Wireless for the Warrior. The history of British Army Radio

(Louis Meulstee's web site)

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Wireless for the Warrior Compendium 1 'Spark to Larkspur' (Wireless Sets 1910-1948) is now available!

After a relative long period of inactivity caused by a move of home and work on a new WftW book Compendium 1 I finally took up the maintenance of this site. In future I will try to add new items from time to time, but considering the enormous grow of the available information on the Internet in the last 4-5 years I feel that the requirement for a source of information like this site is becoming of slightly less importance.

Welcome to the home page of Louis Meulstee, the author of the " WIRELESS FOR THE WARRIOR" range of books devoted to the technical history and development of British Army radio communication.

On this web site you will find basic technical descriptions and photographs of radio sets once used in the British Army. In addition, there are also posted numerous other subjects for example: line telegraph (the Fullerphone), Air-Sea rescue sets (Gibson Girl), a gallery with USSR radios and various other subjects.

The background colour of the "Wireless for the Warrior" pages on this site is not taken at random but matches the colour of British Army radio equipment in the early World War 2 period.

Additional information, changes and error corrections for Volume 1 and 2 are posted on the additions page.

Wireless for the Warrior, Volume 1 to 4 and Compendium 1

The Wireless for the Warrior range of books (comprising the Volume and Compendium series) is intended as a detailed source of reference of the history and development of radio communication equipment in use by the British Army from the very early days of radio to the 1960s.

Volume 1 (Wireless Sets No. 1 to 88) and Volume 2 (Standard Sets for World War II) cover transmitters and transceivers used the period 1932-1948. This era was not taken arbitrarily, but represents two milestones in the technical progress of British Military radio communication:

The first milestone was in 1929 when positive steps were taken to formulate and develop a new series of wireless sets of which the first became available around 1932. This series was a great improvement on the then obsolete World War I pattern equipment.
The second milestone was reached at the end of World War II with the introduction of VHF FM and hermetically sealed equipment of the Larkspur range on which initial development began during the war.
The period also represent the use of the numerical classification system which was abandoned after World War II.

In Volume 3 (Reception Sets) Army receivers are described, spanning the era 1932 to the late 1960s. The book does not only cover those receivers specifically designed or adapted for the British Army, but also sets adopted from Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. In addition are covered special receivers, direction finding receivers, Canadian and Australian Army receivers, commercial receivers adopted by the Army and Army Welfare broadcast sets.

Volume 4 (Clandestine Radio) include Clandestine, Agents or 'Spy' radio equipment, sets which were used by Special Forces, Partisans, Resistance, 'Stay Behind' organisations, Australian Coast Watchers and Diplomatic Service, in addition to selected associated power sources, RDF and intercept receivers, bugs and radio- and radar beacons. The information has been compiled through the collaboration of a vast number of collectors and enthusiasts around the world.

All four Volumes can be obtained direct from the publisher Wimborne Publishing Ltd.

The Compendium series is a new addition to the Wireless for the Warrior range of books. The new series is principally intended as practical guides and reference/recognition/identification handbooks of British Army signalling equipment. With a contents of a condensed data summary, photographs and notes about each item of equipment, its pocket size format and laminated soft cover make it convenient for carrying on visits to flea markets or radio fairs, or just browsing at leasure.

Compendium 1 "Spark to Larkspur" (Wireless Sets 1910 - 1948) is the initial book organised into three main sections being 'World War 1', further divided into chapters covering spark sets, CW sets receivers amplifiers and miscellaneous. The second section, 'Interwar years' cover standard sets, experimental communication sets, experimental tank and AFV sets, early sets in the numerical series and miscellaneous items. Finally, the section 'World War 2' covers sets in the numerical series up to Wireless Set No. 88 AFV.

Compendium 1 is now available, direct from the Dutch publisher

or from Wimborne Publishing Ltd.

DOWNLOAD SECTION
A new page in progress

Attentie
De inhoud van oude website (Planet Internet hosted) staat nu op dit domein.
De url van de oude website blijft voorlopig nog aktief http://home.wxs.nl/~meuls003/ maar is verder afgesloten.

Attention
The contents of my old web site (hosted by Planet Internet) is incorporated in this domain. The old web site url http://home.wxs.nl/~meuls003/ will be available until further notice, but its contents has been removed.

You can reach me by e-mail on the following address: louis 'at' wftw.nl

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