Arthur Irwin You might wonder why we chose Gi5TKA as our callsign; the answer is simple, the inspiration for establishing the RSSM ARS was the late Arthur Irwin.
Arthur was a WW2 Voluntary Interceptor and when the authorities realised that before the war he had been a telegraphy instructor in a radio telegraphy school he was recruited full time to work in Gilnahirk R.S.S. Station 4, part of Special Communications Unit 3. Arthur’s amateur radio callsign was Gi5TK, the two letter suffix being a pre war callsign. We added A, his initial, to make up our club callsign, Gi5TKA.
Those who knew Arthur testify that he was a remarkable man, fluent in morse code at a high level, he was also church organist in Ballygowan Presbyterian Church. He also built his own organ in his home and he was a committed amateur radio enthusiast, with a particular interest in Soviet Russian traffic. After the second world war ended it is believed that he continued listening to Soviet radio traffic as a radio amateur. Photographs below show Arthur Irwin in Royal Signals uniform, dating from WW2, the second photograph from later life is undated. Further biographical information can be obtained from George Busby's excellent book, Spies at Gilnahirk.
Prewar QSL cards sent to Arthur Irwin, both sent from ships at sea!
Letters from other amateurs to Arthur reveal something of their shared background and experience.
I am indebted to George Busby for making the above material available.