XA from the UK Royal Signals - Picture gallery
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Photo collection and notes by William V.Barbone, OBE

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(1) SWB TX hall Carditello	(2) BC610 TX hall Carditello	(3) CW Signal Office AFHQ Caserta	(4) High Speed Wireless Office AFHQ Caserta

(1) Carditello SWB TX hall. The high power transmitter hall at Carditello, near Caserta. This was the location of the King of Naples summer Palace, although rather decrepit at the time in 1943. It was an ideal site for a large transmitter station as there were large areas of open countryside round the site for the antennae. The site was shared by Royal Signals, RAF, US Signal Corps and later in 1944 by the Italian army. It is about ten miles from Caserta and required considerable work in laying the land lines to the AFHQ Signal Offices in the Royal Palace. We had two SWB 11 and two SWB 8 transmitters on the ground floor, the 400 watt CW transmitters for the manual morse links were located on the second floor. The transmitter antennae were rhombics on 120 ft masts, fed by 600ohm transmission lines and the manual circuits used dipoles on 70ft masts with 72 ohm coaxial cable. The staff lived on the third and fourth floors. The Corps site was self contained, we had two 28KVA diesels to provide power with a back up of two 40 KVA diesels if the main power failed for any length of time. Cook house and mess were in an adjacent barn. In recent years the whole site has been renovated and is now a tourist attraction. We were in the right hand corner on "Pianta Piano Lato Est".

(2) Carditello BC610 400w TX's. The transmitters were those issued to the so called Heavy Wireless sections formed at the 4th Wireless Group in Egham. They were US signal Corps BC610 400 watt transmitters. These were in fact the pre-war Hallicrafter HT4 Amateur Radio equipments and were advertised in the ARRL Handbook. The transmitters were located on the second floor of the transmitter building at Carditello and were keyed by landline from the CW Signal Office at AFHQ. Many of the US Army Signal Corps transmitters were based on modified civilian amateur radio or commercial broadcast transmitters.

(3) CW signal Office, AFHQ Caserta. The hand speed Wireless Office in the Royal Palace at Caserta. As can be seen in the photo, some of the operators typed the signals direct on to a typewriter. Theses circuits were forward links to the 8th Army and the 5th Army, one notable link was to Fitzroy-Mclean's mission to Marshal Tito in Yugoslavia. There were of course additional links between RAF Stations, USAF etc.

(4) High Speed Wireless Office, AFHQ, Caserta. The High Speed Wireless Office in the Royal Palace at Caserta from early 1944. The received morse signals were transmitted by landline from the receivers at Marchianese and were recorded on paper tape on undulators. This tape was then drawn in front of the operator who typed the contents direct on to the message forms. Similarly the TX's were keyed by landline. Most traffic was ciphered in the form of five letter groups, though some service msgs were in plain language. Operating speeds varied between 80-100 wpm depending upon radio conditions. The circuits were controlled at the receiver site, the operator there being in touch with the signal office over the land line by hand speed morse. He decided when frequency changes were necessary. In general on the London circuit, three changes of frequency over a 24hr period were normal.

(5) RC67 RX's Marchianese	(6) Double & triple CR 100's Marchianese	(7) RTTY Receiving equipment Marchianese	(8) RTTY Receiver installation Marchianese

(5)  RC67 RX's, Marchianese. Marconi RC 67 receivers as used on the Marconi Empire Beam High speed wireless links in the 1930's. These were provided for use in the first P type (Permanent) army High Speed Wireless Troops. This is the installation at the AFHQ combined US/UK Receiver Station at Marchianese near Maddaloni, just outside Caserta in 1943. Note the call sign JAJA which was the War Office in London. AFHQ in Italy was JJJJ. The Undulator for checking the received high speed morse signals is on the trolly in front of the receiver bay. Later M (Mobile) type sections were equipped with the Marconi CR100 receivers.

(6) Double & triple diversity CR 100's, Marchianese. Marconi CR100 receivers in racks for triple diversity working. The fourth receiver is a spare. The rack also contains the line keying equipment for remote connection to the Signal Office. Note the Undulator on the lower shelf for recording the high speed morse signals. This is the installation at the combined US/UK receiver site at Marchianese just outside Caserta, serving AFHQ in Italy in 1943. There were high speed wireless circuits to London, Algiers and Cairo, the US Signal Corps operated circuits to Washington and London, including a wireless fax circuit for press purposes. The receiving antennae were rhombics on 120ft high masts.

(7)  RTTY Receiving equipment, Marchianese. The RTTY receiving equipment in the Receiver Station at Marchianese near Maddaloni. This was the first operational Frequency shift circuit using 5 unit code, so was the first use of teleprinters on the overseas wireless system. Tests were first carried out with the School of Signals in Catterick before the circuit was put into operation. The receiver bay contained four RCA AR88 receivers, any three could be connected in triple diversity. The antennae were rhombics on 120 ft masts. To ensure stability of the output FSK signal the first oscillators in the receivers were disconnected and were substituted by a common crystal controlled oscillator mounted in the rack. Keying relays and landline terminal equipment were mounted in the rack. The teletype machines in the photo are USA commercial teletypes each fitted with a tape punching facility and a tape transmitter. At the transmitter site one of the SWB11 transmitters had been fitted with an FSK keying unit which shifted the frequency of the Franklin Oscillator by means of a so-called reactance valve connected directly across the oscillator LC circuits.

(8) RTTY Receiver installation, Marchianese. The teletype machines in the photo are USA commercial teletypes each fitted with a tape punching facility and a tape transmitter.

(9) RTTY in mobile vehicle Padova	(10) Royal Signals RX hut Marchianese	(11) RTTY Receiving equipmentDiesel power house Marchianese	(12) Ham Radio XAKM Marchianese

(9) RTTY in mobile vehicle, Padova. In 1946 when AFHQ was being disbanded, the London RTTY link was moved up to Padova. As it had not been designed as a mobile system we had to find a suitable vehicle so that it could be kept in operation as long as possible. This is a redundant RAF Control vehicle which was used and which was later used in the final move to Trieste.

(10) Royal Signals RX hut, Marchianese. The receiver site was a combined US Signal Corps and R Sigs site. Administration was in US hands who provided site facilities. It was a popular site for UK staff because the Signal Corps ran the mess and the food was exceptionally good. The building was of wood and was more suitable for the Naples climate than the usual corregated iron Nissen huts as the insulation was better, and most importantly, the windows and doors were fitted with fly-screens.

(11)  Diesel power house for UK Rx's, Marchianese. These were 8 Kva Lister diesels which could be synchronised and run in parallel to power the whole site if necessary.

(12) Ham radio station XAKM. At the end of the campaign in 1945 it was agreed by signals Command that any pre-war licensed amateurs could go back on the air, subject to using an XA call sign. There were quite a few Hams in both the US Signal Corps and the Corps of Signals. The photo shows a home made transmitter, built by Bill Barbone, constructed from spares lying around the receiver station at Marchianese and also from cannabilised equipment.It was located in the receiver site workshop. Used on CW at first, later grid modulation for phone working was added. The tx was xtal osc-preamp-807 -pp807 final with about 60 watts input to the 807. Later on in 1946 the use of own call signs was approved, (G2HKKM) subject to the addition of /I denoting operation in Italy. The tx was used on 10, 20 and 40 metre bands and with a home made Sterba array outside the receiver hut, was much in demand from Hams all over the world. The sunspot max was approaching (1947) and conditions on the 10 metre band were particularly good.