Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Finally caught up on another little task this morning; getting the stencils back onto the Reels, Cable No. 2 Mk II for the 52-Set.

These reels are identical to the standard, similar reels of this type issued by both the Canadian and British Armies, but like a number of the items Canadian Marconi Company issued with the various 52-Set Kits, they ordered a number of reels directly from a manufacturer, and a CMC Part Number was added into the stencils for these items.

Since the stencils applied to the similar, but more robust reels used with the Aerial 4-Section that came with the 52-Set...

Ha. Haha.. Hahahahaha...

I bought some "Reels, Cable, No.2" off eBay, and discovered when they arrived why the MoD had surplussed them.

The idiot manufacturer had mis-read the drawings, and cut the reel cheeks from steel plate of the maximum thickness on the drawing (which I think was supposed to be a pressed-in stiffening rib, though it may have been the soldered-on reinforcement of the reel edging that protected the user from the sharp edge of the tinplate cheek. Either way, each reel weighed several pounds - rather more than the correct design with the full quantity of wire on it.

Thankfully the original waist-mounted cable layer was long obsolete or the unfortunate user would have had difficulty walking in a straight line.

I think I still have one somewhere.

Chris.