Obituary by Peter Windle, G8VG

I first met Jack in 1948 when we were both living in Kent and although our working lives took us in different directions we had many excellent contacts during the years that followed.

Jack was born on 11 November 1923 and at the age of 14 began his working life in his father’s bike shop. His interest in radio began after reading Practical Wireless and he went on to build a receiver that started him on the road to amateur radio. He first began to copy DX commercial broadcast stations but it was the amateur signals that really excited his interest. He soon met local amateurs, taught himself Morse code and went on to build all his own equipment.

In early 1939 he obtained his amateur licence 2CIW and his shack was in the garden shed. His amateur activities were cut short in September, 1939 on the outbreak of WWII when his transmitter was confiscated but his skill with Morse code, which included the teaching of Air Cadets, had been noted and he was approached by the authorities with a view to his joining the Radio Security Service (RSS) and becoming a Voluntary Interceptor (VI). He readily accepted the job and, after signing the Official Secrets Act would, when not working in the bike shop or on ARP duty, sit in his shack listening for German signals. Those evening and night time activities attracted the attention of neighbours who reported Jack to the local police. This was a common problem amongst the VIs, fortunately the police were aware that VIs were not enemy spies.

It soon became clear to the authorities that it was necessary to have full time RSS stations to copy the enemy signals and in 1941/42 Hanslope Park in Buckinghamshire became the first such station. Jack joined Hanslope Park in February 1942 where he met many other VIs including my father Bill Windle G8VG.

In 1943 Jack was sent to Gibraltar, a highly secure military base, where, toward the end of the war, he and a friend operated on the bands using the call EA7AB.

Shortly after his return to Hanslope in August 1945, where Betty had been working preparing Rockex encryption key tapes, she and Jack met at a dance. They were married on 12th April 1947 at Fenny Stratford, near Bletchley.

In the 1950’s Jack worked in Tangier where his daughter was born in 1952. Jack then had regular morning contacts with Maurice Handcocks, G5HN, and fellow Voluntary Interceptor, and asked Maurice to ‘phone his and Betty’s parents with news of the birth.

Jack was FOC member No.34 from 1955 to 2007 and for his last few years he lived, like many of us, in an apartment where his radio activity was severely limited but he still managed to put a signal on the bands using a stealth antenna. His last entry in his log was 17th June this year. He died in Gloucester Royal Hospital on Monday 5 November 2018.

Jack was appointed to the Ordre national de la Legion d`honneur by decree of 18 June 2018 which recognizes his engagement and steadfast involvement in Sigint activities during the Second World War.

RIP Jack you will be greatly missed.