Special thanks to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for sharing a recent edition of Wavescan on AWR
Jeff: 13 years ago in 2011, one country that was very much in the news amid political turmoil and vicious fighting was the Arab Islamic State of Libya. 80 years ago, the same area featured prominently in the see-saw battles fought by the European powers during their North Africa campaigns. This week, Ray Robinson begins a three-part series on the history of radio broadcasting in Libya, starting with the earliest wireless stations, and some radio broadcast stations that were operated by British and American personnel from shortly after the Second World War, up until 1970. Here’s Ray.
Ray: Thanks, Jeff. The country of Libya is located in North Africa, approximately in the middle of the Mediterranean coastline. Libya is about 1,000 miles north/south and also 1,000 miles east/west, although with an irregular shape.
Almost the entire country is covered by the Sahara Desert, with a 50 mile strip of arable land along the coast, and a few oases inland. The hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth occurred in Libya on September 13, 1922, when the temperature was measured at 136 degrees Fahrenheit, 58 Celsius.
The current population of Libya is around 7.2 million and the capital city is Tripoli, although the largest city is Benghazi. Oil was discovered in quantity in 1959, and these days the sale of oil forms 80% of the national economy.
This area of North Africa was inhabited by Berber tribespeople in earliest ancient times, and Phoenicians from the Palestine coast settled in the area around 700 BC. One hundred years later, the Greeks colonized the area, followed by the Romans, who in turn were followed by the Vandals from central Europe, and then the Arabs came in around the 600’s AD. In 1912, Italy took over Libya, and after World War 2, Libya formally gained independence in 1951.
For those who have an interest in Biblical backgrounds, the original Berber tribespeople are descended from Noah’s son Ham; and Libya is mentioned by name in the Bible more than a dozen times. The early Christian church remembered that a man by the name of Simon, from Cyrene in north eastern Libya, was arrested by Roman soldiers and was forced to carry the cross along the via Dolorosa in Jerusalem on behalf of the Messiah.
Wireless communication came quite early to Libya, and the first stations were installed immediately after the end of World War 1. These early wireless stations were located in Tripoli as ICK; in Benghazi as ICJ; and Tobruk as ICU; together with four other regional locations.
However, radio broadcasting came quite late to Libya, and interestingly, the first medium wave stations weren’t installed until after the Second World War, and were operated by British & American forces personnel, not by the national government or commercial interests. According to all available references, there was a total of six different BFBS stations on the air in Libya giving coverage to four different localities on AM, FM & SW; and just one AFRTS station on AM medium wave.
We look first at the British stations. According to Doreen Taylor in her book, “A Microphone & A Frequency”, the first two British stations were erected somewhat simultaneously during the year 1946, in Benghazi & Tripoli. Both stations were quite small to begin with, using whatever electronic equipment was available.
The original station in Benghazi was located on what had been the Italian airfield, and quite soon, in 1947, an attempt was made to broadcast on shortwave. The transmitter was an American-made RCA unit rated at 7½ kW, and the chosen channel was announced as 11820 kHz, though monitoring observations in Australia stated that the channel was more like 11850 kHz. Unfortunately, these BFBS shortwave broadcasts caused interference to a regular BBC transmission, so the first attempt at shortwave broadcasting was aborted.
However, shortwave broadcasting was again attempted on two subsequent occasions; in 1949 on 4780 kHz, and in 1956 with 7½ kW on 4930 and 7220 kHz.
Two years after the station was inaugurated, Arabic programming was introduced for the benefit of local citizens. Four years after that, the station was flooded following heavy rains in the hills nearby. However, due to quick action on the part of the station personnel, very little damage was done to the station equipment.
The Benghazi station was closed in February 1958, but upon the insistence of King Idris, a smaller station was reopened in 1960 with 1 kW on 833 kHz, installed in an empty ward in what had been the base hospital in Wavell Barracks. Later in the 60’s, a 4 kW FM transmitter was added on 97.8 MHz. But, when most of the British forces left the area, the station was taken over temporarily by Signals personnel, and soon afterwards it was closed. The last listing for the station in the WRTH is in 1968.
The BFBS station in Tripoli likewise had a double life. It was located initially in the British army barracks at Mareth, and ten years later the station was transferred to Miani Barracks four miles away. Likewise, shortwave coverage was tried from this station, and it was noted in England on 4785 kHz in 1953. This station, with 1 kW on 1394 kHz, was finally closed in January 1966.
A third BFBS station located at Tobruk came on the radio scene considerably later than the previous two. It was inaugurated in July 1964, and radiated 1 kW on two channels, 1439 & 1484 kHz (208 and 202 meters), as well as on 89 MHz FM.
Interestingly, the programming from the Tobruk BFBS station was also relayed over an FM transmitter on 90.2 MHz at El Adem, 17 miles inland, which received its program feed via a landline connection. The Tobruk station was closed after six years of service in 1970.
BFBS in Libya was therefore on the air on shortwave from two different locations, Benghazi in 1947, 1949 & 1956; and from Tripoli in 1953. And yes, these BFBS stations in Libya did issue QSL cards, though these days they are quite rare. Dr. Adrian Peterson’s Heritage Collection does contain one such card, verifying BFBS Benghazi on shortwave with 4 kW on 3305 kHz in 1954.
From 1943 to 1970, the United States Air Force operated the Wheelus Air Base on the coast near Tripoli, a facility that had originally been constructed by the Italian Royal Air Force in 1923. On the base there was an American AFRTS station, both radio and TV, and it appears from listings in the WRTH that the radio station was first launched in 1954 with 100 watts on 1510 kHz. The TV station was added early in 1955. Very little is known about either station; they must have had American callsigns, but what they were, we don’t know. When they were closed in 1970, the radio station was operating with 1 kW on 1594 kHz.
The significance of the closure in 1970 of both BFBS Tobruk and AFRTS Tripoli is that it was on September 1st, 1969 that King Idris I was overthrown by Muammar Gaddafi in a successful military coup d’état. Before the revolution, the US and Libya had already reached agreement on US withdrawal from Wheelus. This proceeded according to plan, and the facility was turned over to the new Libyan authorities on 11th June 1970.
Next week, we’ll take a look at the domestic governmental radio operations in Libya, on both medium wave and short ave.
Back to you, Jeff.
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