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Before WWII, Poland was already known for its compact and powerful
spy radio sets,
such as the Pipsztok (Peepshtock) developed by Thadeusz
Heftman, a Polish radio engineer who had been educated in Germany.
The sets were built at the AVA factory in Warsaw (Poland) —
the same factory that built the
doubles
of the Enigma cipher machine
prior to the outbreak of the war.
After the outbreak of WWII, some Polish radio engineers successfully
escaped to the UK, where they were allowed to operate their own
clandestine radio service and build their own spy radio sets.
The Polish sets were of remarkable quality and were often
better, smaller and more powerful than their contemporary British counterparts.
They were used by the Polish Underground Army as well as by the British SOE
at all theatres of the war, but mainly in Europe and the Pacific.
After the war, as a result of the Yalta conference, Poland was separated from
the West and came under the influence of the Soviet Union (USSR),
despite the fact that they had played a significant part in the liberation
of Erope.
It became part of the Warsaw Pact, a
collective defense treaty of eight communist states, lead by the
Soviet Union. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1991, Poland became a member of NATO in 1999, and of the European Union
in 2004.
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Polish spy radio sets on this website
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In the early days of WWII, several Poles
managed to escape to the United Kingdom. There, the Polish
soldiers were allowed to setup and train their own Army units within the UK,
whilst the Polish engineers manned the Polish Military Wireless Unit
(Polski Wojskowy Warsztat Radiowy) at Stanmore, 1 just north-west of London,
between Edgware and Watford. They were responsible for the contact
between their government in exile and the Polish Underground Army back
in Poland.
At Stanmore Park, the Poles also manufactured their own
spy radio sets,
which were developed by Thadeusz Heftman, a Polish radio engineer who had
been trained in Germany. In the late 1930s, Heftman had been working for
AVA in Warsaw, a small company that built clandestine radio sets for the
Polish Intelligence Service at the time. AVA was also the company who built
the Polish Enigma Replicas
in the early 1930s after the Poles had
successfully broken the German Enigma cipher.
Just before the outbreak of WWII, Heftman had developed and built a number
of so-called Pipsztok (Peepshtock) radio sets that were both powerful and
small – perfect for clandestine use.
When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, the AVA company was first
relocated to Romania and later to France, with the intention to manufacture
the Peepshtock there. But when France was invaded by Germany in 1940, Heftman
escaped to the UK, taking one of his Pipsztoki and the circuit
diagrams with him. He was assigned to the Polish Military Wireless Unit,
located at Stanmore Park, where he developed a wide range of superior
spy radio sets,
starting with the A1 (Nelka) in 1941,
followed by the A2,
A3,
AP4
and AP5.
These radios were mainly built for the SOE.
Alongside the A-series, Heftman also developed the so-called B-series
(later: BP-series). Unlike the A-series, which had a built-in power supply
unit (PSU), the B-series used an external PSU and were less prone to
overheating, making them more suitable for operation in urban environments.
The B-series started with the B1
and B2 in 1942, followed a year later
by the BP3,
BP4 and
BP5.
At the time of their introduction, the BP radios
were superior to the existing British spy sets,
both in size and performance.
It wasn't until 1943, with the
introduction of the (much larger) British B2, that the British
were able to match the performance of the Polish sets. And with the
introduction of their A3, in 1944,
they were finally able to match the size, albeit at a lower RF power output.
During WWII, the Poles made a significant contribution
to the war effort, not only by building clandestine radio sets, but also
by breaking the Enigma cipher machine.
The Polish Government in Exile was led from London by General Sikorski.
Under his command, the Polish Air Force played an important role in the
Battle of Britain, the Polish Navy had 15 warships and 35 merchant
vessels at sea, and the Polish Brigade fought at
Narvik and Tobruk (North Africa). They also took part in the
liberation of Italy (General Anders), Belgium and parts of the Netherlands
(General Maczek), whereas the Parachute Brigade (General Sosabowski) was
present at the Battle of Arnhem.
Once the war was over, the Poles could not return to their
home country, as Poland had come under control of Stalin's Soviet Union —
one of the outcomes of the Yalta Conference of February 1945 [3].
As a result, England still has a large Polish Community today (2014),
such as the one in Letchworth [4].
Similar Polish communities were established in The Netherlands,
for example in Breda where many of Maczek's people settled down after the war.
The Polish contribution to the Allied Victory is often forgotten,
but luckily we have museums like the Sikorski Institute in London (UK) [5]
and the Maczek Museum 2 in Breda (Netherlands) [6], to remind us of their
efforts.
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-
During WWII, Stanmore was home to the Radio Security Service
(RSS) of MI6, the RAF (the Battle of Britain was controlled from
here) and the Radio Workshop of the Polish Army in Exile, all of which were
located at Stanmore Park. From 1942 onwards, Stanmore Park also became known
as Outstation Stanmore (OSS), when Bletchley Park
moved 49 of its Bombes
to the site. They were used for breaking the
German Enigma cipher.
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In 2011, Crypto Museum took part in the
Enigma exhibition at the Maczek Museum
in Breda (Netherlands)
to commemorate the Polish code-breaking efforts before and during WWII.
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Known Polish spy radio sets
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Name
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Year
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Frequency
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Remark
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Pipsztok
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1939
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?
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pre-WWII
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A-1 (Nelka)
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1941
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?
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Prone to overheading
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A-2
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1942
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?
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A-3
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1943
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?
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AP-4
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1943
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AP-5
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1944
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?
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Introducing break-in keying
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➤
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AP-6
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1945
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?
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Prototype
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AP-7
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1945
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?
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Midget variant (prototype)
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B-1
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1942
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2-8 MHz
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B-2
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1942
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4-16 MHz
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BP-3
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1943
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2-8 MHz
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➤
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BP-4
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1943
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4-16 MHz
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BP-5
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1944
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2-8 MHz
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Introducing phone (voice)
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➤
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KR-1000
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1943
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3.5-16 MHz
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High power transmitter
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MR-2
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1943
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?
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Based on AP-5
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MR-3
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1944
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2-8 MHz
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Based on MR-2
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NP-3
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1944
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3.5-9 MHz
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Miniature transmitter
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NS
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1942
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4.5-9.5 MHz
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Mains powered
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NSP
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1942
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4.5-9.5 MHz
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Mains and battery powered
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OP-3
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1943
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0.6-1.5 MHZ, 2-12 MHz
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Receiver
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➤
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OSB I
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1942
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3-9 MHz
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Battery powered receiver
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OSB II
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1942
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3-9 MHz
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Battery powered receiver
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UB
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~1950
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2-12 MHz
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Name suggested by Louis Meulstee in [1]
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- Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army)
- Bureau II and VI of the Polish General Staff
- SOE (mainly in Europe and Asia)
- BCRA (French resistance)
- Czech Resistance
- Yugoslav Resistance
- Albanian Resistance
- Resistance groups in Italy
- OSS (probably used in the Pacific)
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- Louis Meulstee, Wireless for the Warrior, volume 4
ISBN 0952063-36-0, September 2004
- Pierre Lorain, Secret Warfare
1972. English adaption by David Kahn, 1983.
ISBN 0-85613-586-0.
- Wikipedia, Yalta Conference
Retrieved December 2014.
- RC Church of St Hugh of Lincoln (Letchworth), The Local Polish Community
Retrieved December 2014.
- Wikipedia, Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum
Retrieved December 2014. → Website.
- Website, Generaal Maczek Museum Breda
Retrieved December 2014.
- Wikipedia, Polish government in exile
Retrieved January 2015.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Wednesday 31 December 2014. Last changed: Saturday, 13 July 2024 - 06:35 CET.
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