David Hebditch - Covert Radio Agents, 1939–1945

Covert Radio Agents, 19391945

Signals From Behind Enemy Lines

David Hebditch

First published in Great Britain in 2021 by

Pen & Sword Military

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright David Hebditch 2021

ISBN 978 1 52679 494 9

eISBN 978 1 52679 495 6

Mobi ISBN 978 1 52679 496 3

The right of David Hebditch to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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D r Ian Herrington provided an invaluable guiding hand through his remarkable research into the activities of the Special Operations Executive in Norway. My friend, historian and author Ola Flyum on Sula Island, Trndelag made sure the Scandinavian perspective was kept in focus. I am grateful to veteran radio-interceptors Geoffrey Pidgeon and Bob King for trying to locate a legible version of the Radio Security Services plotting map. I am indebted to Henry Wilson of Pen & Sword for his wise advice on the development of the book. And many thanks to military historian Dan Hebditch for his guidance on the key events of the Second World War, especially in Australia and the South Pacific. In all cases any errors are entirely of my own making.

Unless otherwise credited, all images used are freely available in the public domain.

Four Technical Briefings are included in ) how messages were encrypted by the agent and the home station to make them as difficult as possible for the enemy to read. If you are confident in your knowledge of these topics, it is fine to skip the briefings selectively. Otherwise you might even consider reading them first they include many more accounts of the exploits of the Second World Wars radio agents.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware this book contains the images and names of people who have passed away.

Radio agents, who appeared for the first time during World War II, decisively influenced the entire course of the unhappy struggle.

Wilhelm F. Flicke, cryptanalyst, German High Command

A short-wave radios rate of fire was agonisingly slow. There was no nose-art on the transmitter, no swastikas bragging of each kill. But a single message of a few words from these boxes could obliterate hundreds of the enemy. A different signal at another time might ensure fighters on your side would get home to their families, alive and well.

Wireless operator was a perilous occupation; at times, life expectancy behind enemy lines was six weeks. The truth was bleak: to do their job they had to announce their whereabouts to the enemy.

These are the actions a well-trained radio agent would undertake in order to transmit a message. First, he or she would extend the correct length of wire aerial up a nearby tree or other structure. Then they would double check the planned time of contact and tune to the next scheduled frequency. After connecting the battery, headphones would be pulled on and the Morse key plugged in. Turning the set on and flipping a switch to transmit was the instant the agent effectively announced Hello, Im here to an enemy impatient to shoot them dead with machine-pistols.