Aspidistra (transmitter) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

For other meanings, see Aspidistra (disambiguation)
Aspidistra (disambiguation)
Aspidistra is a plant genus .Aspidistra may also refer to:*Aspidistra elatior, an Aspidistra species used as a houseplant...

.

Aspidistra was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

mediumwave radio transmitter used for black propaganda

Black propaganda

Black propaganda is false information and material that purports to be from a source on one side of a conflict, but is actually from the opposing side. It is typically used to vilify, embarrass or misrepresent the enemy...

and military deception purposes against Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. At one time, it was the most powerful broadcast transmitter in the world. Its name - after the popular foliage houseplant

Aspidistra elatior

Aspidistra elatior is a rhizomatous perennial, native to Japan and widely cultivated as a houseplant.-Description:Aspidistra elatior is a stemless plant to 1 metre in height with dark green leaves...

- was inspired by the comic song The Biggest Aspidistra in the World, best known as sung by Gracie Fields

Gracie Fields

Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...

.

The transmitter was installed in 1942 at a purpose-built site near Crowborough

Crowborough

The highest point in the town is 242 metres above sea level. This summit is the highest point of the High Weald and second highest point in East Sussex . Its relative height is 159 m, meaning Crowborough qualifies as one of England's Marilyns...

in southeast England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. This was equipped with other mediumwave and shortwave

Shortwave

Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...

transmitters, which also used the Aspidistra name, being known as ASPI 2, ASPI 3, ASPI 4, etc. However, when the name Aspidistra was used on its own it always referred to the original mediumwave transmitter (ASPI 1).

After the war, Aspidistra and other transmitters at Crowborough were used for BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

External Service broadcasts to Europe. The station closed in 1982.

Equipment and location

Aspidistra broadcast on mediumwave AM

AM broadcasting

AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...

with 600 kW

kw or KW may refer to:* Kuwait, ISO 3166-1 country code** .kw, the country code top level domain for Kuwait* Kilowatt* Self-ionization of water Kw* Cornish language's ISO 639 code* Kitchener–Waterloo, Ontario, Canada...

of power. The transmitter (originally 500 kW) had been built by RCA

RCA

RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...

for WJZ radio

WJZ

WJZ may currently refer to:*WJZ , a radio station licensed to Baltimore, Maryland, United States*WJZ-TV, a television station licensed to Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

in Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

. But at the prompting of Congress spurred on by competition , the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

later imposed a 50-kW power limit on all US stations. RCA was therefore glad to sell it overseas and the British Secret Service

Secret Intelligence Service

The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...

bought it for £165,000.

In addition to its high power, Aspidistra could be re-tuned quickly to a new frequency (position on the dial). This was of great use in its secret wartime work and was unusual for a mediumwave transmitter, as they generally operate on a fixed frequency throughout their working life.

Its antenna was three guyed masts, each 110 m (360.9 ft) tall. The 1940s Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

style transmitter building was in an underground shelter which had been excavated by a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

army construction unit.

The facility was at King's Standing, Maresfield

Maresfield

Maresfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village itself lies 1.5 miles north from Uckfield; the nearby villages of Nutley and Fairwarp; and the smaller settlements of Duddleswell and Horney Common; and parts of Ashdown Forest all lie within...

, in the Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of tranquil open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some south of London in the county of East Sussex, England...

, near Crowborough, Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

.

Alongside the original Aspidistra, other mediumwave and shortwave

Shortwave

transmitters were installed over the years. These included two Doherty 250 kW mediumwave units, whose outputs could be combined to give 500 kW on a single frequency.

Two 100 kW shortwave transmitters made by General Electric (USA)

General Electric

General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

operated at the Crowborough site from 1943 until the 1980s.

Wartime operations

Aspidistra went into service on 8 November 1942, and was in operation throughout the remainder of the war.

Impersonation

Starting in 1943, Aspidistra was used to disrupt German nightfighter operations

Kammhuber Line

The Kammhuber Line was the name given to the German night air defense system established in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber.- Description :...

against Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

bombers over Germany.
German radar stations broadcast the movements of the bomber streams en route to targets during RAF Bomber Command

RAF Bomber Command

RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...

's Battle of Berlin

Battle of Berlin (air)

The Battle of Berlin was a British bombing campaign on Berlin from November 1943 – March 1944. The campaign was not limited solely to Berlin. Other German cities were attacked to prevent concentration of defences in Berlin, and Bomber Command had other responsibilities and operations to conduct...

. As part of their strategies to misdirect the German fighters, German-speaking RAF operators impersonated these German ground control operators, sending fake instructions to the nightfighters. They directed the nightfighters to land or to move to the wrong sectors. This interference to enemy RT and WT was known as "Dartboard" As German operational procedures changed to prevent impersonation so the British copied them, bringing in WAAFs when the Germans used female operators.

Black propaganda

Aspidistra was also used for black propaganda

Black propaganda

operations, in which the propaganda material is issued from a disguised source. These activities were under the Political Warfare Executive

Political Warfare Executive

During World War II, the Political Warfare Executive was a British clandestine body created to produce and disseminate both white and black propaganda, with the aim of damaging enemy morale and sustaining the morale of the Occupied countries....

, and directed by Sefton Delmer

Sefton Delmer

Denis Sefton Delmer was a British journalist and propagandist for the British government. Fluent in German, he became friendly with Ernst Röhm who arranged for him to interview Adolf Hitler in the 1930s...

.

In particular, Aspidistra aired the broadcasts of Atlantiksender and Soldatensender Calais
Soldatensender Calais
Soldatensender Calais was a British black propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War operated by the Political Warfare Executive. It pretended to be a station of the German military broadcasting network...

, which posed as official German military radio stations in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

Intrusion operations

During Allied air raids, German radio transmitters in target areas were switched off, to prevent them from being used as navigational aids. However, very often such a transmitters was connected into a network, and broadcast the same content as other transmitters which were not switched off.

When a targeted transmitter switched off, Aspidistra began transmitting on its frequency, initially retransmitting the German network broadcast as received from a still-active station. This would cause German listeners to think that the original station was still broadcasting. Then the Aspidistra operators would insert demoralizing false content and pro-Allied propaganda into the broadcast. This content was considered especially effective, as it appeared to be coming from official German sources.

These intrusion operations were an early example of a "man in the middle attack".

The first such intrusion was carried out on 25 March 1945. On 30 March 1945 Aspidistra intruded on the Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

and Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

stations, warning that the Allies were trying to spread confusion by sending false telephone messages from occupied towns to unoccupied towns. On 8 April 1945 "Aspidistra" intruded on the Hamburg and Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

stations to warn of forged banknotes in circulation. On 9 April 1945 there were announcements encouraging people to evacuate to seven bomb-free zones in central and southern Germany. All these announcements were false.

German radio stations tried announcing "The enemy is broadcasting counterfeit instructions on our frequencies. Do not be misled by them. Here is an official announcement of the Reich authority." However, Aspidistra broadcasts included similar announcements, leaving the listeners confused.

Post-war operations

Although mainly intended for the military and propaganda transmisions described above, Aspidistra was also used during the war for some BBC broadcasts to Europe. After 1945, Aspidistra was used exclusively by the BBC. Frequencies used included 1122 kHz (1945-1950), 1340 kHz (1950-1962), 809 kHz (until 1978), 1295 kHz (1962-1978) and 1088 kHz (1972-1978). After reorganisation of the mediumwave band in 1978, the frequencies used were 648 and 1296 kHz.

From 1978, there was a phased transfer of Aspidistra's broadcasts to a new Foreign Office transmitting station at Orfordness on the Suffolk coast, which was better placed than Crowborough, which is inland.

Despite its exclusive post-war use by the BBC, the Crowborough station remained formally in the hands of the Foreign Office (from 1968, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...

, FCO), and its staff were members of the Diplomatic Wireless Service

Diplomatic Wireless Service

The Diplomatic Wireless Service was the name of the communications system set up for the British Foreign Office by Brigadier Richard Gambier-Parry, the first Foreign Office Director of Communications, in the latter part of 1945. It grew out of the Special Communication Units which were...

(later known as the FCO's Communications Department and then the Communications Engineering Department) rather than the BBC.

Close-down and fate of the site

Aspidistra made its final transmission on 28 September 1982, the honour of pressing the "off" key for the last time going to Harold Robin, the Foreign Office engineer who had been responsible 40 years earlier for purchasing the transmitter in the USA and setting up the station at Crowborough.

The station was dismantled in 1984. Two years later, following extensive modifications, the bunker that housed the Aspidistra transmitter was commissioned by the Home Office

Home Office

The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

as one of the 17 sites in England and Wales to be used as seats of regional government in the event of a nuclear attack.

From 1988, Sussex Police

Sussex Police

Sussex Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing East Sussex, West Sussex and City of Brighton and Hove in southern England. Its head office is in Lewes, Lewes District, East Sussex.-History:...

used parts of the site, purchasing all of it in 1996 for use as a training facility.

In 2007, Building No. 3 (known as "the cinema" because of its design similarities with pre-war Art Deco cinemas), which had once housed ASPI 3 and ASPI 6, was designated a Grade II listed structure because of its historic and architectural interest. The designation notes that it is "a remarkably intact and unaltered building through which one can understand its function as an early 1940s transmitter hall".

Fate of the transmitter

A reported offer to donate the Aspidistra transmitter to London's Science Museum

Science Museum (London)

The Science Museum is one of the three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....

was not taken up and it was scrapped. A number of valves (tubes)

Vacuum tube

In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...

and a large tuning coil were saved by FCO engineers and are now on display in the foyer of the Orfordness station. A notice there says:

One of three RF output coupling coils from the Aspidistra 1 transmitter at Crowborough in Sussex.

ASP1 was a 600 kW medium wave transmitter which was installed and commissioned with great urgency by Harold Robin during the spring and summer of 1942 and which commenced broadcasting on 8 November 1942. The transmitter was in continuous service for the next 40 years, carrying "black" propaganda to the enemy in wartime and BBC External Services to Europe in peacetime. It ceased regular transmissions on 28 September 1982 and its services were transferred to Orfordness. It was dismantled in May 1984.

This coil is preserved as a memento of a transmitter which played a large part in the wartime activities of the Political Warfare Executive. In peacetime it became part of the expanding broadcast transmission facilities provided for the External Services of the BBC by the Diplomatic Wireless Service - now the Communications Engineering Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

October 1984

External links

Pictures of the transmitter A beautiful Art Deco installation.
"The Biggest Aspidistra in the World!" - Technical background at qsl.net.
"Site Name: Crowborough - RGHQ 6.1 & Aspidistra" at Subterranea Britannica.
Undated interview with Harold Robin, talking about the work to build the station at Crowborough

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.