F/ON6JUN/P
2004 - Commemorating D-Day
This special event station has successfully ended their
mission that lasted from the 4th (evening) until the 6th
of June 2004. This year we're commemorating the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of Europe.
Because of the visit of Prince Charles of Wales on the
5th of June on the premises, our QTH will not be the
garden of Memorial Pegasus Museum. The very strict
security measures related to this visit forced us to look
for a new location to set-up our station.
The lord-mayor of Ranville was so kind to give us
permission to use the sport complex of Ranville, so we
have enough space to set up the stations. This QTH is
only about 1 km away from Pegasus Bridge, so the location
is still very strategic.
Station setup:
Station 1: HF
voice (80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 m bands)
Antenna's: FD4, 3 band WARC dipole, ground-plane 20m,
ground-plane 40m, FB13
Station 2: HF
CW (80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 m bands)
Antenna's: FD4, 3 band WARC dipole, ground-plane 20m
ground-plane 40m, FB13
Station 3:
VHF voice (6 meter SSB, 2m/70cm FM for local QSO's)
Antenna's: 4 el yagi for 6m, dual-band vertical for
2/70)
QSL
QSL Via Bureau -> ON5SD
F/ON6JUN/P -
crew:
Operators:
ON4AFU, Eddy ---- ON6RY, Yves
ON5SD, Jose ------ ON4CLC, Steven
ON4CJV, Kurt ----- ON4MGY, Nic
ON4LBV, Willy ---- ON4AAA, Hugo
ON8RB, Michel
Logistics:
Marnix, Jo
Steven, Veerle
Geert ON4CJV, Kurt (coordinator)
Camera:
ON8RB, Michel and XYL Georgette
QSL
QSL Via Bureau -> ON5SD
F/ON6JUN/P The Report
Friday 4th of June
In the afternoon we mounted our camp at the football
field of Ranville, next of the camp of the British
Paratroopers. Nice location for us because they came with
8 helicopters.
Between two 25 meters light-towers we hang our FD4
dipole! We never had a better set-up before!
At 5 PM all antennas and transceivers were ready. First
contacts were made on 40 meter.
Antenna set-up:
FD4
horizontal at 20 m AGL dir N - S
FD4
slooper dir E - W
FB
13 at 7 meter AGL dir N - S
Inverted
V dipole for 40m at 3 meter AGL
Top
loaded vertical for 40m
4
element Yagi for 6m at 6 meter AGL
dual
band vertical for 2m and 70cm at 7 meter AGL
Station
set-up:
Station
1: TS 830 (Phone)
Station
2: TS 430 (Phone and CW)
Station
3: TS 570 (Phone and CW)
Station
4: FT 736 and TM 733 (Phone)
Saturday
5th of June
On air at 7:30 AM.
Huge pile ups on 40m phone en 20m CW. A lot of stations
wanted to work our special event station.
At 12:00 6 meters opened also. EH, I and EH9 were logged
immediately.
After a short break at 1:00 PM, we kept the station on
the air in the afternoon.
Meanwhile we tested the SET 38 for our "HAM and JAM
remake". Jan & Jos went for a walk from our camp
to the Pegasus Bridge.
At the "Memorial Pegasus Museum" they did some
tests-transmissions. We've received them loud and clear
at our camp in the centre of Ranville.
In the early evening we had a diner with whole crew and
then we were ready for the big event: the "Ham &
Jam" remake.
At 11 PM, a delegation of the F/ON6JUN/P crew went to the
Pegasus Bridge for the official ceremony for D-Day. On
that ceremony the Ham & Jam remake would take place.
Nic and Steven stayed at the camp to receive and record
the message.
At about 00:20 Barry Tappenden, son of Ted "Ham
& Jam" Tappenden, sand the famous code-words
with the set 38, just like his father did 60 years ago.
The public at the ceremony was surprised of this remake
and a loud applause was heard near Pegasus Bridge.
At the camp Nic and Steven received the signal coming
from the Set 38 loud and clear!
Sunday
6 of June
On air at 8 AM.
The whole day we had nice pile-ups on 40 meter phone and
30 meter CW. Very often we were also active on 80 and 20
m.
6 meter was closed. It stayed that way for the rest of
the day. So we made several QSO's on the repeater of
Caen.
At 11:00 AM, a camera-crew from the Belgian Army visited
our camp. They made an interview with some members. The
"Ham & Jam" retake was a very interesting
item for them, so the filmed Jan with the SET 38.
At 2:00 PM we had an appointment at Memorial Pegasus
Museum. We've planned to do a special donation for the
museum: an original SET 38 !
Mr Jaquinot, conservator of the museum, was very pleased
with this donation. The SET 38 got immediately a very
special place between the other old transmission
equipment used in WW 2.
Meanwhile in our camp, Nic was sending our message to the
world.
We stayed on air until 5:00 PM.
Since we organized a barbeque, we dismantled already our
antennas at 5:00 PM
At 7:00 PM our invitees arrived. This little party was
finished at 1 AM !!
Monday
7 of June
8:00 AM. Time to dismantle the camp!
11:00 AM: with all our equipment in the cars, we went
back to Belgium.
To our friends in Ranville we said: "we'll meet
again… !"
We like to say a special thanks to:
Jan van de Riet, Maarten Dijkstra, Barry Tappenden, le
maire de Ranville and his lovely wife Valerie and all
stations who contacted or heard us.
The F/ON6JUN/P results
Total of 48 Countries
upon 1180 QSO's mixed mode
|
BAND
|
Countries CW/SSB
|
80
|
6
|
40
|
29
|
30
|
26
|
20
|
37
|
10
|
6
|
6
|
8
|
2
|
1
|
QSL
QSL Via Bureau -> ON5SD
|
Ham & Jam … 60 years
later
For the 60th anniversary of D-day, we thought we had to
do something special. Because the main idea of the
activation of our station is commemorating the
radio-operators of WW II, we took the challenge to make a
retake of the radiobroadcast with the famous words "Ham & Jam". This broadcast was the
sign that Pegasus Bridge was liberated and that the
liberation of Europe could begin.
We will try to make this retake as authentic as possible.
But the preparation of this retake was not easy...
We needed an original SET 38.
This portable transceiver was used for
radio-communication in the battle field. Some Dutch
old-radio-collectors have spent their time to restore an
old set with original parts. And they did an excellent
job: this SET 38 really works!!
Our crew says a special word to Maarten Dijkstra who
organized all this. He has also a special gift for the
museum: an original SET 38.
Second thing was trying to find out the history of this
message...
We knew that the message was send near Pegasus Bridge.
But we didn't know the exact time, we didn't know where
the message was received and we didn't know the reply on
this message.
We talked with several persons, read a lot of books and
searched on the internet. We found that the exact time of
the taking of Pegasus Bridge was 6th of June at 00.18. So
this had to be the time that "HAM & JAM" was send.
For the 2 other questions we didn't found correct
answers, all sources have different answers.
Mr Jaquinot, conservator of Memorial Pegasus Museum, knew
very well the Ted Tappenden's son because he visits every
year the museum in Ranville. Ted Tappenden was the
radio-operator who send the HAM & JAM message.
And…Mr Jaquinot had the e-mail address of Barry
Tappenden !!
Kurt, ON4CJV, took contact with Barry. And…Barry
replied!
Copy/paste:
-----Original Message-----
From: Barry Tappenden
Sent: zondag 16 mei 2004 11:33
To: Kurt De Lange
Subject: Re: Ham & Jam
Dear De Lange Kurt
Thank you for your e mail.
I will be very honoured to send the "Ham
& Jam" message at the exact time Dad
did, especially on a type 38 set. Dad never did
receive an answer from the Paras, their radio op
was killed when this chute failed to open, hence
the message "Ham & Jam, Ham & Bloody
Jam where the hell are you?"
As Dad told me a million times and I never
wearied from the story.
When Major Howard gave the order to send the
captured in tact message, Dad began transmitting,
"Hello 4 Dog, Hello 4 Dog, Ham & Jam,
Ham & Jam" this carried on for some
considerable time and still no answer. He was
unaware that the Para radio op was dead from a
"roman candle". Due to sheer
frustration of not getting a reply his famous
message was "Hello 4 Dog, Ham &
Jam, Ham & Jam, Ham & Bloody Jam where
the hell are you?"
Best regards
Barry Tappenden
son of Ted "Ham & Jam" Tappenden
----- Original Message -----
From: Kurt De Lange
To:
Cc:
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 7:56 PM
Subject: Ham & Jam
Dear Mister Tappenden,
I've received your e-mail address via Mister
Marc, the conservator of the Pegasus Museum.
As usual we, the group of Belgian radio amateurs,
will be present nearby the Pegasus Bridge in
order to commemorate the 60th anniversary of
D-day.
Almost a year ago a plan raised up to simulate
Ham & Jam during the ceremonies in Ranville.
Some Dutch friends were able and ready to compose
an original radio set type 38, the "airborne
station" used for the communication of the
words Ham and Jam.
Our Dutch friends made it a real challenge, the
complete set is only composed with original
pieces: the canvas strip, metal bands, strap
& hook, the microphone, the haversack
etc… a real survival to obtain all the
different parts.
With an huge portion of self confidence and a
real "can-do" attitude they completed
this part of the job with success and within a
few weeks the Pegasus Museum will be the proudly
owner of a radio set type 38 as it is the
intention to offer the radio set to the museum.
As I was on visit some days ago in Ranville, I've
discussed with Marc the plan how we can simulate
the transmission of the famous words Ham and Jam,
Ham and Jam, Ham and bloody Jam. He proposed me
to invite you to do the simulation.
Marc told me that it would be a real pleasure for
you to simulate the transmission yourself.
Are you willing to do the simulation after the
official ceremonies the 6th of June at 00h30? Yes
We are still having an important question for
you, namely:
What was the response to the transmitted words Ham
& Jam? It was received
in UK and the landing forces, but not by the
Paras as their radio op had been killed.
therefore Dad never got a reply hence the
frustrated reply "Hello 4 Dog, Ham &
Jam, Ham & Jam, Ham & Bloody Jam where
the hell are you?" Most of the neighbouring
Paras heard Major Howards whistle.
Was a confirmation received? No
Best Regards,
De Lange Kurt
This reply
doesn't need further explanation!
All questions are answered and Barry will follow the
footsteps of his father. He will send the "HAM & JAM" message once more and
after 60 years back in the air with an original SET 38.
This event will take place on the 6th of June at 00:20
next to Pegasus Bridge and next the statue of Major
Howard during a remembering ceremony of the taking of
Pegasus Bridge.
We will record this event and use it during our
F/ON6JUN/P QSO's
QSL
QSL Via Bureau -> ON5SD
F/ON6JUN/P D-Day 2004
Expedition Photo's
|
The South Flanders DX Activity Group activated in June 2004 a special
event station to commemorate the 60 anniversary of the
landing in Ranville Normandy! This World War 2 event
started the liberation of Europe (D-Day second World War 1940-45).
! ! ! 
%20&%20friend%20(left).jpg)
,%20Barry%20Tappenden%20(mid)%20interviewed%20by%20BBC-reporter.jpg)
