US Armed Forces Radio WWII Mosquito Network Celebrating 65 Years

US Armed Forces Radio WWII The Famous Mosquito Network Celebrating 65 Years

The Radio Heritage Foundation has released a major new series of three articles at its global website www.radioheritage.net telling the story of the famous Mosquito Network that broadcast in the South Pacific in WWII. Some 65 years ago, the American Expeditionary Station at Guadalcanal in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate came on the air. In the following 18 months, the later renamed WVUQ entertained hundreds of thousands of allied forces who moved through the spawling military complex on the island. In these three articles, you'll learn how the Mosquito Network got its name, see how the various stations [as far south as 1ZM Auckland, New Zealand] were actually set up and run on a daily basis, read about the famous Hollywood stars of stage and screen who featured on the air and in person in remote jungle outposts, and understand just how important the stations were to the morale of allied forces. The series is authored by Radio Heritage Foundation board member Martin Hadlow, who interviewed many of the surviving broadcasters personally, and had access to historical AFRS documents. Martin is also a former manager of the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service and understands radio broadcasting in a tropical zone from personal experience. These new articles at www.radioheritage.net outline the birth of radio broadcasting in the Solomons and Vanuatu [then the New Hebrides], from mobile radio stations in suitcases, to fully fledged 18 hours a day operations as good as any found anywhere in the USA in the 1940's. It also answers the question as to whether or not the Mosquito Network was really a network at any time, or were the stations always independently operated. Amazing what can be done with good radio conditions! This is a major contribution to understanding how early broadcasting actually came to many parts of the Pacific for the first time with the US Armed Forces Radio Service in the mid-1940's. WVUQ staff also recorded local music and broadcast programs for Solomon Islanders. You'll also enjoy our earlier major articles at www.radioheritage.net on AFRS Jungle Network and AFRS Japan, whose stories are so strongly connected to those of the Mosquito Network. As well, there are other articles on AFRS Alaska and individual stations such as WVUV American Samoa, KMTH Midway, WXLE Eniwetok, WXLF Canton Island and other AFRS stations in Alaska and the Pacific. Radio Heritage Foundation is a registered non-profit organization connecting popular culture and radio heritage across the Pacific. Our global website is www.radioheritage.net. We always welcome donations of funds, volunteers and materials to help build our radio heritage projects preserving the past for future generations to enjoy. Our donation button is on every page and we thank you for your support.

Media Release, Radio Heritage Foundation