Morse Code and Phonetic Alphabets

The Morse Code was invented by an American called Samuel Morse in 1835, and spread rapidly across the world. By contrast, many varied phonetic alphabets have been used over the years by different countries and services. Phonetic alphabets were standardized for both NATO forces and the International Civil Aviation Organization in 1956.

The first British Army phonetic alphabet was introduced in 1904, and covered only 6 commonly transposed letters. In 1914, DON was added for the letter ‘D’. Rather surprisingly, the British Army did not adopt a full phonetic alphabet until 1927, and for some purposes Royal Signals personnel were still using phonetics for only 14 of the 26 letters as late as 1938. Following the entry of the United States into the Second World War, a full phonetic alphabet was standardized across the Allied services in June 1943, changing to the current NATO alphabet in March 1956.

The phrases 'Don-R' (Despatch Rider) and 'Ack-I' (Assistant Instructor) are still used in modern military jargon. The reason why the only first letter of the phrase is pronounced phonetically is that the phrases originated before phonetics existed for the letters 'R' and 'I'.

Letter	Morse Code	Phonetic 1904	Phonetic 1927	Phonetic 1943	Phonetic 1956
A	• –	Ack	Ack	Able	Alpha
B	– • • •	Beer	Beer	Baker	Bravo
C	– • – •		Charlie	Charlie	Charlie
D	– • •	Don (added 1914)	Don	Dog	Delta
E	•		Edward	Easy	Echo
F	• • – •		Freddie	Fox	Fox-trot
G	– – •		George	George	Golf
H	• • • •		Harry	How	Hotel
I	• •		Ink	Item	India
J	• – – –		Johnnie	Jig	Juliet
K	– • –		King	King	Kilo
L	• – • •		London	Love	Lima
M	– –	Emma	Monkey	Mike	Mike
N	– •		Nuts	Nan	November
O	– – –		Orange	Oboe	Oscar
P	• – – •		Pip	Peter	Papa
Q	– – • –		Queen	Queen	Quebec
R	• – •		Robert	Roger	Romeo
S	• • •	Esses	Sugar	Sugar	Sierra
T	–	Toc	Toc	Tare	Tango
U	• • –		Uncle	Uncle	Uniform
V	• • • –	Vic	Vic	Victor	Victor
W	• – –		William	William	Whiskey
X	– • • –		X-Ray	X-Ray	X-Ray
Y	– • – –		Yorker	Yoke	Yankee
Z	– – • •		Zebra	Zebra	Zulu

Morse Code Numbers

Number	Morse	Morse Abbreviation	Number	Morse	Morse Abbreviation
1	• – – – –	• –	6	– • • • •	– • • • •
2	• • – – –	• • –	7	– – • • •	– • • •
3	• • • – –	• • • –	8	– – – • •	– • •
4	• • • • –	• • • • –	9	– – – – •	– •
5	• • • • •	•	0	– – – – –	–

Other characters exist for Morse punctuation.

Still Recruiting...

42 Signal Squadron is still recruiting spare-time soldiers to train on Tuesday evenings, weekends, plus a 2-week exercise each year, often abroad.
Applicants should be medically and physically fit, and aged 17 - 32 (can be older with previous military experience).
For more details, ring 0161 257 3377 during office hours Monday - Friday.