Amateur Radio History - World War II

World War II

During the German occupation of Poland, the priest Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, SP3RN was arrested by the Germans. The Germans believed his amateur radio activities were somehow involved in espionage and he was transferred to Auschwitz on May 28, 1941. After some prisoners escaped in 1941, the Germans ordered that 10 prisoners be killed in retribution. Fr. Kolbe was martyred when he volunteered to take the place of one of the condemned men. On October 10, 1982 he was canonized by Pope John Paul II as Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Apostle of Consecration to Mary and declared a Martyr of charity. He is considered the Patron saint of Amateur radio operators.

Again during World War II, as it had done during the first World War, the United States Congress suspended all amateur radio operations. With most of the American amateur radio operators in the armed forces at this time, the US government created the War emergency radio service which would remain active through 1945. After the War the amateur radio service began operating again, with many hams converting war surplus radios, such as the ARC-5, to amateur use.