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   [18]Falklands

How two amateur radio enthusiasts secretly passed soldiers' 'I am safe'
messages during Falklands War


    Hannah King Ros Moore

   7th December 2022 at 5:44pm

   At the height of the [19]Falklands war, the unlikely friendship of
   two amateur radio enthusiasts 8,000 miles apart allowed more than 50
   soldiers the opportunity to get messages home to their loved ones.

   Bob McLeod, a ham radio operator, made history when he broke the news
   to the world that the Falklands had been invaded but, in doing so, he
   had also drawn the attention of the Argentines, who were quick to
   confiscate his equipment.

   On 29 May 1982, 2 PARA have just fought a gruesome battle to take
   [20]Goose Green, freeing more than 100 villagers who had been held
   captive in a hall by the Argentinians for almost seven weeks.
     * [21]Widow on emotional visit to Falklands 40 years after husband's
       death
     * [22]The civilian P&O doctor who treated wounded troops during
       Falklands conflict
     * [23]In Memoriam: Every one of Britain's 255 military dead

   Eighteen British soldiers were lost in the fight.

   Back at home, the families of 2 PARA had heard nothing since the
   soldiers had set sail and had no way of contacting them.

   Alan Bullock was the Forward Observation Officer of D Company, 2 PARA
   and, while walking through the main street of Goose Green, spotted an
   antenna on a house belonging to Bob.

   "So, I knock on the door and say 'hello... is there any chance you are
   a radio amateur?'

   "He said 'yes... but the Argentinians took my transmitter and smashed
   it up'."

   Bob's wife then suggested they use his 50W amplifier that was safely
   hidden under the stairs.

   As Forward Observation Officer, Alan had his state-of-the-art at the
   time, military clansman radio, which although only 20 watts for
   communicating over short distances, could be combined.
   Bob McLeod amateur radio Falklands 071222 CREDIT BFBS_0. Bob
   McLeod made history when he broke the news to the world that the
   Falklands had been invaded.

   In order to get messages back to the UK, Bob made contact with John
   Wright, a radio amateur in Oxford who he had been chatting to over the
   airwaves for many years.

   Together Bob and John devised a cryptic code for their conversation and
   each transmitted on different frequencies, in case anyone was
   listening.

   John was given a soldier's phone number and short message to pass on to
   his family.

   Word quickly got around the troops and soon it wasn't just D Company's
   families Bob and John were contacting.

   Before long, there was a queue outside Bob's door, with each message
   always the same - 'I am safe'.

   John said: "Normally amateur radio enthusiasts talk about their radio
   equipment, experiments they're doing.

   "In this case, the communication was to pass family traffic which,
   under normal circumstances, isn't allowed, but I threw caution to the
   wind and did what I could as quickly and as clandestinely as possible."

   One of those they helped to get a message home was Dick Kalinski, of
   1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment, who recently met with Bob, 40
   years on.

   He said: "I can't stress enough how much we appreciated your help. For
   us, you were our link with home.

   "It took a lot of worry off the soldiers of the families that were
   contacted.

   "We're very, very grateful for that."
   Tags
     * [24]Falklands
     * [25]Falklands 1982
     * [26]History
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