__NOTOC__ Soldatensender Calais (G.9) (, ''Soldiers' Radio Calais'') was a British

black propaganda Black propaganda is a form of propaganda intended to create the impression that it was created by those it is supposed to discredit. Black propaganda contrasts with gray propaganda, which does not identify its source, as well as white propagan ...

broadcaster during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

operated by the

Political Warfare Executive During World War II, the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) was a British clandestine body created to produce and disseminate both white and black propaganda, with the aim of damaging enemy morale and sustaining the morale of countries occupied ...

. It pretended to be a station of the German military broadcasting network. The station was in operation between 14 November 1943 and 30 April 1945, when it ceased operations. ''Soldatensender Calais'' operated on the mediumwave band on 833 kHz (360 metres), 714 kHz (420 metres), and 612 kHz (490 metres), with an associated shortwave station '' Kurzwellensender Atlantik'' (''Shortwave Station Atlantic'') created to broadcast to U-boat crews. The station used a 500 kilowatt transmitter originally built for American broadcaster WJZ, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. This transmitter had lain unused at the factory after the United States

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

imposed a 50 kW power limit on all U.S. stations, and so

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

was glad to sell it overseas and the British Secret Service bought it for £165,000. Codenamed

Aspidistra ''Aspidistra'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae, native to eastern and southeastern Asia, particularly China and Vietnam. They grow in shade under trees and shrubs. Their leaves ...

, it was installed in a huge, underground bunker near

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest and the highest town in the High Weald AONB, High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is located south-west of Royal Tunbridge ...

in Sussex, England, where it was briefly the world's largest medium wave station, perfect for deceptive "black" operation. ''Soldatensender Calais'' operated from 6 p.m.

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

to dawn. Unlike its predecessor ''

Gustav Siegfried Eins ''Gustav Siegfried Eins'' (GS1) was a British black propaganda radio station during World War II operated by the Political Warfare Executive (PWE). It was the brainchild of Sefton Delmer, a former BBC German service announcer recruited by PWE i ...

'', the programmes were live from the purposely-built broadcast studio at

Milton Bryan Milton Bryan is a village and civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace the ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

''Bletchley Park's Secret Sisters: Psychological Warfare in World War II'', John A. Taylor, The Book Castle 2005, and presented by

Agnes Bernelle Agnes Bernelle (born Agnes Elisabeth Bernauer; 7 March 1923 – 15 February 1999) was a Berlin-born actress and singer, who lived in England for many years, then Ireland. She appeared in over 20 films and also made stage and television appearanc ...

using the codename "Vicky". The method of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

used by ''Soldatensender Calais'' was described by

Sefton Delmer Denis Sefton Delmer (24 May 1904 – 4 September 1979) was a British journalist of Australian heritage and propagandist for the British government during the Second World War. Born in Berlin and fluent in German, he became friendly with Erns ...

, its creator, in his book, ''Black Boomerang'', as "cover, cover, dirt, cover, dirt"; that is, using good music and providing coverage of sports and other events of interest to a German serviceman, the station made that listener receptive to propaganda items aimed at decreasing morale. An example was a warning of confidence men swindling German soldiers being transferred from France to the Russian front. This approach could be compared to those used by

Tokyo Rose Tokyo Rose (alternative spelling Tokio Rose) was a name given by Allied troops in the South Pacific during World War II to all female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The programs were broadcast in the South Pacific ...

and

Axis Sally Axis Sally was the generic nickname given to women radio personalities who broadcast English-language propaganda on behalf of the European Axis Powers during World War II. These included: * Mildred Gillars, a German American who broadcast for Naz ...

, without the heavy-handedness of the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

programs. ''Soldatensender Calais'', as part of its cover, relayed speeches by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and other Nazi officials. During the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

invasion of 6 June 1944, ''Soldatensender Calais'' broadcast information that was intended to impress German intelligence officers that the invasion area was wider than it actually was. After the

Pas de Calais The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait, historically known as the Dover Narrows, is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, and separating Great Britain from continental ...

area was overrun, the station changed its callsign to ''Soldatensender West''. ''Soldatensenders broadcast was repeated in print the next day in the PWE/

OSS OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

''Nachrichten für die Truppe'' air-dropped newspaper for German troops. The station closed on 30 April 1945 without any official announcement. Other clandestine radio stations operated by the Political Warfare Executive and its forerunners during the war included ''Das wahre Deutschland'' (G.1), '' Sender der Europäischen Revolution'' (G.2), ''

'' (G.3), ''Wehrmachtssender Nord'' (G.5) and the ''German Priest'' (G.7) station. The Soviet-based

German People's Radio German People's Radio (German: ''Deutscher Volkssender'') was a German-language radio station operating from Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, during World War II. History In January 1937 German Freedom Radio was established by the Communist P ...

also known as ''Deutscher Volkssender'' was inspired, in part, by Soldatensender Calais.

References

Bibliography

* ''Black Boomerang—An Autobiography, Volume Two'', (Secker & Warburg, 1962), D Sefton Delmer. * ''The Black Game—British Subversive Operations Against the Germans During the Second World War'', (Michael Joseph, 1982), Ellic Howe. * ''The Secret History of PWE—Political Warfare Executive 1939–1945'', (St Ermin's Press, 2002), David Garnett. {{ISBN, 1-903608-08-2

External links

G.9 Kurzwellensender Atlantik / Soldatensender Calais Daily Transcripts

The controversy between the British Broadcasting Corporation and Political Warfare Executive over Soldatensender Calais

Black Boomerang
Sefton Delmer's out-of-print book.

Extensively illustrated paper describing the Allied effort in World War II to undermine Germany through unidentified or misidentified radio broadcasts.
Policy and Methods of Black Propaganda against Germany
Official Memorandum signed by Brigadier-General Robert A. McClure, Chief of PWD/SHAEF, regarding policy and methods of black propaganda against Germany. Although signed by McClure the author of the memo is almost certainly Sefton Delmer. Black propaganda organisations British propaganda organisations British propaganda during World War II Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Foreign Office during World War II History of telecommunications in the United Kingdom Military history of Bedfordshire Radio during World War II Radio stations in Bedfordshire World War II propaganda Radio stations established in 1943 Radio stations disestablished in 1945

See also

References

Bibliography

External links