[Milsurplus] South America Mil Radio in WWII?

[David Stinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Military1944 at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] South America Mil Radio in WWII?


> Did anyone in South America take part in WW2 ? I thought they were all
> 'neutral'
>
> Didn't they all offer 'neutral' ports, ie where German raiders could put
in
> a do repairs !

Actually, many of the Central and South American nations declared war
against the Axis at some time during the conflict.
Discounting those who joined the "Me, Too!" wagon after
early 1945, they included:

Brazil: After the German attack against Brazilian ships
in the Atlantic Ocean, Brazil sided with the Allies,
declaring war against Germany and Italy in 1942.

Bolivia: Declare war on Germany, joining the Allies on 4 December 1943.

Costa Rica, Dominican Republic:
Don't know the exact dates, but sometime middle to late war.

El Salvador:  December 8th, 1941.  At the time, El Salvador was a
de-facto American client state with a dictator and economy with
strong financial ties to the U.S.

Guatemala: Declared war on Japan on 9 December 1941, Germany
a few days later.

Haiti:  Another American client state at the time, declared war
on Japan and Germany each one day after the U.S. had done so.

Mexico:
Joined the Allies in 1942 and sent a fighter squadron to Europe
(equipped by the U.S. with P-47s) that did some bomber escort.

Nicaragua:
A close ally of the U.S., Nicaragua declared war on Japan immediately after
the attack on Pearl Harbor. Three days later, on 11 December,
Nicaragua declared war on Germany and Italy, and on 19 December,
it declared war on Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.

Peru:
When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Peru became the first
South American country to declare war on the Axis Powers.
Because of its ability to produce aviation fuel and proximity
to the Panama Canal, the oil refinery and port city of Talara,
in north west Peru, became a major US air base.

(most references from Wikipedia).

My father-in-law was Signal Corps in the Caribbean during the war,
and he says there were issues concerning U.S. and U.K. patrol craft
talking to Central/South American craft.
My interest has to do with my ongoing search for the
*central* reason the AN/ARC-5 LF transmitters were produced.
So far, my working theory is that most Central/South American navies
were still equipped with radios that conformed to the late 1920s
naval agreements that put most of their comms, including
aircraft, under 2 MC, and the LF transmitters were built to
allow U.S. aircraft to talk to these people, rather then assume
the unidentified aircraft/ship was hostile and smoke it.
I haven't yet found where, say, a U.S. PBY bombed a
Peruvian fishing boat, but I'd bet it happened.
 Not enough to say that for sure; at least, not yet.

73 Dave S.