Coventry's WW2 Secret Listeners. Amateur Radio War effort.
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At the outbreak of the second world war, in many countries all radio amateur licences were suspended. However radio amateurs continued using their skills to aid the war effort. In the UK around 1500 radio amateurs were recruited by MI5 through the Radio Society of Great Britain - RSGB. As radio amateurs they would have been an ideal choice, being able to read Morse code under difficult conditions, being able to operate & maintain shortwave equipment.
| Coventry's secret listeners were Arthur Noakes G2FTK, Cyril Taylor G2ZT, Bob Palmer G5PP, Jack Tuck G6TD and possibly one other yet to be confirmed. All working in reserved occupations and as such not being called up into the armed forces, however they would have been issued with Royal Observer Corps uniforms. Needless to say there operations were highly secret even their families were not always aware of their clandestine activities.
| To recognise the work of the Coventry secret listeners, the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum has accepted the wartime shortwave receiver used by Arthur Noakes G2FTK in to it's collection of local wartime artifacts. The presentation made by the Noakes family along with representatives of the Taylor & Palmer families, on the 30th September 2011, assisted by members of the Coventry Amateur Radio Society.
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