25-02-2013, 08:53 PM
In lawrence's thread on his 'Radio Room' under contruction he wrote:
...first on the new bench will be one of your all time favourites David, the R1155A...
I guess that in vintage radio circles, that the 1155 is the military equivalent of the DAC90A, in that each of them, though technically unexceptional, are nowadays seen as iconic radio of their time but of course for very different reasons. The 1155 will forever be linked to the Lancaster bomber, though I doubt that many of those we’re ever likely to come across will have seen active service in a ‘plane, but will have come from countless pallet loads of surplus 1155s and other stuff at the end of the war. And like the DAC90A, anyone who wants one can have one – both are very commonplace, though in the case of the 1155, will probably have been got at by several owners whose hands they will have passed through. Many - if not most - will by now be unoriginal, having been adapted for use as short wave receivers. Typically, a 240V PSU, output stage, removal of DF stage, etc. The hark back to an era when people such as me simply saw them as a ‘donor set’ and would have no compunction in attacking the front panel with a Black and Decker drill. When the surplus market was awash with 1155s and many other sets (B40s, CR100s, 19 sets, 38 sets etc) from the late 40s to late 50s, I don't recall anyone I knew considering them to be 'collectable' as such - just as ex WD radios that could be adapted for use in a domecstic setting as short-wave receivers, or for use with an amateur radio transmitter.
The 1155 was designed for the job in hand, which - as an airborne radio - performance wise, wasn’t so demanding. In many ways it was over-engineered for the brief life it would have if it became airborne – about a month. In WW2, 48% of bomber crews didn’t survive the war and the life expectancy of a Lancaster on operation was three weeks on average, though much depended on the raids that they were on, but overall, half of all Lancaster crews did not complete fifteen operations. Lancasters - which flew straight and level - made easy targets. During the first three years of the war, 11,300 aircrew were killed and more than 12,000 died in the fourth year alone.
The worst time for RAF bomber command, and probably the worst for the whole RAF, was the battle for Berlin, a well-defended city. An airman's chance of surviving the next 24 hours in that battle was actually less than that of an infantry officer in the battle of the Somme - but it wasn't usually quite as deadly as that. In contrast, the long-haul raids on Italy were regarded as being a bit of a doddle, despite the immense distance and increased chance of interception.
The RAF lost 55,000 dead over Europe - almost half of the entire air force including ground staff. In a bomber the crew is sitting one behind another in a thin walled aluminium tube. Beneath them are tons of high explosive; in the wings - hundreds of gallons of aviation fuel. You are held aloft by delicate engines that cannot withstand bullets or cannon shells, and the whole plane is full of vital hydraulic lines and wires.
I think it’s for all these reasons that the 1155 has gained a certain legendary aura by association with the Lancaster, which other, much better performing radios, have not attained.
Having started work aged 15 in 1954, many of the men I worked with had flown in Lancasters. One guy – a former pilot - was called ‘Pop’ by his crew because at 23, he was the oldest member of the crew. (He told me that he became a pilot as he failed to make the grade to be a bomb-aimer/navigator, which called for a good understanding of trigonometry). He said that from his personal experience, despite all the stuff we see in films such as: 'Poor old Bertie bought it over Berlin last night - dashed bad luck' that wasn't quite how it was. They always had a whip round before they went on a raid knowing that many of those who put into the kitty wouldn't be in the NAFFI when the lucky ones returned, glad to have saved their own skin, with more beer to go round, to drink to 'absent friends'. Frienships were fleeting and shallow, and crew members were changing all the time. Not quite like the bonds that formed in say submarines where crews were cooped up together for weeks on end.
Bomber Command never really received the recognition they deserved in quite the way that fighter pilots did.
There’s a wonderful book By Michael Bishop for anyone interested in Bomber Command as I am, called Bomber Boys (paperback and Kindle):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bomber-Boys-Figh...0007192150
The same author also wrote 'Fighter Boys’:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fighter-Boys-Sav...gy_b_img_y
Best of luck with your 1155 restoration Lawrence!
...first on the new bench will be one of your all time favourites David, the R1155A...
I guess that in vintage radio circles, that the 1155 is the military equivalent of the DAC90A, in that each of them, though technically unexceptional, are nowadays seen as iconic radio of their time but of course for very different reasons. The 1155 will forever be linked to the Lancaster bomber, though I doubt that many of those we’re ever likely to come across will have seen active service in a ‘plane, but will have come from countless pallet loads of surplus 1155s and other stuff at the end of the war. And like the DAC90A, anyone who wants one can have one – both are very commonplace, though in the case of the 1155, will probably have been got at by several owners whose hands they will have passed through. Many - if not most - will by now be unoriginal, having been adapted for use as short wave receivers. Typically, a 240V PSU, output stage, removal of DF stage, etc. The hark back to an era when people such as me simply saw them as a ‘donor set’ and would have no compunction in attacking the front panel with a Black and Decker drill. When the surplus market was awash with 1155s and many other sets (B40s, CR100s, 19 sets, 38 sets etc) from the late 40s to late 50s, I don't recall anyone I knew considering them to be 'collectable' as such - just as ex WD radios that could be adapted for use in a domecstic setting as short-wave receivers, or for use with an amateur radio transmitter.
The 1155 was designed for the job in hand, which - as an airborne radio - performance wise, wasn’t so demanding. In many ways it was over-engineered for the brief life it would have if it became airborne – about a month. In WW2, 48% of bomber crews didn’t survive the war and the life expectancy of a Lancaster on operation was three weeks on average, though much depended on the raids that they were on, but overall, half of all Lancaster crews did not complete fifteen operations. Lancasters - which flew straight and level - made easy targets. During the first three years of the war, 11,300 aircrew were killed and more than 12,000 died in the fourth year alone.
The worst time for RAF bomber command, and probably the worst for the whole RAF, was the battle for Berlin, a well-defended city. An airman's chance of surviving the next 24 hours in that battle was actually less than that of an infantry officer in the battle of the Somme - but it wasn't usually quite as deadly as that. In contrast, the long-haul raids on Italy were regarded as being a bit of a doddle, despite the immense distance and increased chance of interception.
The RAF lost 55,000 dead over Europe - almost half of the entire air force including ground staff. In a bomber the crew is sitting one behind another in a thin walled aluminium tube. Beneath them are tons of high explosive; in the wings - hundreds of gallons of aviation fuel. You are held aloft by delicate engines that cannot withstand bullets or cannon shells, and the whole plane is full of vital hydraulic lines and wires.
I think it’s for all these reasons that the 1155 has gained a certain legendary aura by association with the Lancaster, which other, much better performing radios, have not attained.
Having started work aged 15 in 1954, many of the men I worked with had flown in Lancasters. One guy – a former pilot - was called ‘Pop’ by his crew because at 23, he was the oldest member of the crew. (He told me that he became a pilot as he failed to make the grade to be a bomb-aimer/navigator, which called for a good understanding of trigonometry). He said that from his personal experience, despite all the stuff we see in films such as: 'Poor old Bertie bought it over Berlin last night - dashed bad luck' that wasn't quite how it was. They always had a whip round before they went on a raid knowing that many of those who put into the kitty wouldn't be in the NAFFI when the lucky ones returned, glad to have saved their own skin, with more beer to go round, to drink to 'absent friends'. Frienships were fleeting and shallow, and crew members were changing all the time. Not quite like the bonds that formed in say submarines where crews were cooped up together for weeks on end.
Bomber Command never really received the recognition they deserved in quite the way that fighter pilots did.
There’s a wonderful book By Michael Bishop for anyone interested in Bomber Command as I am, called Bomber Boys (paperback and Kindle):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bomber-Boys-Figh...0007192150
The same author also wrote 'Fighter Boys’:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fighter-Boys-Sav...gy_b_img_y
Best of luck with your 1155 restoration Lawrence!
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
