GCHQ Site at Island Hill Question Please, Can you help?
Despite my success in recovering the history of purpose of a CSOS Wireless Station at Gilnahirk in Northern Ireland, I am at a loss to fully understand a GCHQ D/F Site on the shores of Strangford Lough, County Down Northern Ireland. I understand the purpose of a D/F Site, but why was it sited approximately five miles away from Gilnahirk at sea level? From a conversation with one of the staff this site was controlled from Scarborough, had its own, OIC, Three Operators, and a female cleaner. It was in no way connected to Gilnahirk except for a replacement operator when one of the three operators was sick or on holiday.
I have attached an aerial photograph of the site and you will see the D/F Hut, a path from the hut back to a Block House which contained an office, toilet, and a standby generator. I have also attached a Post Office cable diagram. Most surprisingly the telephone connection is aerial cable, open and exposed, not underground as one would expect with such a site.
If you can throw any light on the purpose of this site please respond, thank you.
Well Peter first and foremost thank you for a very interesting answer revealing that we have a lot in common. I shall begin with the Oral History Project. I have been a friend of the Somme Heritage Museum here in Northern Ireland and at the beginning of the year two thousand the museum received a grant from the National Lottery fund to carry out an Oral History project recording the memories of those Irish veterans who fought in the First, Second and Korean wars. We also included those of the civilian services north of the border, AFS, CD, ARW not forgetting the Home Guard. Although I was involved the majority of the recordings both audio and video were completed by my colleges Richard Parkinson and Bob McKinley. We covered the whole of Ireland north and south and on a number of occasions Richard and Bob travelled over to England and Scotland to interview Irish Veterans. A most rewarding and enjoyable task. The extensive collection is kept at the Somme Museum. You will have seen on the NSIST website mention of my 2010 visit to the RSS / SCU reunion at Bletchley Park where I had the pleasure of meeting those veterans who attended, obtaining their contact details and the contact details of others who were not able to attend. What had started as a weekend meeting continued for almost a year through the exchange of emails, telephone calls and in Pat Hawkers case snail mail letters. The furthest away contact was with Ray Wright in New Zealand who came to RSS Station No 4, Gilnahirk in the final year of the war. I did not receive my end of year email this past Christmas from Ray so I must assume he is in a nursing home or no longer with us. Of the CSOS staff the only male operator still alive in Northern Ireland is Brian Clarke who has placed some of his memories on this website, but there are still a number of the Gilly ladies about. Returning to the Bletchley Park recording / memories, what I say I say with respect, but I have a tremendous collection of material from the RSS / SCU veterans covering the VI's, then following on when they received their call up and finally those who went on to be involved with the SCU's in Europe after D-Day through to the defeat of Germany. Some as you may know like Pat Hawker were involved with Jedburgh, working with the various resistance groups. Finally, please allow me to correct any misunderstanding on my part of the Gilly Bismarck connection. If what Captain Joe Banham, regional officer of the RSS in Northern Ireland (1939 - 1945), said is correct, the Marconi Adcock HF/DF underground cabin was just one of many DF sites on standby to take a fix on any signal coming from Bismarck. My second account comes from Kenneth Larkin who I mentioned on the NSIST site. He recalls a word of congratulations from Banham to all the staff regarding the sinking of Bismarck. Kenneth had no knowledge of GS / DF as a GPO teleprinter operator, but some days after the congratulations he along with others were marched across the Gilnahirk Road, and up two fields some three hundreds yards from the wireless station to this hole in the ground surrounded by four very tall telegraph poles. Until that visit Kenneth's knowledge of any other activity was nil. Regarding the Island Hill D/F site I was told that it was only constructed in 1968 which meant it was only in service for ten years before it was switched off. I plan to ask Dr David Abrutat if this is correct and if I am wrong he may give me some more information. Thanks for the name of Mick Madden, I shall add him to my database as a VI and a CSOS operator. I made my last contribution to the NSIST site last night, but it is not my final submission as I have much more to share. If God spares me to Easter I will revisit and reveal more. Take care, and thanks again.
PS I am on the left of the picture (taken 2010) and the gentleman on the right married an Ulster Girl and comes over to Northern Ireland for family visits.
I had a private one to one visit with a fellow PO / BT Technical Officer (2010)