Over 100 amateur radio stations across Europe talked to Fermanagh among D-Day events, including the most historic, its call sign F/ON6JUN/P simulating France, 6 June, at Pegasus Bridge, scene of D-Day’s very first action as glider troops seized a vital canal crossing.
Six Erne amateurs led by Herbie Graham, call sign GI6JPO, set up Fermanagh’s station on a hilltop in Cavancarragh to commemorate the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club had set up a similar station for the 50th anniversary in the control tower at St Angelo airport. Its call sign was GB2SA. For the weekend’s station, Ofcom approved GB2CA, in memory of RAF Castle Archdale, another of Fermanagh’s three WW2 air-bases that played a key part in the Battle of the Atlantic defending convoys from U-boat attacks.
The GB2CA team included Ivan GI8WJN, Alan GI6PYP, Iain MI3GHY, Cahal GI0CAH, and Cliff, GI4CZW an LEARC founder member involved in the first of these stations, GB4SUN commemorating Sunderland flying boats on the 40th anniversary of VE Day. It happens the Pegasus Bridge team also numbered six. They were there as a Belgian amateur radio expedition, call sign ON6JUN, in France and Portable, hence call sign F/ON6JUN/P.
The Erne’s first war success was in May 1941. Gilnahirk’s hill top radio station in Belfast helped locate the German battleship Bismarck by her Morse code signals. Catalina flying boats from RAF Killadeas were sent to find her. They did, and she was sunk soon after. Meantime, hundreds of radio amateurs were listening to German Morse code signals and reporting them to Bletchley Park for decoding. Just as with Bismarck, information on U-boats helped Fermanagh flying boats and naval surface craft to defeat U-boats attacking convoys, which by 1943 were carrying huge cargoes of men and material for the D-Day landings. These included US Army units on their way to Fermanagh to prepare there for D-Day.
Photographs
GB2CA operator, Ivan GI8WJN and note-taker, Cliff GI4CZW
GB2CA 20m Cubical Quad on a Fermanagh hill-top
Posted 07 October, 2009 11:55:33 GMT