges, apples, and
nuts, and even beer at a price. Rations were supplemented lavishly
from canteen funds, and there was no lack of cash, for it was
intended that the men should have a good time. Mess-rooms were
gay with garlands and bunting; dangers and hardships were
forgotten, and the troops gave themselves over to merriment and
good-fellowship. During the entertainment that followed one of the
Christmas dinners an officer, much impressed by the radiant
happiness, physical fitness, and morale, remarked: “I wonder what
the parents would think if miraculously transported into this room?
They would imagine that being at the front is regarded as the most
glorious fun in the world, and that their boys are having the time of
their lives.”
The pantomime, Cinderella, given by Th’ Lads, under the direction
of Major Maude, D.A.A.G., Captain Webster, R.A.M.C., and Captain
Makin, 9th Manchesters, drew large and enthusiastic houses, and
richly deserved its popularity, the acting, staging and dresses being
remarkably good. It was held at Le Quesnoy, within range of the
enemy’s field-guns, and parties of officers and men were taken by
motor-lorry from their billets in adjacent villages. In addition, each
unit organized concerts and entertainments, and the 7th
Manchesters were specially prominent in this respect, Major Hurst’s
delightfully funny sketch “Gwendolen de Vere of Greenheys Lane”
being hugely enjoyed. Each Brigade or unit had its favourite songs
and its own peculiar jokes, many of which were incomprehensible to
the outsider. Perhaps none was quite so esoteric as the weird
Lament of the 10th Manchesters, known in three continents and
many countries as “On Owdham Edge beaut ’at” (sung to an old
Methodist tune combining swing and solemnity), wherein the
gruesome fate of the lad who, without head-covering, courts Mary
Jane upon that eminence is foreseen by the fond parent in a way
that vies with Darwin’s logic in tracing the super-excellence of the
roast beef of Old England (pre-war) to the prevalence of old maids in
rural districts, via cats, mice, honey-bees, and clover. First a cold,
then death, burial, eaten by worms, worms devoured by ducks,
which in turn appear upon the family dinner-table. “Then we’s soon
be ettin’ thee,” begins the last verse of this lugubrious but fascinating
lyric. No doubt it recalled the loved, if unlovely, streets and mills of
Chadderton, Mumps, Glodwick and Hollinwood, and visions of home
and of potato-pie. A young “roughyed” who had taken a Blighty one
at Nieuport got home-leave from a South of England hospital just
after Christmas. “Eh, lad, but aw’m glad to see thi agen,” was his
mother’s greeting. “Did they feed thi well?” “Feed me, mother! I’ve
never ’ad such feedin’ in aw me life as this Christmas. ’am an’ eggs
for breekfast, turkey an’ sossidges, plum-puddin’ an’ mince-pies for
dinner. Cakes an’ grapes an’ apples an’ oranges as much as we
could put away. Then yesterday we wur taken to a big house for
dinner, and ’ad it all o’er agen, an’ other things too.” “Eh, lad, but
they’ve done thi well!” “Aye, everything we could want—except one
thing, mother, as I’m fair longin’ for, and that’s a gradely tater-pie.”
“That’s aw reet, lad! There’s one a-waitin’ for thi i’ th’ oven, Aw
knowed as they wouldna be feedin’ thi proper.”
 LA BASSÉE SECTOR. THE MILL.

LA BASSÉE SECTOR. GIVENCHY CRATERS.

LA BASSÉE SECTOR. GORRE CHÂTEAU.

The social life played an important part in Festivities and

developing and stimulating the morale of the Social Life
Division. New drafts to replace casualties had first
to acquire the esprit de corps of the Unit, and then of the Brigade