Tony Barton
Company Commander
Corporal Sparkes 1944 :~
A signaller from an Infantry Division in N.W.Europe in late summer 1944 , operating the wireless set No. 38 .
Like most British collectors, I have had a couple of the BBI “ Roger Cooke “ No.38 wireless sets hanging around for years , without ever having used them .
A useful posting on OSS from a re-enactor who owned a complete original set finally provided excellent, clear pics of all the parts , and a little work with reference books and online provided the answers to questions that arose as I was making it. It’s a complex thing to put together, and I hope I’ve got it right.
The 38 set was the British attempt to provide a lightweight radio for Platoon and Company use in the frontline. It became available in numbers in 1943, in time for D-Day, and was much used from then on and post-war. It was pretty crude and heavy object , weighing something like 30 pounds all up, and could only manage a couple of miles of range when conditions are good .
Even at the time , the 38 set compared very badly with the U.S.
“ handy-talkie “, which weighed about a third as much , and was one neat box unit without dangling wires.
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The BBI radio is a very good and accurate model , but whoever made it misunderstood the references, and provided a second green box, with fictional knobs on one end, presumably thinking it was something important like a battery unit.
It wasn’t : it was a spare valve case, without any knobs at all !
I converted mine into that valve case by removing the knobs , and adding a hinge , and a snap fastener to one end.
The actual batteries were buff cardboard covered objects, and in scale about 26 x 18 x 10 mm. I made a couple from foamex blocks covered with manila paper from an envelope .
Once you have the correct batteries, assembly as per the original printed instructions can be attempted .
And here’s the whole thing worn as per the instructions:~
All the webbing has been remade to correct scale , including the figure’s haversack, which carries the battery and junction box as well as his messtins .
The radio body hangs on a special 2” strap with a custom brass hook at the end , secured in the buckle on the haversack strap.
The “ Satchel Signals “ carries the spare battery , the spare valve case, and a spare headset and hand microphone (made of laminated plastic card , carved and painted ) , which is an alternative to the throat mike normally used, particularly for the use of an officer .
I’ve also made the aerial case, which is 50” long, from 10mm webbing tape sewn up. There are three aerial sections inside, and one in the radio.
The headsets have had their webbing straps replaced, with a tightening strap on top .
The whole outfit, although it can be used almost hands free when using the throat mike, is ridiculously complex , and must have taken ages to get on and off. And I can’t imagine the mess you got into if you had to throw yourself in a ditch in a hurry…broken ribs would have been the least of it.
Corporal Sparkes is otherwise entirely conventional for 1944/45 , in austerity BD and standard webbing. He’s with the 50th Tyne Tees & Humber Infantry Division .The Officer is from 5th East Yorks.
My friend Woffendon suggests that Royal Signals personnel assigned to the Infantry or Artillery probably rebadged themselves to the Battalion or Battery they were serving with , but I’ve left him with his Signals insignia for the moment, including the delightfully archaic crossed flags badge… come to think of it , not that archaic , since the BEF in 1940 had little else BUT flags for communication.
MkII helmet fully garnished with painted sacking cover, net and scrim.
All webbing remade, and blancoed Khaki Green Medium : this is the best version of this I have yet done, copied from a real sample .The BD and boots are DML , the insignia are homemade.
The Sten Mk.II has a new sling.
He's a bit clean, but let's imagine it's a dry period in late summer.
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A signaller from an Infantry Division in N.W.Europe in late summer 1944 , operating the wireless set No. 38 .
Like most British collectors, I have had a couple of the BBI “ Roger Cooke “ No.38 wireless sets hanging around for years , without ever having used them .
A useful posting on OSS from a re-enactor who owned a complete original set finally provided excellent, clear pics of all the parts , and a little work with reference books and online provided the answers to questions that arose as I was making it. It’s a complex thing to put together, and I hope I’ve got it right.
The 38 set was the British attempt to provide a lightweight radio for Platoon and Company use in the frontline. It became available in numbers in 1943, in time for D-Day, and was much used from then on and post-war. It was pretty crude and heavy object , weighing something like 30 pounds all up, and could only manage a couple of miles of range when conditions are good .
Even at the time , the 38 set compared very badly with the U.S.
“ handy-talkie “, which weighed about a third as much , and was one neat box unit without dangling wires.
***********************************************************************
The BBI radio is a very good and accurate model , but whoever made it misunderstood the references, and provided a second green box, with fictional knobs on one end, presumably thinking it was something important like a battery unit.
It wasn’t : it was a spare valve case, without any knobs at all !
I converted mine into that valve case by removing the knobs , and adding a hinge , and a snap fastener to one end.
The actual batteries were buff cardboard covered objects, and in scale about 26 x 18 x 10 mm. I made a couple from foamex blocks covered with manila paper from an envelope .
Once you have the correct batteries, assembly as per the original printed instructions can be attempted .
And here’s the whole thing worn as per the instructions:~
All the webbing has been remade to correct scale , including the figure’s haversack, which carries the battery and junction box as well as his messtins .
The radio body hangs on a special 2” strap with a custom brass hook at the end , secured in the buckle on the haversack strap.
The “ Satchel Signals “ carries the spare battery , the spare valve case, and a spare headset and hand microphone (made of laminated plastic card , carved and painted ) , which is an alternative to the throat mike normally used, particularly for the use of an officer .
I’ve also made the aerial case, which is 50” long, from 10mm webbing tape sewn up. There are three aerial sections inside, and one in the radio.
The headsets have had their webbing straps replaced, with a tightening strap on top .
The whole outfit, although it can be used almost hands free when using the throat mike, is ridiculously complex , and must have taken ages to get on and off. And I can’t imagine the mess you got into if you had to throw yourself in a ditch in a hurry…broken ribs would have been the least of it.
Corporal Sparkes is otherwise entirely conventional for 1944/45 , in austerity BD and standard webbing. He’s with the 50th Tyne Tees & Humber Infantry Division .The Officer is from 5th East Yorks.
My friend Woffendon suggests that Royal Signals personnel assigned to the Infantry or Artillery probably rebadged themselves to the Battalion or Battery they were serving with , but I’ve left him with his Signals insignia for the moment, including the delightfully archaic crossed flags badge… come to think of it , not that archaic , since the BEF in 1940 had little else BUT flags for communication.
MkII helmet fully garnished with painted sacking cover, net and scrim.
All webbing remade, and blancoed Khaki Green Medium : this is the best version of this I have yet done, copied from a real sample .The BD and boots are DML , the insignia are homemade.
The Sten Mk.II has a new sling.
He's a bit clean, but let's imagine it's a dry period in late summer.
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