[Milsurplus] FOLLOW-UP to Robert Watson-Watt post

[Mark Dinsmore]

Well, a little searching with Google and clearly there are articles of both perspectives with respect to amateur radio operations in wartime Germany. This one has some pretty interesting links and information and I’ll just drop the link here.

http://onetuberadio.com/2014/12/03/german-and-british-amateur-radio-stations-on-the-air-during-ww2/

 Mark K7MD.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 27, 2019, at 4:22 PM, Hubert Miller <kargo_cult at msn.com<mailto:kargo_cult at msn.com>> wrote:

Ron, I did not mean in any way to imply you were the ultimate source of the statement. I have the same book.
However, the statement in the excerpt below is clearly, basically wrong. Ham radio actually did go on in Germany into the war. I am pretty sure I gave away the 'Radio Bygones' article already. I believe past numbers are available still in DVD compilations.
Of course, there was no communication permitted with other countries, it was strictly in-country. The fact of continued ham radio in the Reich is sure to surprise any radio hobbyist today. Who would suppose otherwise ? Converse to the reasoning for the supposed outlawing of ham radio, I believe, and believe I read, that the
reason for continuance was to promote  training of people who would likely enter the ranks of  the military. When Prof. Jones stated "Hitler banned amateur radio", that was lazy writing. I strongly suspect Hitler had no more micromanaged amateur radio than he managed the new strict 1938 laws on radio listening. Maybe he signed off on them. He DID micromanage weapons procurement, to Germany's detriment.

There was one far-out article about WWII ham radio I recall from R.B.  Seems there was a Dutch ham who just couldn't give up the hobby. He kept on hamming
well after the Germans occupied the country. Probably worked the countries still neutral, I suppose. I'm sure his signals aroused interest from the Germans, but when
they DF'd him, they didn't deliver a Cease & Desist Notice; he was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. He survived the war, however. Shame he didn't write
his memoirs.

I conclude that the lack of well-trained technicians in the Reich was that technical knowledge was just less well diffused in Europe. Plus when war came, the U.S.
was better positioned in resources and manpower ( personpower ), so even people right off the farm were brought up to speed in the excellent technical training.
The same rich atmosphere for innovation exists here still, altho – that may be being overtaken ? Interesting subject.

( digression ) I did read a couple memoirs recently that really impressed me, though, with the problem of enforcing rules and quality control with "employees" who
were mostly young men. So many aircraft crashes due to mistakes, miscalculations, assumptions, adjustments or tasks forgotten.
-Hue

>This is the source of my comments on amateur radio operators and the German military. It is from “The Wizard War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945” ,page 244, by Professor R.V.Jones and is written in the first person.


>“The low technical ability of the operator and the high engineering
standard of the equipment were not altogether dissociated. When I met
General Martini, the Head of German Air Signals and Radar, after the
war, I told him that these two factors had surprised me, and he pointed
out that he had a very low priority in demanding personnel and had to
make do with those who were deemed unsuitable for other duties. He
had no skilled reserve to draw upon among radio amateurs, as we had,
because Hitler had banned amateur radio before the war since it might
provide communication links for disaffected organizations. Martini had
therefore to ensure that the equipment was so well made, and so easily
replaceable if any part broke down, that the system could be operated by
relatively unskilled personnel.”

QED

Ron K3PID









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