WW2 Clandestine Radio Operations

[VA3KOT John]

I came across a fascinating account of operating equipment, procedures and propagation between the Allied base radio stations in England and resistance fighters in France during World War 2.

Using low powered suitcase rigs and severely compromised wire antennas, resistance wireless operators had to send and receive vital traffic while at risk of being detected and apprehended by the enemy. Radio experts had only rudimentary knowledge of ionospheric skywave propagation yet managed to work out a set of frequencies to use at different times of day between operators just across the English Channel in Calais and hundreds of miles away in Marseille.

One thing that stood out for me was the system of variable 3-letter callsigns designed to confuse the enemy, yet still identify exactly which station was calling or being called.

I can't attach the article because the file size is too large for this forum so I have provided a link to the original source which was published by QRPARCI this morning. If you share my passion for WW2 radio operations or you have a general interest in propagation studies, you will enjoy reading it.

https://www.ab4oj.com/dl/misc/b2_rb0809.pdf