Tag Archives: Richard Cummings

Richard sheds light on Cold War clandestine Radio Vltava

Many thanks to Richard Cummings of the website, Cold War Radio Vignettes, who writes:

I am putting together a series of blog posts about Radio Free Europe and Czechoslovakia, 1968.

In doing so so, I came across a clandestine radio station called Radio Vltava that broadcast
from East Germany into Czechoslovakia in support of the Soviet invasion and occupation.
There is little coverage in English about Radio Vltava but some information in German and Czech.

I also was able to come up with an audio of one of the first broadcasts as the station signed on.

I thought, and perhaps others, might find the blog interesting.

Click here to view this post.

Of course, if you (or others) see a need for corrections in the blog post, or have comments, please let me know.

Fascinating, Richard! Thank you for sharing–I really enjoyed the off-air recording of the Radio Vltava sign-on and interval signal.

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Radio Free Europe and Christmas

1951 RFE Christmas card

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Cummings, who shares the 1951 Radio Free Europe Christmas card above.

Richard also notes that he recently published a two-part series on RFE and Christmas on his blog, Cold War Radio Vignettes.

Both excellent reads! Thanks, Richard!

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RFE and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution (Part 2)

HalliDial

Many thanks to Richard Cummings of the website, Cold War Radio Vignettes, who writes:

[F]or your weekend reading pleasure, Part Two, in which I briefly examine the background to and excerpts from the RFE controversial broadcasts:

https://coldwarradios.blogspot.de/2016/08/radio-free-europe-and-1956-hungarian_5.html

Many thanks for sharing, Richard!

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RFE and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution (Part 1)

HalliDial

Many thanks to Richard Cummings of the website, Cold War Radio Vignettes, who notes that he has posted a new article about Radio Free Europe and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution (Part 1).

The article spotlights Operation FOCUS, which was the combined balloon/leaflet and RFE broadcast endeavours 1954-56. Richard notes that Part 2 will be posted next week and will cover the controversial RFE broadcasts during the revolution.

Click here to read at the Cold War Radio Vignettes website.

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Update: Cold War Clandestine Radio from Greece

HalliDial

Saturday, I published a post referencing Cold War Clandestine Radio from Greece with links to Richard Cummings’ excellent website Cold War Radio Vignettes.

My post was written some time earlier and scheduled to publish Saturday while I was traveling. Unfortunately, the Cold War Radio Vignettes articles I had linked to were removed prior to Saturday.

I contacted Richard Cummings who has kindly assembled a small PDF booklet with the text from all of the posts I had referenced and is allowing me to share it here on the SWLing Post.

Richard asks that if any Post readers have information about these clandestine broadcasts and is willing to share it with him, he would me most thankful. His contact information is on the front page of the PDF.

Click here to download the PDF booklet.

Again, many thanks to Richard Cummings for making this free PDF booklet available to us!

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Cold War Clandestine Radio from Greece

HalliDial

UPDATE: The links to Cold War Radio Radio Vignettes below became inactive just prior to publication. Richard Cummings has kindly assembled the texts I referenced and made a PDF booklet available for SWLing Post readers. Click here to download.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Kim Elliott who (some time ago) shared a link to a series of posts by Richard Cummings from his website, Cold War Radio Vignettes.

Cold-War-RadioCummings is the author of Cold War Radio: The Dangerous History of American Broadcasting in Europe, 1950-1989 and Radio Free Europe’s “Crusade for Freedom” Rallying Americans Behind Cold War Broadcasting, 1950-1960.

Cumming’s blog is updated frequently and features many fascinating historical “vignettes” regarding Cold War radio broadcasting.

Kim specifically mentioned a series of posts with a focus on Cold War American broadcasting from Greece, suggesting SWLing Post readers might enjoy this bit of Cold War history. I completely agree!

Below, I’ve linked to a total of six posts Cummings published on the topic. Enjoy:

Cold War American Clandestine Radio Broadcasting over the Iron Curtain from Greece

Cold War American Clandestine Radio Broadcasting over the Iron Curtain from Greece, to Ukraine

Cold War American Clandestine Radio Broadcasting over the Iron Curtain from Greece: “Future of Romania — Voice of National Resistance”

Cold War American Clandestine Radio Broadcasting over the Iron Curtain from Greece: Nasha Rossiya (Our Russia)

Want more?

If you enjoy Cold War radio history, I strongly recommend that you bookmark Cold War Radio Vignettes. I’m placing a permanent link in our sidebar.

Thanks again for the tip, Kim!

UPDATE: It appears the posts have been removed from the Cold War Radio Vignettes site.  I will contact the owner and see if they can be re-posted.

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