RADIO BATTLE WITH RUSSIA SAID TO BE SUCCEEDING

Wanganui Chronicle, 5 May 1950, Page 5

RADIO BATTLE WITH RUSSIA SAID TO BE SUCCEEDING

Broadcasts Are Getting Behind The Iron Curtain

4 ( ? c f’ 6 P 1") —THe British and American radio battle with Russia is succeeding. Speaking in the House of I

Lords, Lord Simon, of Wythenshawe, chairman of the 8.8.1 X, i said: “8.8. C. broadcasts are getting through to Russia.” The 8.8. C. is using 25 stations. Moscow is spending large sums of money and using 200 transmitters, but reports received from inside Russia have given proof that some broadcasts are penetrating the iron curtain. "It is encouraging," said Lord Simon, "that Russian leaders think it is worthwhile to take all this trouble for the morale of their citizens.” The radio "battle" is the biggest job of its kind ever undertaken. It began on April 25, 1949. Immediately Russian stations, many of them transferred from domestic service, began

jamming. The interference was far worse than anything attempted by the Germans during the war. The scale of jamming was so great that London radio experts believed it took a long time to plan. 8.8. C. and American engineers worked out a counter attack within a week. Scores of stations were switched over, many in Britain, others along the Pacific coast of the United States, and some in the Far East, including Singapore. They began operating on May 7, 1949. The exact details of the methods used are still secret, but it is know'n that a detailed non-stop watch is kept on all suitable wave-lengths and that as soon as a clear space is found a transmitter opens up.—Special Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.