AMATEUR radio operators, or ‘hams’, are often the unsung heroes in times of conflict, but two upcoming events are set to shed light on the important role they played.

For the first time, the Peel Amateur Radio Group has been given permission to set up a display as part of the Anzac Day services at Kings Park on Friday April 25.

PARG past president Denis Brown said it was a great honour to be given the green light by the Returned and Services League to have a presence during the ceremony.

“Members of the public may be interested to see the hobby in action as contacts are made – after the service of course – with our fellows in honour of this event,” Mr Brown said.

Prior to World War II, many amateur radio operators had developed extensive skills in communication and signal decoding. 

As nations prepared for war, these operators were often recruited into military and intelligence services, setting up secure communication networks, intercepting enemy transmissions, and assisting in codebreaking efforts, which proved crucial in the Allied war strategy.

During the war, amateur radio operators were also involved in resistance efforts. 

Their involvement in one of the most remarkable underground operations during the war is also being commemorated by the Peel group at the Bull Creek Aviation Museum on Sunday April 27.

A team will be setting up in the radio operator’s position in the museum’s giant Lancaster bomber to commemorate Operations Mann and Chowhound with colleagues in The Netherlands, Great Britain, Poland, Canada and the United States.

“Operations Manna and Chowhound were humanitarian food drops into a famine-wracked Netherlands at the close of World War II,” Mr Brown said.

Banned

When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands in 1940, they quickly banned amateur radio to prevent Dutch operators from communicating with the Allies and actively hunted them down using direction-finding equipment. 

Despite the threat of execution or being sent to a concentration camp, many radio enthusiasts went underground, using hidden or makeshift radio transmitters to send intelligence to the British and other resistance networks, relaying information about German troop movements, supply lines and strategic locations.

As the war drew to a close, they were able to alert the Allies to the imminent starvation of thousands of Dutch people, known as the “Hunger Winter”, when Germany responded to a rail strike by blockading supplies to the country.

The information provided by the hams convinced the British to launch Operation Manna, while their US counterparts called their action Operation Chowhound.

It involved dropping 11,000 tons of food over the Netherlands in low-flying bombers, in part helped by a temporary truce with the Germans who agreed not to shoot at the aircraft.

“Air crew from the various squadrons including Australia’s No. 460 flew the lifesaving sorties,” Mr Brown said.

“Doug Arrowsmith was a pilot in the 460 Squadron and recently passed away at the Bull Creek RAAFA village [next to the Aviation Museum].”

Mr Brown said the pilot’s daughter Judith is organising a 460 Squadron relatives group here in WA and will visit the museum in the late afternoon in the hopes of signing a few people up.

Mr Brown said the “glue” holding the various ceremonies around the world together to celebrate the anniversary is amateur radio.

“Radio amateurs, as part of the hobby, often celebrate historical events of state, national and international significance,” he said.

“They do so by making contact with fellow amateurs, exchanging information they may have and sending ‘QSL cards’ – postcard sized evidence of their participation.”

The aviation museum’s opening hours are from 10am – 4pm.