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"Wavescan" is a weekly program for long distance radio hobbyists produced by Dr. Adrian M. Peterson, Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio. AWR carries the program over many of its stations (including shortwave). Adrian Peterson is a highly regarded DXer and radio historian, and often includes features on radio history in his program. We are reproducing those features below, with Dr. Peterson's permission and assistance.


Wavescan N644, June 27, 2021

The Original Radio Saigon

In our program three weeks back, we presented the story of the two shortwave stations that identified on air as Radio Malaya Singapore back during World War II. The real Radio Malaya Singapore was located on Singapore island, and the pretend Radio Malaya Singapore was located in Batavia-Jakarta on the island of Java in what is now the islandic nation of Indonesia.

There was another pair of shortwave stations with a somewhat similar story, back during that same historic era, the Asia-Pacific War in the middle of last century. For a short period of time, special programming from Radio Saigon in French Indochina (South Vietnam) pretended to be the same Radio Batavia on the same island of Java in what is now the same islandic nation of Indonesia. This is the story, and we go way back to the beginning.

In the Summer of the year 1928, Mr. Joseph de la Pommeraya, representing the newly organized Franco-Indochinese Radio Company in Saigon, approached the Director of the French Radio-Electric Society in Haussman Boulevard in Paris with a request to buy a 12 kW shortwave transmitter for installation in Saigon.

During the following year (1929), the Saigon company purchased a block of land at Chi-Hoa, an outer suburban area four miles from the center of Saigon, upon which they constructed a new shortwave radio broadcasting station. Two radio engineers from Paris flew out to Saigon to install the new shortwave radio equipment, and the company contracted with seven professional musicians to produce the radio programming.

On July 18 of the following year (1930), the new shortwave radio broadcasting station was officially inaugurated with the participation of the Provincial Governor Mr. Pasquier. At the time, there were only 108 radio receivers (officially) in the whole of the territory, French Indochina.

This new radio station was licensed with a callsign that appeared to identify an amateur radio station, F3ICD. The production studios were located at 106 Charner Blvd. in Saigon, and the 12 kW transmitter at Chi-Hoa operated on 49.05 m. (6116 kHz). Subsequently, they also used 25.46 m. (11785 kHz).

On the occasions when the new Radio Saigon, the Voice of France in the Far East, wished to be heard in France itself, they took out a relay via the commercial point-to-point communication station, FZS, in Saigon, with 9 kW on 25.02 m. (11990 kHz).

Less than two years after their official inauguration, Radio Saigon was closed due to lack of operating funds. The station was closed on April 30, 1932, which resulted in a burst of protest, with letters from listeners in many different countries around the world. Funding was requested from Paris, but nothing ever came. Four years later, Radio Saigon made a short series of experimental test transmissions on 9520 kHz with an intent of reopening the station, but even then, no funding became available.

However, in 1938, with world tensions bristling in many areas as they were, the provincial government in Saigon and the home government in Paris entered into discussion about the reopening of their radio station, Radio Saigon. In January of the following year (1939), the radio equipment at Chi-Hoa was removed, renovated, and reinstalled at a new location at Phi-Tho, also in outer suburban Saigon. Temporary studios were installed at the Radio-Electric Centre in Saigon, and again, radio engineers from Paris flew out to render technical assistance.

The first test broadcasts from this new and revived Radio Saigon were noted in Australia on March 18, 1939, on the same channel as before, 6116 kHz in the 49 m. band. The revived station was officially inaugurated two weeks later, on April 1, (1939). However, because the electronic equipment was old and renovated, there were frequent break downs. In addition, they had very few music recordings. However, in spite of all of these primitive problems, the listener mail response from around the globe was most remarkable.

With the onset of war on the European mainland at the beginning of September 1939, the provincial government in French Indochina took over the operation of Radio Saigon. In November (1939), the signal from Radio Saigon with its programming on the twin channels 6116 kHz and 11780 kHz in parallel was described in Australia as very strong.

In December (1939), Radio Saigon conducted a series of test transmissions on both 6116 kHz and 11780 kHz in parallel with programming beamed towards the United States. The interesting test message was presented by a woman announcer in English as follows: "This is a special broadcast for the United States. We do not expect that many listeners in that country will hear this transmission but we would appreciate reception reports to be addressed to Radio Saigon."

In June 1940, with the armistice between Germany and France, Radio Saigon, as the Voice of France in the Far East, assumed a new importance. Additional new equipment that was already on the way from France was incorporated into the older equipment already in use at the Phi-Tho transmitter station, and a much better signal was then heard further afield from Radio Saigon.

Radio Saigon Pretended to be NIROM Radio in Batavia

It was in September 1940 that Japanese armed forces arrived in Saigon, and they took over the administration of Radio Saigon, though they permitted the regular staff to continue as usual in service at the station. Then two years later, in March 1942, Radio Saigon was on the air for a special series of broadcasts aimed at the Dutch colonies in what is now Indonesia.

The noted American radio historian Jerome Berg has compiled and written four memorable volumes on the entire history of shortwave broadcasting and listening, all of which are filled with interesting and important radio information. In the volume entitled, "The Early Shortwave Stations," he mentions the Radio Saigon saga. We quote: "For about a week in early March (1942), at Japan's direction, Radio Saigon, pretending to be Radio Bandoeng in Java and using the latter's frequency of 10260 kHz, broadcast propaganda programs in Dutch and Malay (the language of the Dutch East Indies) which were coordinated with Japanese troop movements around Bandoeng. The Battle of Java ended with the surrender of Dutch troops at Bandoeng on March 8 (1942)."

During that short era of time in early March 1942, Radio Saigon in South Vietnam was noted on several additional shortwave channels, all of which seemed to be mimicking the usage of NIROM (Netherlands Indies Radio Omroep Maatschappij) Radio Bandoeng on the island of Java. These channels were 10220 kHz, 10230 kHz, 10260 kHz, and 10420 kHz.

More about Radio Saigon next time.