The Diplomatic Wireless Service evolved from its WW2 origins which was set up at Hanslope Park as a semi-autonomous part of the Foreign Office. It was quite distinct from GCHQ and MI6. Led by Richard Gambier-Parry the staff consisted of wireless operators (CW) and a number of Philco staff.
During WW2 the MI6 radio network included a receiving station at Whaddon Hall, and a transmitting site to its south. As well as several other sites.
Richard Gambier-Parry who was a sales manager at Philco in the 1930s (and also a radio amateur) worked for MI6 during WW2 at Whaddon Hall. He became the first director of Communications at DWS until 1955. At DWS he was joined by another Philco man, Harold Robin, who was Chief Engineer until 1971.
Eventually satellite communications and other technical changes came along as did the end of the Cold War in Europe. Consequently HF usage and much of the foreign broadcasting declined. The last HF communication was on 4th July 1993 to the Tehran embassy.
Another little known story was of William Marshall, a 24 year old DWS radio operator at the British Embassy in Moscow. He was passing info to the KGB until spotted by MI5 and incarcerated
Peter described the high power Broadcast section of DWS based at Crowborough, East Sussex. They operated MW and SW transmitters in the UK and overseas in liaison with the BBC World Service. The Crowborough Tx was replaced in 1982 by one at the Orford Ness site. The latter ran BBC-World Service on 648 kHz until 27-Mar-2011. Other sites included Cyprus (MW+SW), Francistown in Africa and Masirah in Oman. The remaining sites were taken over by BBC Engineering in 1986, and subsequently privatised and became Babcock in 1997.
