# Marconi -Is this true ?



## Citystalbans (Oct 1, 2007)

The old Radio Officer was entralling me with horendous stories of his days on the big passenger liners, like having to sit at the morse key for hours to get a stupid message through eg 'happy birthday to my niece' etc. 
More unbelievable was the tale of attending the Marconi offices for a de brief. He said there were a few of them sitting in a waiting room. There was a little speaker over the interview door and when they wanted you to go in they beeped your call sign in morse. Is this true!
Clearly though all those years of listening to morse had affected him, many times when eating his dinner he would stop motionless with the spoon hallfway to his open mouth --- the radio was on and in the background interference he could hear faint morse signals.


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Basically, yes.

For the first few days at home any sort of bell including the alarm clock would have me out of bed and halfway down the stairs thinking it was the automatic alarm going off.

If a ship's cabin was particularly creaky I would lie in bed trying to decipher the morse. A lot better than counting sheep (LOL)


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## pat (Jul 16, 2005)

yes this is true can remember attending the East Ham depot and sitting in the waiting room and being called in for the next job via badly sent morse over a speaker and everyone asking who the hell are they calling in now !! very 
those were the days !!!


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## Gareth Jones (Jul 13, 2007)

I used to work at Northforeland radio many years ago - we had our fair share of casualties which were mainly small ships fitted with R/T only - so the two tone R/T alarm signal was a very familiar sound.

After a days work I was fond of a snooze in a comfy armchair prior to going down the boozer !

You may recall the "Man from Uncle" TV series - the hero's communicated by talking into their pens ? (seems riduculous now!) and an incoming call was heralded by a two tone signal which was the same as the R/T alarm signal!

Guaranteed to get me leaping out if the armchair in a panic every time!


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## athinai (Jan 18, 2006)

I remember the Morse On the Speaker., Somewhat of an insult to our older brethern I thought., it served no purpose. I also remember my first day at the East-Ham depot and not being familiar with London I had raised a very high Bill for Tube and Taxi. Mr Ash Greeted me and within the same sentence & breath said ''Welcome to Marconi but unfortunately we cannot pay you that amount ''etc., THAT WAS MY FIRST CLUE. (I didn't last long)


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

*Morse Summons*



Citystalbans said:


> There was a little speaker over the interview door and when they wanted you to go in they beeped your call sign in morse. Is this true!QUOTE]
> 
> Although I qualified to go to sea as a ship's Radio Officer in 1959, I had to wait for a vacancy to come up on a ship that could provide for my compulsory supervised 6 months sea time. Early in June 1960, I received a letter summoning me to attend for interview at the Liverpool office of "The Marconi International Marine Communication Company Limited". At that time the office was in a substantial building in Pall Mall, adjacent to Liverpool's Exchange railway station.
> 
> ...


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

'Fraid I was a naughty boy.

I never went to the depot after paying off. I always went straight home and either rang them up or popped into Hull depot to say I was back. So I've never been summoned by a callsign. I sailed out of Liverpool quite a few times and I can't remember going to that depot at all.

The only time I went into a depot was if I was on the scrounge for something, had to pick up tickets, summoned for a visit to the manager's carpet or when I was after a sub (mostly in foreign parts).

One of the advantages of being on the phone was that I didn't have to report before joining. Good 'cos you could argue a bit without being intimidated when they were trying to persuade you to go back before you were due because they were "short".


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## mikeg (Aug 24, 2006)

Is it true that very early on in the East Ham depot they had a Mr Dyer working there with the nickname of Diarrhea, after the way he answered the phone.

Mike


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

mikeg said:


> Is it true that very early on in the East Ham depot they had a Mr Dyer working there with the nickname of Diarrhea, after the way he answered the phone.
> 
> Mike


Not sure about that Mike, I'll check it out on Friday at our monthly MIMCo get-together. From memory there was a Mr Dwyer there, but I normally tried to avoid East Ham - the pit from which emanated postings to many dodgy ships which never came back to Europe or the UK and resulted in 2-year trips.

In Chelmsford we did have a Commercial Manager called Doug Smee who used to answer the 'phone "Smee here." I always had to stop myself from laughing and saying, "It's me here too." Childish but almost irresistible - had to be resisted though, he was a very senior manager and it wouldn't do to be caught taking the ....


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## steve Coombs (Sep 27, 2005)

I had experience of the Morse in the waiting room, it all seemed very odd at the time.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

I had the dubious 'pleasure' of working for Marconi's Australian arm - AWA.

Their attitude was just the same...Master-Slave....

Bastards.


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## James Clarke (Feb 8, 2010)

*MIMCo*

From reading the earlier postings I guess I was more than wise to jump ship very early on and go foreign-flag including free-lance. I never came across the summoning by morse but then I never attended a _MIMCo_ depot except to register my initial interest and availability to take the 6 months as Junior R/O. 

I recall the prime reason for going foreign-flag was the fact that at £60/month from which I had to pay back a chunk each month for my multifarious uniforms (which I subsequently referred to as "braid and bull****" as one was served poor food on silver plate while all togged-up to the 9s in whatever the Old Man deemed to be the outfit for the day) I was being paid less than a bus driver and on going as full R/O with Radar Cert I would get about £8/mth more. Having a significant bank debt (courtesy of my Dad who stood guarantor) to be getting on with reducing and paying back as quickly as possible as I planned to marry I realised that it was essential to get a job with a proper level of pay.

I went foreign-flag and never looked-back (except to make sure I wasn't being followed when travelling home with a large wodge of notes inside my duffel coat) and cleared all my owings within less than a year. I remember the surprise when on reporting to _Haifa_ for my first ship as R/O I was told that I had an allowance for uniform, which nobody wore, but which I could use to have a suit made by the outfitters (finest Yorkshire wool) in _Haifa_ - but I did take the underwear as by that time I was getting a little bare ****d due to the lack of funds during my 2 years(self-funded) at Nautical College. My observation was what a difference a flag makes as luckily the _Israeli TUC_ - the _Histradut_ - ensured that all seafarers were treated properly and fairly - and why should you have to pay for your workwear (uniform)?

On subsequent foreign flag ships the R/O was amongst the senior officers - and maybe that was why we were trusted to do the wages and victualling as a side-line for which we were paid.


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

Ron, As an ex MIMCO man I understand you may be able to tell me something of what happened to R/O Bob Petch. He was I understand taken off the Akaroa
in SA because his wife had cancer and ended up working in the Accounts at
MIMCO. Nice chap who I got on very well with. Any info gratefully received!.


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Graham P Powell said:


> Ron, As an ex MIMCO man I understand you may be able to tell me something of what happened to R/O Bob Petch. He was I understand taken off the Akaroa
> in SA because his wife had cancer and ended up working in the Accounts at
> MIMCO. Nice chap who I got on very well with. Any info gratefully received!.


Will ask around but I don't remember him (but then I don't remember so many people). Our next get-together is on Friday and several people come who worked in Accounts, plus the former Personnel Manager comes when his health permits, so may get a response then. 

As long as I remember to ask.(Jester)


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

Ron, Thanks for that. No problem. Nothing important just plain old curiosity!.


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## Alistair Macnab (May 13, 2008)

*Marconi....*

Seems I have heard a story that Marconi were on the short list to be the providers of TV equipment for the BBC in the 30s. A competition was held in which Marconi's TV system was compared and contrasted with that of the Baird company and the latter won. All this I heard when rummaging around in Lord Inverforth's past life (he of Bank Line). Apparently, Inverforth was an early supporter of Marconi and whilst the BBC exercise was above board, there was seemingly something underhand went on just after the First World War when Inverforth and Marconi together made somewhat of a dodgy bid for Cable and Wireless.
Do any of our R/O elder stastesmen have anything to tell us about early Marconi business deals?


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## 7woodlane (Apr 20, 2009)

Troppo said:


> I had the dubious 'pleasure' of working for Marconi's Australian arm - AWA.
> 
> Their attitude was just the same...Master-Slave....
> 
> Bastards.


I did have something to say last year about that East Ham depot in the Fifties. None of it complimentary. The staff there from the Manager downwards - arrogant. They looked on us young ones as draft dodgers. So when He said " either you resign or we sack you " I resigned and went to Siemens. ( I didn't want to go on that tramp Bank Line ship and disappear for two years ). The only luck I ever had with Mci was the bad variety. Siemens and Mr Weatherhead, what a supereb difference
David Whitehead.


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## Billieboy (May 18, 2009)

It's slightly off the modern subject as detailed in the last two posts, but an old friend of mine, from schooldays and the latter part of our careers; happens to own Lavernock Point. His house is next to the field, from where G. Marconi transmitted the first radio signals, over water, to Flat Holm.


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