No. 19 Set Installation Kits

[David Dunlop]

Noticed on eBay USA recently someone appears to be parting out a complete US 19-Set Mk II all NOS with Installation Kit parts for some form of AFV. That got me wondering about the source for these Installation Kits.

Would Canada, the USA and England have contracted with local suppliers to build the various 19-Set Installation Kits they required during the war or would specific kits have been assigned particular manufacturers? My suspicion is each country built what they needed so one could probably find Sherman Installation Kits made by Zenith in the USA, Pye in England and RCA in Canada for example all in one surplus store post war.

Anybody know for certain?


David

[cletrac (RIP)]

Here's the paperwork out of a US Sherman installation kit. I think it was made by Philco. Note the US parts are minor.

[Jon Skagfeld]

Originally Posted by cletrac

Here's the paperwork out of a US Sherman installation kit. I think it was made by Philco. Note the US parts are minor.

Are these diagrams from Meulstee's "Wireless for the Warrior, Vol II"?

If not, then that's another good reference.

[Johnny Canuck]

I am no authority on this, so forgive my errors.

Lets use the WS19 as an example. Three different MK's I, II, III were produced in UK, then Canada, then USA also OZ and NZ?. Exterior parts were pretty much interchangeable within each MK, (internal not always), this is where Allied production organization came in. There was TOTAL government control of production during the war in Allied countries. If Canada produced surplus Westlox Morse Keys they were shipped to the USA and included in USA production. The organization of this effort would fill volumes. The idea was to meet and exceed production quotas, WS19 sets built in North America have very different guts than a British version MKII or MKIII, (Canada produced MKII and III's, USA only MKII.) they were adapted internally to North American production methods and readily available parts when possible. There are hundreds of minor differences, black knobs same in red, the application of decals, modifications during production (CDN MKII face mod'd to MKIII, etc.............

So back to kits.
Every Allied Vehicle that could be issued a WS19 had a specific Installation Kit that was unique to that vehicle. It comprised:
Set and Standard Kit WS No.19
Set, PSU, Carrier, Brush Guards, Variometer & Cover, Aerial bases, 'F' & 'G' Rods, Connectors Co-Axial No.10 (set to vario), Dummy Load, 3 Headset Assemblies, Spares Valves & Parts, Satchel No.1, Canvas Cover and Working Instructions.

A Fox Installation Kit would include the above Standard Kit and 1 Headset Assembly (3+1= 4 man crew), Mounting parts for 'G' rod aerial including tuned length cables, CU's No.1 & 2, JD No.3, Variometer parts and cables to reach the 'F' rod base, Satchel No.1, Armoured 6 and 12 Point Connectors in the correct lengths and all necessary hardware and fittings.There would also be Drawings Installation, Instructions Installation and Wiring Layouts.

There was probably a Installation Kit for the T34 ( just kidding, maybe). Huge numbers of British, Canadian and USA sets were send to the USSR as Lend Lease, the Chinese might have received a few, but if I'm not mistaken they were supplied with mostly US Army Signal Corp equipment, although all WS19 USA production bears the US Signal Corps name no WS19 sets were used by the US Army in WW2( Marines maybe?).

The Installation for a WS52 Ground Station/Vehicle is 11 Kits, some are small ie tent, or batteries. others have a hundred items+-.

Production was not adhoc, you made what the government told you to make, if you didn't, they would come in, kick you out and just do it. So everyone pretty much sort of got it. In North America, a switch made in Texas would end up in a Canadian RCA set being sent to the ITO to be installed in a Indian AB Sherman, rail was king, our transportation network in NA was never under threat, so things moved by rail to where they were needed.( The USSR was centralized, with a factory making ever part inhouse, located beside the foundry, this released the railways to move production and troops to the front.)
Allied War production was organized from the top down, the top decides to do D-Day; so everyone gets in line to do their part, and these things did happened because of that central planning, 1000 bomber raids, Mulberry Harbours, Victory ships, D-Day, LST's, Higgins boats, Lend Lease etc.

I have some manuals on WS19's, WS19 CDN HP, WS52 if it helps.

Geoff

[cletrac (RIP)]

I bought the remains of an installation kit from the US and those drawings were the paperwork that came with it.

[Johnny Canuck]

I also model in 1/6th scale and have slowly fallen into the abyss of wireless collecting. Always collecting references.
Anyways awhile back I saved a series of images off eBay of a complete Installation Kit USA WS No.19 MkII for a Pershing tank. Mar/45



Rather than posting it all again, here is a link.

http://www.onesixth.co.uk/vb4forum/s...light=wireless

Geoff

PS. I found a series of images filed away of a complete WS19 ground station USA, seller sent me the whole series ,50+ images, anyone interested? I could post link to Photobucket.

[Patrick Johnson]

Hi Geoff,

Yes, I'd be very interested in seeing these pictures, just to know the various pieces that go into a complete installation. I'm sure they are very informative.

Looking forward to seeing them when you have a chance to post a link.

Regards,
Patrick