Valve & Vintage
Scott Caldwell asks, “Who was the United Kingdom’s First Female Amateur Radio Operator?”
Scott Caldwell asks, “Who was the United Kingdom’s First Female Amateur Radio Operator?”
Barbara Mary Dunn (1896 to 1979) is quoted as saying that “I don’t like phones”. Just as well she was fascinated by wireless communications from an incredibly early age. She later recalled her first experience of the magic of wireless telegraphy communications:
“The first time I heard and sent Morse code was when I was about ten years old, at boarding school. I remember a man in a wheelchair talking about wireless and giving demonstrations on the stage of our concert hall. At the end of his lecture, he asked if any young lady in the audience would like to step up on the stage and stand between his aerial and his receiver, and see whether she could prevent the Morse signals passing over from one side of the stage to the other! Of course, I volunteered! The man keyed SOS and he let me do the same. I was thrilled”.
She successfully obtained her licence on April 14th 1927 (Table 1) and then took to the airwaves for the first time on November 21st 1927. It is claimed that she became the first female amateur radio operator in the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe and opened the door to the hobby for female operators throughout the world. The aftermath of the First World War (1914 – 1918) was a catalyst for social change and female suffrage. However, there is evidence to suggest that Dunn was in fact not the first female amateur radio operator in the UK. It is suggested that B. Saltmarsh 6SF of Sandridge obtained her licence in 1926, and she never admitted to being a young female operator until approximately seven years later when her logbook entries were subsequently changed to Miss B. Saltmarsh. A literature search reveals some interesting results. The December 1927 edition of The Wireless Engineer contains an article by B. Saltmarsh 6SF entitled “A Radio Signal Intensity Recorder” and details the purpose of making a direct record of the intensity, or strength of an incoming radio signal and consequently of showing variations in such intensity. It is also interesting to note that Jane Dicks, callsign G6JN, also became licensed in 1927. However, it is claimed that her licence expired after only two years of operation.
An Interest Sparked
Dunn’s interest in wireless communication was enhanced in 1923, when her father bought a receiver that had five general purpose valves standing up in a row on top of a wooden cabinet. She was put in charge of the family radio and they enjoyed listening to the newly established British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) transmissions from 2LO in London on 350m (857kHz). However, the broadcasts were often subjected to bad levels of interference of a rasping nature. She tried repeatedly to tune the QRM out. She decided to try and investigate the source of the interference. This was the catalyst for her to learn Morse code and her prolonged periods sat in front of the family radio, where she concentrated and copied down the dots and dashes as fast as possible.
Her parents supported her passion for wireless and allowed her to drill holes through the window frames to accommodate the lead-in wires from various outdoor antennas. After leaving school she had many interests and hobbies in addition to amateur radio: outdoor tennis, shooting, bird watching, motor driving, piano and organ playing, and embossing books into Braille for the National Library for the Blind. John R. “Reg” Witty was her half-brother. They shared the same father. Reg built much of her equipment. They remained close throughout their lives and kept in contact over the airwaves, while he sailed around the world. Reg went silent key in 1975.
One of her greatest achievements was when she received her first SOS message with the crucial Latitude and Longitude coordinates. Her father was initially skeptical and confirmed the information with Lloyds of London, the next day. He returned quite satisfied and extremely impressed at her wireless and Morse code ability.
At her Morse code examination, the examiner gave her a column from the London Times newspaper to send. He soon interrupted and instructed her to stop sending as she was including brackets, colons, and semi-colons. He then politely informed her that amateurs never used them in their communications. The pace of the examination soon increased from 12 to 25 words per minute. He eventually informed her that she had passed with flying colours and she was in fact far better than the vast majority of her contemporary male operators.
Early Operations
When she was first licensed, Dunn operated from her home address at Lilystone Hall, Stock (Essex) where she regularly operated on both the 45 and 23m wavelengths. She was able to indulge in her amateur radio passion as her family was financially secure due to their investments in the railway industry. She subsequently did not need to work, and this also allowed her to devote more time to the demands of the hobby. She even had the relative luxury of a housemaid and chauffeur who handled the domestic chores, allowing even more time for her interests. She never married and seemed quite content to live by her own, against the social norms of the time, when society expected a woman to be a wife and mother first.
Her first contact was made on November 21st 1927, with GI6YW who operated from Ireland. She always valued this QSL as the most important one. Her next QSOs were with GC6NX (Scotland) and G2ZC (Jersey, Channel Islands). Her first QSO with the USA occurred on April 12th 1928, when she worked with NU1ASY.
In 1928, she moved to Acton House, Felton in the county of Northumberland. Acton House is located in picturesque surroundings, on a hillside that slopes down
to the River Cuquest and the North Sea. Visitors to Acton House often remarked on her antenna that was suspended between a 30ft pole, attached to the robust structure of an oak tree, and a chimney. This ultimately formed the structure of a slightly bent 60ft support, with the antenna at an average height of 40ft. This antenna configuration provided Dunn with exceptional DX results.
In 1930, she visited Sweden and during the railway journey from Stockholm to Goteborg, she kept receiving bouquets of flowers from her admiring fellow radio amateurs, every time the train stopped at a station. She also recalled many amusing experiences when she conversed with foreign stations. Shortly, after she started operating on 45m, she was working with a Polish station who had limited command of English. When they were exchanging addresses for QSL confirmation, he translated her name as the “S.S B. Dunn” and he wished to know her next port of call.
Dunn’s Equipment
Her original transmitter employed an LS5 in a Hartley circuit, with about 350V derived from a Mortley rotary converter running off a 6V car accumulator (no electrical mains), feeding a half-wave Hertz antenna. Some idea of the enthusiasm of those days may be gained when it is realised that the accumulator supplied current for the generator, LS5, and the two bright emitters in the receiver, and had to be taken six miles to be fully charged. However, with the aid of a spare battery, this equipment did very good work on 45m with an input of 6 to 10W on CW only.
Cultural Changes
In the 1930s female operators rarely attended the local Provincial District Meetings of “The Society” that would later become “The Radio Society of Great Britain”. Her personality had been described as quiet and retiring, and her attendance at the 1930 Convention took considerable persuasion from Gerry Marcuse (G2NM, RSGB President 1929 – 1930). Her presence at the Convention dinner caused a sensation, especially during the awards ceremony when she became the first female to be awarded a society trophy. She won the RSGB Top Band Contest silver cup in the SWL classification.
In July 1939, Dunn achieved yet another radio first, when she utilised a long lines transmitter (a self-oscillator with long lines at 5m). It was while scanning on her 56MHz receivers that she became the first to hear the hissing sound from a solar burst on this band. The start of hostilities in September 1939 left Dunn feeling extremely disappointed as she was only four countries short of achieving a DXCC (DX Century Club), amateur radio’s premier award.
G6YL and the Voluntary Interceptors
MI5 approached RSGB President, Arthur Watts G6UN, who through the membership network handpicked and recruited radio amateurs with exceptional Morse abilities.
Dunn answered the nation’s call and assisted in the war effort (1939 – 1945). She and approximately 1500 radio amateurs were recruited as Voluntary Interceptors (VIs) in the clandestine Radio Secret Service. They were instructed to intercept German military transmissions. Details of her wartime service were not made public until 1979 when the BBC produced a television series called “Secret Listeners”, presented by Rene Cutforth.
Records that identified the VIs were destroyed at the end of the war and it was assumed that their roles would remain forever a secret. Author, Geoffrey Pidgeon (The Secret Wireless War, The Story of MI6 Communications 1939 – 1945) concluded
“that the VIs, involved the greatest gathering of amateur radio talent ever in a single endeavour”.
The VI role was vital to the successful prosecution of Britain’s war effort as they discovered and monitored the encrypted communications network of the Abwehr, the German Secret Intelligence Service. The intercepted messages were copied onto log sheets and forward to a PO Box with a Barnet address, where they were sorted and forwarded to Bletchley Park for final decryption. T & R Bulletins for 1939 and 1940 under “Khaki and Blue” refer to Dunn but there was no disclosure on the vital war work undertaken by her and fellow radio amateurs.
The Old Old Timers Club
The Old Old Timers Club (OOTC) was established in 1947, by the pioneering amateurs who had defined the very concepts of the hobby. The requirement for membership was a two-way communication by wireless, 40 years or more before 1947. Dunn was member number 910.
In later years, Dunn became more outspoken on topical and controversial issues that impacted on the amateur radio hobby. An extract from a letter written in 1973 over the dominance of competitions on the bands reflects this viewpoint:
“Having read the letter of W2OHF in QST of February, under the heading Contest Quandary. I have checked the latest list of contest dates in 1973 and find that between February 17 and November 11 there are only three weekends free from contests (excluding the SS contests). Several weekends
have three or four different contests on the same dates, and many of the European contests are CW/Phone, which means phone all over the bands. I am only interested in QRP (40W) CW work, but it is almost impossible for DX work at weekends nowadays. I can well understand the frustration of W2OHE as he only has 15 minutes each Saturday and Sunday in which to pursue his hobby. I am much luckier as I can do so during the week and keep off the air during the many contest weekends.
He asks in his letter – What is the answer? How about doing away with all contests (except UHF ones) for a year, at weekends? This would give many amateurs, especially the really low power stations a fair deal. I know this is only a pipe dream! Barbara M. Dunn G6YL, Carlisle, Cumberland, England”.
Conclusion
The internet has many articles that claim that Barbara Dunn remained the United Kingdom’s only YL transmitting amateur until 1932, when Nell Corry of Tadworth, Surrey, became G2YL. However, my research and the assistance of the RSGB, now indicates that Miss B. Saltmarsh was the first female operator in the UK and unlike Dunn she did not openly seek the limelight in the amateur radio hobby.
The exploits of Dunn are still quite remarkable in a hobby that was male dominated. The transmitter, that Dunn operated on 23 and 45m is housed in the museum at RSGB head office. By the mid-1970s she had worked/confirmed with 144 countries, despite suffering from ill-health. A true pioneer of social change in amateur radio.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Elaine G4LFM – RSGB Editorial Desk − for additional insight on the early female radio amateurs.