A motorcycle fitted out to look like a giant telephone in an effort by the GPO to bring home to the public the importance of the phone. The dial on the wheel bears the slogan, “The World at Your Finger Tips”. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 20th June 1932

A telephone operator at the Central Office wears a portable headset made by the American Bell Telephone Company, 1923. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

From left to right, British Commander Sir John Dill (1881–1944), US General George Marshall (1880–1959) and Admiral Louis Mountbatten (1900–1979) during World War II, circa 1942. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The GPO Mobile Call Office Unit, primarily designed to meet emergency needs, in the car park of the Royal Festival Hall, London. (Photo by Monty Fresco Jnr/Getty Images). 1955

A portable radio-telephone which can dial into telephone systems, developed by Pye Telecommunications, being demonstrated at an exhibition “Communications Today, Tomorrow and the Future’” at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London. (Photo by Stacey/Fox Photos/Getty Images). 11th April 1972