Description

Signal
Jahrgang 1, Nr. 4 • Berlin, Germany • 1 June 1940
Publisher: Deutscher Verlag GmbH, Berlin SW 68, Kochstraße 22–26 | Chief Editor (Hauptschriftleiter): Harald Lechenperg | Frequency: Bi-weekly (erscheint alle 14 Tage)

40 pages scanned

Overview
This particular issue — the fourth number of the first volume — is especially notable for its extraordinary concentration of simultaneous campaigns: it covers the Norway operation in exhaustive detail across multiple color-illustrated map features, the opening of the Western offensive (10 May 1940) including the glider assault on Fort Eben-Emael, the breakthrough by the Dutch coast with paratroops landing near Rotterdam, and tank operations in France — all unfolding simultaneously — making it a uniquely dense snapshot of the most dramatic single fortnight of the war.

Articles and Features

“Gut — es hat angefangen” / “Good — It Has Begun”
pp. 2–3 — Atmospheric narrative of the night of 9–10 May 1940 as experienced simultaneously in Paris, London, and Brussels as German troops crossed the Belgian and Dutch frontiers.
One photograph (p. 3): German paratroopers and motorcyclists halting in a Dutch street near Rotterdam with a street-corner sign visible reading PERNIS / CHARLOIS / ROTTERDAM / WAALHAVEN; B&W.

Geschichte in Karten: Die militärischen Operationen in Norwegen vom 9. April bis 9. Mai / History in Maps: Military Operations in Norway, 9 April – 9 May
pp. 4–7 — Three-map visual feature charting German naval and air operations along the Norwegian coast from Oslo to Narvik over 30 days, with captions citing Luftwaffe statistics of 41 enemy units sunk and 89 severely damaged.
Page 4: Full-page infographic map of Norway with red silhouette warship icons, troop-transport symbols, bomb-hit markers, and occupied-airfield symbols on a black-sea/tan-land background — COLOR (red and tan on black). Page 5: Full-page illustrated map showing topographic relief of Norway with Naval and Luftwaffe success tallies in body text — B&W with red accent icons. Pages 6–7: Two large aerial-perspective relief maps of the Norwegian theater (B&W).

Lüttichs stärkstes Fort — In vierundzwanzig Stunden (Fort Eben-Emael) / Liège’s Strongest Fort — In Twenty-Four Hours (Fort Eben-Emael)
pp. 8, 37–38 — Photo-reportage on the glider-borne assault and capture of Fort Eben-Emael on 10–11 May 1940, including prisoner accounts and post-battle photographs of the fort’s shattered casemates.
Page 8: Two photographs — damaged entrance to one of the fort’s casemates, pockmarked concrete walls (B&W); wide shot of the Eben-Emael surface works showing anti-tank obstacles and caponier rooftops (B&W). Page 37: German storm-troopers conversing in a trench before the battered fort wall; Belgian wounded prisoners seated to the right (B&W); close-up of three Belgian prisoners with visible facial wounds (B&W). Page 38: Front face of a fortified gun casemate with blast damage (B&W); three shallow battlefield graves — German pioneer, German paratrooper, Belgian soldier — side by side (B&W); soldier writing a letter beneath a knocked-out fort gun (B&W).

Ritter der Neuzeit … und ihre Spur! / Knights of the Modern Age … and Their Track!
pp. 9–10 — Two-page color photo essay presenting German Panzer troops as the chivalric warriors of a new age, pairing close-up tank imagery with captions celebrating speed, precision, and psychological impact.
Page 9: Full-page COLOR photograph — low-angle close-up of a Panzer III (or IV) with commander in black uniform and beret standing in open hatch, tracks caked in mud, Balkenkreuz on turret side; vivid blue sky. ★ MOST DRAMATIC COLOR PLATE in the issue. Page 10: Large COLOR photograph of tank tracks crossing a freshly rutted green field with tank on horizon (COLOR); three COLOR portrait photographs of Panzer crew members in black uniform at tank hatches.

Das Schauspiel Mussolinis in glanzvoller Premiere (In Berlin: Cavour) / Mussolini’s Play in a Brilliant Premiere (In Berlin: Cavour)
pp. 11–12 — Cultural feature reporting the world premiere of Mussolini’s historical drama “Cavour” at the Berlin Staatstheater on 9 May 1940, praising the performances of Werner Krauss and Antje Weißgerber.
Page 11: Two B&W theatrical photographs — ballroom scene with costumed actors (Cavour, Princess Klothilde, King Emanuel); dramatic council-table scene. Page 12: Three B&W theatrical photographs — dancing scene; Cavour and Princess Klothilde in conversation; full-cast curtain-call photograph with playwright Forzano.

Kurs Nord Nord-Ost: Der Einsatz der deutschen Flotte in Norwegen am Beispiel eines Kreuzers gezeigt / Course North-Northeast: The German Fleet’s Operation in Norway, Shown Through One Cruiser
pp. 13–18 — Six-page naval feature tracing a German heavy cruiser’s sortie to Trondheim on 8–9 April 1940, including the ramming and sinking of HMS Glowworm and the ship’s escape back to Germany under cloud cover.
Page 13: Two B&W photographs — Großadmiral Raeder with two staff officers studying a chart; Raeder with his family; close-up of his office door-plate. Page 14: Large B&W dramatic painting — German cruiser racing through a Norwegian fjord at night with searchlights; small B&W photograph — the Glowworm seen through mist. Page 15: Full-page B&W combat painting — cruiser in night fjord action with searchlights raking the water, smaller vessels visible; lower B&W illustration — assault troops disembarking from fast boats into Drontheim harbor. Page 16: Full-page B&W combat painting — close-range battle between cruiser and Glowworm, ships nearly touching, guns blazing, signed ‘Hans Liska 40’; small B&W photograph — torpedo tracks in the water as seen from shipboard. Page 17: Full-page B&W dramatic combat illustration — Glowworm sinking in heavy seas, torpedo tubes in foreground. Page 18: B&W photograph through a naval rangefinder — Glowworm crew on hull as ship founders; illustrated map (B&W) of the cruiser’s course from Germany to Drontheim and back.

Der Essenholer / The Ration Carrier
p. 19 — Single-page color portrait of a German infantryman carrying rations and mail forward through a frontline trench, emphasizing the unsung danger of supply duty.
Full-page COLOR photograph — steel-helmeted soldier crouching in a forward trench, laden with a ration sack and mess tins, reading a field newspaper; earth tones and blue sky rendered in rich color.

Unter der Tarnkappe / Under the Cloak of Camouflage
pp. 20–21 — Color photo-essay on German ground and aerial camouflage techniques, with the caption noting that good concealment is worth half a soldier’s effectiveness and half a commander’s victory.
Page 20: Two COLOR photographs — thatched camouflage mat concealing a gun emplacement (COLOR); soldier at a camouflaged observation post peering through a telescopic sight (COLOR). Page 21: Full-page COLOR photograph — Dornier Do 17 reconnaissance aircraft in flight over rolling countryside (COLOR); two smaller COLOR photographs — camouflaged infantry changing positions in rocky terrain; observer with binoculars hidden in brushwood.

Fachleute sehen den Krieg / Experts View the War
p. 22 — Color photo feature on a guided Westwall tour given to 42 foreign military attachés representing 26 nations, including Turkey, Italy, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Iran.
Three COLOR photographs — large group of foreign officers in varied national uniforms walking along the Westwall; smaller group examining documents; Japanese and Iranian attachés being greeted by a German general.

Das achte Weltwunder — Die endlosen Strassen der Inkas / The Eighth Wonder of the World — The Endless Roads of the Incas
Heinrich Ubbelohde-Doering (Professor)
pp. 23–25, 34 (continuation) — Scholarly-popular article by a German archaeologist describing the 10,000-km Inca road network as the greatest engineering feat of ancient America, drawing on a 1937–1939 expedition to Peru and Ecuador and drawing explicit comparisons to Germany’s Reichsautobahn.
Page 23: B&W map of South America showing Inca road routes; B&W photograph of carved stone at Concacha. Page 24: B&W close-up portrait of a Quechua man from Paucartambo; B&W photograph of the unfinished temple at Ollantaytambo; two B&W photographs — Inca coastal road in flat desert; archaeologists excavating a mummy. Page 25: Two B&W aerial/landscape photographs — Inca road traces from the air; grave robber’s pit with buried figure visible; full-page B&W pen-and-ink illustration of Inca road in use — couriers, litter-bearers, llamas, soldiers (artist-signed).

Bei den Deutschen aus der Ostmark im Felde / With the Germans from the Ostmark [Austria] at the Front
Edmund Glaise von Horstenau, Minister a.D., Generalmajor im Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
pp. 26, 36 (continuation) — Personal essay by Austrian-born Wehrmacht General Glaise von Horstenau arguing that Ostmark (Austrian) soldiers have proven their full worth as Germans, drawing on imperial military traditions and battlefield performance in Poland and Norway.
Page 26: B&W illustrated aerial-perspective terrain map of the Narvik region with military unit positions labeled. Page 36 (continuation): B&W photograph of Austrian Alpine Jäger soldiers conducting training exercises in their home mountains.

Die Männer der OT (Organisation Todt) in der Kampfzone des Westwalls / The Men of the Organisation Todt in the Battle Zone of the Westwall
pp. 28–31 — Illustrated reportage on the 300,000 Organisation Todt civilian workers who built and maintained Westwall fortifications under fire, culminating in the award of Iron Crosses to outstanding workers on Hitler’s birthday.
Page 28: Three B&W photographs — portrait of a smiling OT worker; workers crossing a wire obstacle with military escort; worker crawling through a forward trench. Page 29: Three B&W photographs — Westwall bunker under camouflaged trees in snow; workers in a construction pit placing formwork; workers drilling a tunnel passage between bunkers. Page 30: Nine B&W photographs — daily-life grid showing reveille, bus transport, dangerous exposed clearing, ‘bunker soup’ lunch, trench movement, payday, shower, chess/leisure, funeral with Iron Cross. Page 31: Full-page COLOR photograph — workers in civilian clothes atop scaffolding placing a dome on a Panzerwerk gun casemate under clear blue sky; labeled ‘Richtfest im Feuerbereich’ (Topping-Out in the Line of Fire).

Walfisch und Hai im Wassertropfen / Whale and Shark in a Water Drop
p. 32 — Popular science feature on micro-aquarium life, showing how the water flea and hydra function as whale and shark in a single drop of water, photographed through a research microscope.
Four photographs: COLOR photograph of researcher peering into a glass aquarium tank under studio lighting (top, full-width); COLOR photograph of research microscope with fish-skin specimen on stage; two micro-photographs — magnified water flea (Daphnia) with eggs visible inside body (B&W or tinted); magnified Hydra organism with tentacles extended (B&W or tinted).

Hochzeit in Ungarn: Die Trauung vitéz Stefan von Horthys und der Gräfin Helene Edelsheim-Gyulai / Wedding in Hungary: The Marriage of Vitéz Stefan von Horthy and Countess Helene Edelsheim-Gyulai
p. 33 — Society photo feature on the Budapest wedding of Stefan von Horthy, son of Regent Nikolaus von Horthy, celebrated with traditional Hungarian magnate dress before the couple departed for Venice.
Three B&W photographs: groom and bride in traditional Hungarian magnate costume exiting the church; small portrait of the couple arriving by car; group photograph of wedding guests at the airfield waving farewell as the couple departs for Venice.

Die Welt braucht — Waren und nicht Devisen! / The World Needs — Goods, Not Foreign Exchange!
Professor Dr. Hunke
p. 35 — Opinion essay arguing that Germany’s barter-based trade system represents the future of international commerce, citing its dominance as Europe’s leading coal and industrial goods exporter.
No photographs; full-page Hensoldt Dialyt binoculars advertisement occupies the right column (B&W).

Franz Lehár (Signal-Feuilleton) / Franz Lehár (Signal Feuilleton)
Franz Lehár (operetta composer, as subject/contributor)
p. 36 (left column) — Humorous feuilleton in the voice of operetta composer Franz Lehár lamenting the impossible critical standards imposed on composers, illustrated with witty caricatures.
Four B&W ink caricature illustrations by an unidentified artist: Lehár conducting; chorus in wigs; harps; critics with scowling faces.

Advertisements
p. 2 (left column) | AGFA (Agfa Kamerawerk / Agfa Gevaert) — Agfa Filme, Platten, Papiere, Cameras, Cine-Filme, Entwickler, Agfacolor-Filme, Photo-Zubehör — ‘Erzeugnisse in aller Welt!’
p. 27 | Rheinmetall-Borsig AG, Werk Düsseldorf — Specialty steels, forgings, light-metal pressure vessels, high-pressure gas cylinders — industrial armaments supplier
p. 34 (lower half) | Seidel & Naumann, Dresden — Ideal and Erika typewriters — ‘Seidel & Naumann-Präzision’
p. 35 (right column) | M. Hensoldt & Söhne, Opt. Werke A-G, Wetzlar — Hensoldt Dialyt prismatic field binoculars — ‘Extra leicht’ — for travel, sport, and hunting
p. 39 | Agefko Kohlensäure-Werke GmbH, Berlin W 62 — Steel cylinder valves (Stahlflaschen-Ventile) for compressed and liquefied gases including CO₂, oxygen, nitrogen, acetylene, and specialty gases

Color Plates Summary
• Front cover — Cover photograph — bombs falling through dramatic cloudscape toward a French airfield (cover caption: ‘Dem Ziele zu: Bomben fallen auf einen französischen Flugplatz’); deep sepia/warm tone with bold red Signal masthead and red circle caption badge. Bi-color (red on sepia).
• p. 4 — Full-page infographic campaign map of Norway — red warship silhouettes, troop symbols, and bomb-burst markers on a bold black-sea / tan-land background. COLOR (red and tan on black). ★ MOST STRIKING GRAPHIC PLATE — unique among the issue’s color work for its bold, posterlike two-color infographic design.
• p. 9 — Full-page color photograph — Panzer III/IV tank at low angle with black-uniformed commander; vivid blue sky, mud-caked tracks, Balkenkreuz on turret. ★ MOST DRAMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC COLOR PLATE — exceptional photographic quality and composition.
• p. 10 — Tank tracks across a green field with Panzer on horizon; three crew portraits — all full COLOR.
• p. 19 — Full-page color photograph — ration carrier in a forward trench; warm earth tones and blue sky.
• pp. 20–21 — Camouflage feature — four COLOR photographs including Dornier Do 17 in flight over countryside; camouflage mat; observation post soldiers.
• p. 22 — Three COLOR photographs — foreign military attachés touring the Westwall in varied national uniforms.
• p. 31 — Full-page COLOR photograph — Organisation Todt workers placing Panzerwerk dome on scaffold under clear blue sky.
• p. 32 (top) — Large COLOR photograph — micro-photographer at glass aquarium with laboratory equipment.
• Back cover — Aerial reconnaissance photograph of the Rotterdam-Waalhaven airfield under German paratrooper attack — black aerial photo with bold red annotation circles, numbered callouts in red, and red Signal masthead banner; bold full-COLOR design. Teaser: ‘Großer Bildbericht über die Kämpfe im Westen im nächsten Heft’ (Major illustrated report on the battles in the West in the next issue).