Replica set built by Tom Hoeppe DJ5RE
Many thanks to Colin Wright GM4HWO who forwarded this article which was received at the Museum of Communication (MoC) in Burntisland from German amateur Tom Höppe DJ5RE. It relates to the late Harry Matthews who was the first curator of the MoC collection when it was located at Edinburgh University.
As mentioned later, Tom’s DJ5RE entry in QRZ.com contains more on his work with historic radios
and a photo of him with his collection of them..
Pete GM4BYF notes that this incident is mentioned in Spycatcher by Oreste Pinto (1952).
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Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
My name is Thomas Höppe and I am from Bavaria/Germany. I do research about spy activities in WW2, with a special interest in German spy missions into Great Britain (in preparation of Operation Sealion). Some time ago I got a copy of a folder from Dr. Lissock / Belgium, who passed away decades ago. Here I found schematics from Edinburgh, drawn by Harry Matthews:
Circuit diagram of the receiver, drawn by Harry Matthews.
Circuit diagram of the transmitter, drawn by Harry Matthews.
I know that Mr. Matthews is well-known for you. He did a great job! I built a replica of the whole set, and the schematic was 100% correct. Today I know this is the only schematic taken accurately from an original. I build replicas, so this are very important documents for me.
I also got this picture, showing the set on display in your Museum (Edinburgh?):
I know it is said that this set was given back to William Merrilees (Chief Constable of Edinburgh – Ed.) after the war. It was published in “After the Battle” Nr. 11 in 1976, where we’ve got told this was the Set of Drücke/Eriksen, arrested in Portgordon, north Scotland. The picture from the Museum shows the set together with the passport of Wälti, another “Lena” agent arriving in Scotland. The passport in the vitrine is that of Werner Wälti. Both is wrong! During the last years, the files in the National Archives in Kew were declassified. It became obvious that the units given to the Museums after the war were often mixed up. Today, I can prove that the set, the only SE88/5 known from England, was nor the set from Drücke/Eriksen, neither that of Wälti. It belonged to agent Schmidt, who changed the sides and took part in the double-cross system and became famous as “TATE”. Some books were written about TATE! You have a very interesting piece of history in your house! The numbers on the receiver (S.O.24) and the transmitter (46) match to the file about TATE from Kew.
The file is KV 2-62. You can make a download from the National Archives, maybe a museum can get it for free. My replica works fine, and I can demonstrate it on amateur radio. Maybe your museum club station is interested in a test. I add a picture. More on www.qrz.com/db/dj5re
I hope this info was interesting for you. Best wishes from Bavaria Tom, DJ5RE.
Tom Höppe DJ5RE with his collection of replica spy radios. Photo c/o DJ5RE / QRZ.com
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