1939

see also German stations in 1939, Polish stations in 1939 and European stations in 1939 (Telefunken manual)

January

??: Norway - Oslo-Lambertseter starts broadcasting on shortwave with 5 kW (before the marine station Jeloy was used sporadically).

February

04: Norway - Stavanger gets a new 100 kW transmitter on 850 kHz.
14: Norway - Vigra gets a new 100 kW transmitter on 260 kHz.

March

17: Norway - Bodř switches to 253 kHz.
22: Germany - Reichssender Köln and Hamburg start broadcasting a 15 minute English programme on medium wave.

April

01: Germany - Landessender Danzig is renamed into Reichssender Danzig.
15: International - The European frequency conference in Montreux draws up a new frequency plan for long and medium wave to become active on 4 March 1940. Large broadcasters can transmit with powers up to 120 kW on medium wave, and 500 kW during the day and 200 kW during the night on long wave. 32 of the 37 present countries sign the new plan. Iceland, Greece, Luxembour, Turkey and the USSR did not agree.
21: Germany - Reichssender Köln and Hamburg add another 15 minute English programme on medium wave.

May

19: Germany - Deutschlandsender Herzberg (500 kW planned) replaces Königs Wusterhausen on 191 kHz with 3 joint 150 kW transmitters and an antenna of 325 height, at that time the highest building in Europe.

June

01: Poland - Radio Katowice starts broadcasting in Czech. Once a week programmes in German are transmitted.
04: France - Radio Normandie starts broadcasting.
14: UK - The BBC starts broadcasting in Start Point (1050 kHz - 285.7m) with 100 kW, and in Clevedon (1474 kHz - 203.5 m) with 20 kW.
21: Austria - Linz (15 kW) switches from 886 kHz to 1267 kHz
21: Austria - Klagenfurt (5 kW) changes from 1294 to 886 kHz to transmit in parallel with Graz (15 kW)
21: Germany - Nürnberg switches from 1267 kHz to 519 kHz
24: Germany - Freiburg (5 kW) switches from 1195 kHz to 1294 kHz

July

05: Germany - German radio starts broadcasting in Polish via Reichssender Königsberg (1031 kHz - 100 kW) and via Reichssender Breslau (950 kHz - 100 kW) from 2015-2035 and 2215-2230 CET. The programme is propagandawise very well made.
06: France: French radio starts broadcasts in English from 2130-2145 BST via the private stations: Lille (1213 kHz), Radio Normandie (1095 kHz), Radio Cité in Paris (1068 kHz), Radio 37 in Paris (832 kHz) and Radio Paris (182 kHz)
22: France - Inauguration of the long wave transmitter in Allouis which broadcasts on 182 kHz (1648 m) with a power of 450 kW. Shortly before the start of the war it will go into regular programming.

August

09: Andorra - Commercial station Radio Andorra starts broadcasting on 722 kHz (415.4 m) during the day with 60 kW, and on 274m during the night. The pogrammes are directed to France.

September

?: Czechoslovakia - Troppau (11.2 kW, former transmitter of Ostrava) switches from 1204 kHz to 758 kHz
01: Luxembourg - Radio Luxembourg only transmits government information to the public twice a day and ends regular programming.
01: UK - BBC merges BBC National and BBC Regional Radio into one single BBC Home Service in order to prevent the enemy from pinpointing the different transmitters. After a 90 minute break BBC Home Service starts at 2015 hours on 668 kHz (449.1 m) and 767 kHz (391.1 m). At 2116 the foreign language service starts on 1492 kHz (201.1 m).
02: Poland - Polskie Radio transmitters in Krákow and Katowice are silenced by the Polish army at 13h.
03: Poland - Polskie Radio Thorn, Posen and Ludz cease broadcasting. This way half of the Polish transmitters are silent on the third day of the war.
05: Poland - The transmitter in Katowice is reactivated by the German ministry of propaganda.
07: Poland - Polskie Radio in Razyn is activated. However, it is a fake station by the Germans, broadcasting Polish songs and information, who want the Polish population to believe that Warsaw has already been taken by the German troops.
16: Poland - The German air force destroyed the Polish stations in Wilna, Lemberg and Baranowicze. The only remaining active Polish station is Warszawa II from surrounded Warsaw.
21: Luxembourg - Radio Luxembourg stops broadcasting because of the start of the Second World War. When the Germans annexed Luxembourg at the beginning of WW II, the local technicians took the final amplifier valves out of the Junglinster transmitter  and hid them so that they could not use the transmitter for the duration. As soon as the allies arrived, they presented them with the valves so that they could get it working quickly again.
25: Poland - The last remaining transmitter Warszawa II is deactivated and is replaced by a shortwave transmitter which fails to reach the Polish population.

October

01: Poland - Polskie Radio ceases broadcasting from Warsaw. The last piece of information is broadcast in Polish, French and English and was as follows: "Hello, hello. Do you hear us? This is our last broadcast. Today German troops invaded Warsaw. We send brotherly greetings to the fighting soldiers from Hela, wherever they are. Poland is still not lost! Long live Poland!", followed by the Polish national hymn.
01: Romania - The transmitter in Chisinau (Kischinew) starts broadcasting on 1385 kHz (216.6 m) with 20 kW. The broadcasts also contain news in Russian.
05: Germany - Europasender Bremen starts with a test transmission with 100 kW on medium wave. The antenna is directed to central England.
15: France - The Austrian "Freiheitssender" starts broadcasting via the French stations in Fécamp (Radio International and Radio Normandie), Lyon, Marseille and Tour Eiffel.
18: Poland - Katowice (50 kW) switches from 758 kHz to 1204 kHz
18: Poland - German minister of propaganda Goebbels orders the transmitter in Posen to relay Reichssender Berlin and the transmitter in in Katowice to relay Reichssender Breslau. The transmitter in Gleiwitz is to be deactivated as the target area is well covered by Katowice, which will soon prove to be an error.
28: Italy - Transmitters in Venezia (5 kW), Verona (250 W), and San Remo (5 kW) are activated.

November

04: Liechtenstein - In September 1939 Radio Liechtenstein had already replaced its modest music programming by government newscasts only. Today it ceases transmitting via the transmitter which is owned by the company Lorenz AG and is subsequently dismantled.
15: Allied countries - Polskie Radio resumes broadcasting via medium wave transmitters in Toulouse, Paris and London (also on shortwave via Daventry) with two daily 15 minute broadcasts (at 7 and 23 hours).
15: Norway - Rjukan (1348 kHz) raises power to 0.25 kW.
24: Czechoslovakia - Troppau switches from 758 kHz to 1231 kHz
28: Germany - Bremen-Osterloog (100 kW) starts broadcasting towards England on 758 kHz (395.8 m) with an effective radiated power of 900 kW.
30: Finland/USSR - The Russians use the Lahti transmitter frequency of 166 kHz to broadcast in Finnish. During the war a large number of Soviet stations will use the frequency for their domestic broadcasts. The Finnish authorities take countermeasures.

December

10: Sweden - Radio Sweden starts broadcasting in foreign languages (English, German, and French) on medium and short wave.
16: Germany - The German underground station "Radio Humanité" starts broadcasting under communist cloak. It claims to be the voice of the communist underground party. It uses a mobile transmitter of 20 kW on 255 kHz that was made in Schopfheim on 18 November 1939.
Geluidsfragment Listen to an extract of Radio Humanité from 1940   01:34, 16 kbps, 184 kB (MP3)


  1938

1940