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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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 19. https://www.forces.net/operations/falklands/falklands-conflict-how-british-forces-won-war
 20. https://www.forces.net/operations/falklands/falklands-recalling-events-leading-battle-goose-green
 21. https://www.forces.net/operations/falklands/widow-emotional-visit-falklands-40-years-after-husbands-death
 22. https://www.forces.net/falklands-1982/civilian-po-doctor-who-treated-wounded-troops-during-falklands-conflict
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