How two amateur radio enthusiasts secretly passed soldiers' 'I am safe' messages during Falklands War
At the height of the Falklands war, the unlikely friendship of two amateur radio enthusiasts 8,000 miles apart allowed more than 50 soldiers the opportunity to get messages home to their loved ones.
Bob McLeod, a ham radio operator, made history when he broke the news to the world that the Falklands had been invaded but, in doing so, he had also drawn the attention of the Argentines, who were quick to confiscate his equipment.
On 29 May 1982, 2 PARA had fought a gruesome battle to take Goose Green, freeing more than 100 villagers who had been held captive in a hall by the Argentinians for almost seven weeks.
Eighteen British soldiers died in the fight.
Back at home, the families of 2 PARA had heard nothing since the soldiers had set sail and had no way of contacting them.
Alan Bullock was the Forward Observation Officer of D Company, 2 PARA and while walking through the main street of Goose Green, spotted an antenna on a house belonging to Bob.
He said: "So, I knock on the door and say, 'Hello... is there any chance you are a radio amateur?'
"He said, 'Yes... but the Argentinians took my transmitter and smashed it up'."
Bob's wife then suggested they use his 50W amplifier, safely hidden under the stairs.
As a Forward Observation Officer, Alan had his state-of-the-art at the time, military clansman radio which, although only 20 watts for communicating over short distances, could be combined.
To get messages back to the UK, Bob made contact with John Wright, a radio amateur in Oxford who he had been chatting to over the airwaves for many years.
Together, Bob and John devised a cryptic code for their conversation and each transmitted on different frequencies, in case anyone was listening.
John was given a soldier's phone number and short message to pass on to his family.
Word quickly got around the troops and soon it wasn't just D Company's families Bob and John were contacting.
Before long, there was a queue outside Bob's door, with each message always the same – 'I am safe'.
John said: "Normally, amateur radio enthusiasts talk about their radio equipment, experiments they're doing.
"In this case, the communication was to pass family traffic which, under normal circumstances, isn't allowed, but I threw caution to the wind and did what I could as quickly and as clandestinely as possible."
One of those they helped to get a message home was Dick Kalinski, of 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment, who recently met with Bob, 40 years on.
He said: "I can't stress enough how much we appreciated your help. For us, you were our link with home.
"It took a lot of worry off the soldiers of the families that were contacted.
"We're very, very grateful for that."
In 2022, we created a page dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War. There you can find our memorial wall, as well as more Falklands stories, videos and podcasts.
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