Radio Mirror (Nov 1935-Apr 1936)

WILL WAR GUNS Nc TO statement made in these articles on the amartng part radio will play in the events of war, European or otherwise, is intended to reflect upon the courage or honor oj any nation, broadcasting organiiation or individual. Much of this hitherto unrevealed information is based on statements made privately by officials on the inside of governmental and military affairs, who were endeavoring to cooperate with the author in creating as complete a picture as possible. The names of nations are used only to make this picture clearer to the reader, not to suggest that they would necessarily undertake actions ascribed to them here. Editor. IF WAR comes. . . . Your radio set may crackle and roar with the brawling Of battle as tense, gray-faced announcers of the front line rap out reports of combats. I he most innocent-sounding programs may conceal coded messages ol hostile spies. Your loudspeaker may suddenly lurn into a demoniacal chanter of enemy propaganda. \nd if thai happens, vour favorite stations may be dom inated by stern censors, may even suddenly become silent, as grimly silent as the death which is hovering over the battlefields. In a desperate extremity, even your receiving set might be seized bv determined troops. Even as this is being written. National Broadcasting Company executives are gravely disturbed over reports that the rebroadcasts from Addis Ababa have been deliberately interfered with by an unfriendly nation. A responsible spokesman unofficially denied that it occurred in these particular cases, but he did admit that it was regarded as a factor to contend with in future broadcasts. That is one more indication of the turmoil which war guns could create in the radio world. Every one of these things can happen. Don't think for a moment that they can't, flow many of them will happen depends upon how deeply war thrusts at us. You hope that we can stay out of it. But war dogs are growling overseas, and whether we remain sturdy neutrals or go in fighting with everything we have, armed conflict stands to make almost unbelievable changes in the radio we know today. Suppose a fierce battle is taking place on the Italo Q¥¥ plVIPP ™IS STARTLING EXPOSE OF SECRET RADIO? Ethiopian front. You hate the horror and futility of war. yet you are eager for news, you must know how the tide is turning. You go to your radio and snap it on. Bickerings of spiteful machine guns, bellowings of heavy artillery leap at you from your loudspeaker. Through the mad hurly-burly of battle noises whips the strained voice of a front line radio announcer. "... Italians swinging into a general advance all along' this sector. The main body of Ethiopian troops have b^en routed here and only scattered handfuls of hurrying snipers are remaining in position of vantage. . . Wait' Over on the hill about a half mile to my left, the black troops are reforming for a counter maneuver. ... Just a moment. . . . Hear that? Well-directed machine gun fire has broken up the reorganization even as it began and the Ethiopians are retreating hastily. . . ." If broadcasts are to be made from the Italian front lines, that's the sort of thing you might expect to hear. Naturally' Italian commanders would not permit news of their own defeats or setbacks to be sent out. And no suggestion of the horror of war would be allowed to creep in. Thus in the safety of your own country, in the comfort of your own home, you may be able to hear GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY PLANS FOR RADIO IN WAR-TIME IS OF VAST SIGNIFICANCE TO EVERY AMERICAN! dSSLTTt^K*1" thrilling side of war-after ^ disagreeable part has been removed He falh nrnh0^ "* "*? War corresP°ndent over there? cerflnd86!; ^V1* ^, "ne with one of these announcers and share these thrills and dangers with him hasrilv h" /' 'I"' °f ,talia" S0ldiers' 'ying in sl««°w, hastily-dug trenches, is a scant hundred feet in front of us k , ^t"^ °[ them' We are takin8 belter, inadequate at best, behind the jagged boulders of the hilly sandy terrain After the first hundred or so bullets have ricocheted from the other side of the rock and gone whining away we see the uselessness of ducking, but we're still uncomfortably aware of our peril. Crouching beside us is the announcer, the engineer observer, and an Italian army officer. The last named is with us to see that we don't broadcast any information which would aid the enemy in planning surprise attacks. We hope it is true that the Ethiopians are ill-equipped with radio direction finders and artillery. It wouldn't take long for a direction finder to locate our broadcasting position and less time than that for the enemy to train guns on us. Since the information being broadcast is necessarily favorable to the Italian cause, the enemy will gleefully welcome any opportunity to wipe us out. BY JEAN PELLETIER Crouched in the first line trench are the announcer, carrying pack transmitter and wearing a gas-mask microphone, and the engineer-observer, field glasses in hand, with receiving apparatus. E D b y CARL LINK 17