Archive - Tuesday, 1 June 2004


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Radio station echoes days of bloody conflict

COMMEMORATIONS to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the D-Day landings are being held in Monmouth, during the weekend of June 5 and 6.

A display of old photographs and memorabilia will be on display at Monmouth's museum. At the same time, volunteers have assembled a radio station similar to those used during the campaign to liberate France from the Nazis in 1944.

The station will be operational on Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6, on the Vauxhall Playing Fields behind the museum.

The volunteers will be contacting similar stations located on the Normandy beaches, and also in Kent and Sussex.

Members of the local Vintage and Military Amateur Radio Society put together a Second World War era radio station, like those used in France in the early days of the campaign to win back the country from the Nazis.

The station is aiming to contact similar stations on the Normandy beaches, at Dover and in Sussex. This will emulate the typical radio nets of the wartime.

Rather than send messages by Morse code, which was the practice at the time, the volunteers will be using speech, so that everyone listening in can readily understand the messages.

The venture has been supported by Capt Henderson of the Royal Mon-mouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia), and whether you are a veteran of the conflict, or other campaigns, an amateur radio operator, or just interested in radios or Second World War history, its an event worth attending.

The Wireless Set No19 has been re-constructed by Mike Hazell, an amateur radio operator and technician, and was widely used in Jeeps, tanks and armoured vehicles of all kinds during the war.

The Second World War was probably the first war where radio communication was vital and when it failed - the battle was lost - a truth so tragically enacted at Arnhem.

The volunteers make no attempt to dress up in period costumes as they investigate the difficulties and excitement of early radio communications. Visitors are very welcome to join them at any time during the weekend.