100 Years On …
In 1918, the French village of Bailleul changed hands more than once between the German and Allied forces. As a result of one of these movements, a German EL203 receiver unit was captured by Allied forces near the village. Bailleul is approximately 14km South West of Ypres on what was then the main St Omer to Lille Road.
In order to mark the one-hundredth anniversary of this event, the museum has placed the captured radio on display in a special cabinet in the NAAFI area.
The EL203 receiver unit covered the waveband from 850 metres to 4,600 metres, and it was used with the L170 receiver unit to add additional waveband coverage. In order to make the display more complete, we have also displayed an L170 unit in the cabinet.
The L170 unit is the receiver section of a World War I German trench radio. It was manufactured by Telefunken. The L170 receiver covers the wavebands from 150 to 800 metres in wavelength. A circuit diagram fixed inside the lid of this unit is dated “Berlin 4.12.17”.
Images .. Note the poppy on the EL203 is from the WWI trail for children to follow:
I’m sure this will be very interesting to many people.
Like many exhibits, the provenance is the most aspect and NASAM is good at displaying a story alongside many exhibits. They slow down your visit but they’re worth reading.