Radio FS6 : The FS-6 wireless set, manufactured in Australia prior to the beginning of the Second World War. Many of these sets were taken overseas by the 2 nd AIF at the outbreak of war, until replaced by better quality sets such as the No.11.

Battlefield communications have become an increasingly important part of military operations. Even from the earliest of times, effective communication has often meant the difference between success and failure. With the advent of gunpowder came a true fog of war with battlefields becoming increasingly obscured by choking smoke. Communications in this era were typified by the use of increasingly large brightly coloured battle flags that served as rallying points for men disoriented by the noise and terror of close combat. In the absence of anything else, follow your flag!

With the invention of the telephone came a revolution in battlefield communication. Miles of telephone cable was routinely strung between strong points, which was fine for static warfare, but completely impractical for the mobile warfare that soon followed. By the time the internal combustion engine was applied to weapons of war, wireless communication was beginning to have an impact on civilian communications. Soon after, this new invention would have a considerable and lasting impact on the conduct of warfare.

During the First World War, the First Australian Wireless Squadron was created and had operational successes in Trans-Jordan and Mesopotamia . Using cumbersome Marconi wireless sets, the unit proved the superiority of wireless communications over the telephone in many applications, especially over long distances of sparsely inhabited terrain.

Developments between World War One and World War Two led to improved range, reliability and portability of both military and civilian wireless sets. By the outbreak of the Second World War the manufacturing industry in Australia for civilian receivers and specialised applications was well developed.

The rapid expansion of Australia’s military forces following the declaration of the Second World War saw a rise in demand for higher quality wireless communications systems. Companies such as Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd (AWA) and Standard Telephone and Cables Pty Ltd (STC) were leaders in the charge to provide better communications to Australian troops. Initially building sets based on British models, a bewildering array of Australian companies produced components and assemblies for locally manufactured communications and testing equipment.

One of the more significant Australian developments in wireless communications was a sender-receiver set manufactured by AWA for the Air Force. Designated the AT5/AR8, the set was not only capable of sending and receiving, but also of direction finding (D/F) and homing, as well as serving as the central point for the crew’s intercom system. The design was so successful it was adapted for Army use as a ground station and designated the Wireless Set Number 112. This set was also supplied under reciprocal lend lease to United States Forces. By the end of the Second World War, Australian industry had built more than 19,000 wireless receiver-transmitters, 12,000 transmitters, and 9,000 receivers, many of them certified for use in the tropics.

The post-war period saw further advances in wireless radio technology, with miniaturisation improvements playing a major role in delivering man-portable military sets. During the 1950s, Australia developed the A510 manpack set, consisting of a separate sender and a receiver, each carried in the infantryman’s basic webbing pouches. Such a compact transmitter-receiver was a significant technological leap, and about 1600 sets were built by AWA from 1953 for the Australian Army with a further 250 sets provided to the British Army in Malaya . The set saw widespread use, particularly for counter insurgency patrolling during the Malayan Emergency. It was finally replaced in 1969 when another Australian designed and manufactured manpack radio set, the PRC-F1 was introduced.

By this time the majority of man-pack and tactical vehicle radio sets were being sourced from either the United Kingdom or the USA . The British Larkspur series and the American AN/VRC, PRC and GRC series sets had been introduced in increasing numbers since the early 1960s. While the British sets went out of service in the late 1970s, the American sets remained in service until being progressively replaced by more modern digital Raven and Wagtail equipment built by Seimens-Plessey Electronic Systems from 1991. These particular radio sets will form the mainstay of Australia ’s tactical communications until at least 2015.

Radio PRC1 : The PRC-F1 was an Australian developed and manufactured manpack radio set (top left of frame) which could also be used as the basis for a ground or vehicle mounted station using the PP-F1 power supply unit (lower left of frame) and the CU-F2 antenna coupler (right of frame).