My involvement in WW II - with my radio
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Paul N6DMV
1938. I was 8 years old. There were rumors of a possibility of a war braking out, this
caught my attention. Where is a sure information on this subject - who
knows, what will happen? - nobody knew, there was no information /
communication capable of giving some hint. I started to listen on our
simple 3-tube radio, but I could not fathom the things they talked about. so, I got interested in radio, the best means of communication,
I thought. got books,
listened to everybody, who could add some information to the subject. in a few years, I was able to build my own 2-tube regenerative
receiver. As it turned out, this became an important factor in the events
that followed.
March 19, 1944. The German Army overrun Hungary over night - it is
a small country. Then came the last Boy Scout camping before Hungary was
overrun by another foreign army, the Russians. We picked a beautiful place
in a thick forest, near a small creek and a few hundred yard wide clearing
in the mountains. We set up our tents - large blue colored ones capable of
accommodating a 8-10 kids. The tents were arranged in a semi-circular
pattern at the edge of the clearing, against the trees. In the middle stood a tall flagpole with our tricolor - the
red-white-green Hungarian flag, our Old Glory. At this time the war
was in full swing very close to home, so to speak. We experienced numerous
flights by American and British planes at very high up, we saw quite a few
air fights with heavy losses on both sides. The older boys were already
taken away by the Army and because of this at that time, I believe I was
the youngest troop leader in the country at almost 14. I had the
responsibility to alert the camp if enemy planes were approaching. I could
do this because I have built a 2-tube battery operated portable radio set
fitted into a small luggage case. I either designated a boy, or more often
I myself monitored the radio transmissions to get the information on the
enemy planes. The country was divided into air districts, to ease the
identification of the intrusion of foreign planes. At times like this, the
main 120 kW transmitter, Radio Budapest at 536 kHz interrupted the
programs after a warning in Hungarian, and some codes in German. The codes
identified the type and number of the approaching enemy. These codes were
'secret', but I knew their meanings anyway.
One beautiful day about 11 AM I picked up the radio transmission
warning for the area we were in. I did not hesitate and with my whistle I
ordered alarm! I trained the boys previously to drop everything
immediately and disperse in the forest upon hearing the warning signal.
This measure was necessary to minimize the casualties should bombing or
machine-gun attack occur. Scouts were not supposed to be closer than 50
feet from each other. As I watched the last boy disappear under the thick
forest canopy, I heard the hum of approaching airplanes. I turned around,
and saw 3 American P-38 Lightning long range fighter/reconnaissance planes
completing a turn, swooping down on us. I was the last to leave the ship -
so to speak - as a responsible captain would do - and was able to jump
into of the tent and out through the back toward the trees just in time,
covering myself in the shadow of the tent. I disappeared behind a thick
oak tree and between the tree limbs I could see the planes as they turned
around and repeated the machine gun firing 3 more times. A few bullets hit
the ground near me about a foot away, throwing dried foliage around in a
hysterical swirl - and there was quiet again. I ordered the boys by
shouting in the forest to remain where they were and asked if anybody got
injured. No answer. My breath stopped I called the alarm too late! They
either all got killed, or nobody. Fortunately the latter case prevailed -
they were just too scared to be able to utter a single word. I sneaked
back to my tent and retrieved the radio among the bullet-ridden tent
pieces. The radio was not hit. Guys up there, you missed again! - together
with Murphy - what kind of training have you received?! I gave the signal
to return to the camp. No sign of life. again, I accused myself of being
too late to call the alarm! Started to yell, to come out of the forest.
Then slowly the boys started to emerge. The little ones smelled a bit
funny, but that could be cured easily by a bath in the nearby creek. We
spent the rest of the day mending the tents, the temperature in the
mountains is quite low in the forest at night and thought that the big
holes in the canvas are contrary to the retention of the body heat we
generated. At the evening 6 o'clock daily assembly in front of the
flagpole I was able to report that nobody was hurt. I inspected and
counted each troop and kid and tent. I got a 'thank you' and a handshake
from the commander. They thanked me for saving the lives of the Scouts.
For which I said: 'The glory goes to the two DP-105 vacuum tube pentodes
in my radio. They are the heroes, I was only an instrument interpreting
the messages in the chain of events". The officers raised their
eyebrows while looking at each other. 'This guy went berserk due to the
pressure of the raid', - better watch him on the next days they thought.
Well, they said, 'thank you', anyway. Assembly dismissed! Small ones to
the creek!
I would happily give my 706Mk2G for that 2-tube radio which was
lost in the turmoil of the war!
Paul
/ N6DMV.
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