Wireless set 108

[Mike Kelly]

The little 108 mk2 set was used in the Papua battles in 1942 and from what I have read its performance in the jungle terrain was less than useless . It was made by Radio Corporation Melbourne , which later sold TV sets under the ASTOR brand

This one on ebay is like most of them, it is missing the brass telescopic antenna and the two bowden cables that control the transmit /receive switching and the tuning .

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/291368316...84.m1423.l2649

Some time ago a stash of NOS canvas covers for these sets was unearthed and these were being sold by a local here . The mk3 version 1944 , was apparently a more successful set . The mk2 turns up on a fairly regular basis on ebay , the production run would have been in the thousands .

The waterproofing is non existent , one decent shower of rain would have ruined any chance of the set actually working . The poor guys had to carry these things up and down mountains all day .

[Mike Kelly]

Another WS 108 is on EBAY right now.

My theory , why so many of these have survived . After the initial deployment of these sets to places like PNG , their poor performance in the field meant the army decided to withdraw them to training use only .