Terry Bate was born in England and educated at Christ's Hospital, Horsham, Sussex. After leaving the RAF, he moved to Canada, where he worked in television and radio for many years. He returned
to the UK in the mid-sixties, and took a senior managerial position with Radio Caroline for the two years leading up to the Marine Offences Act. He was largely responsible for making the radio station profitable.
(There is an interview with Terry here.)
He has very kindly sent us this great photo of himself with Caroline founder Ronan O'Rahilly, on the left. He describes it as: “Myself and Ronan on the regular weekend visit - this time to the South
boat”. He tells us that the date written on the back is April 1966 but a number of correspondents (including Paul de Haan, Paul Graham, Ian Anderson, John Cronnolley, John Sales, Ray Clark and others) have written to suggest
the picture was actually taken a few years later. They think that both Caroline ships, the Fredericia and the Mi Amigo, can be seen in the background - not just the South ship - which means it must have been taken after
the two vessels had been towed to Holland in 1968. Paul de Haan has even identified what he thinks is the location. He writes: “This photo was taken in the Houthaven in Amsterdam”.
Terry and his business partner Allan Slaight invented the hugely successful Caroline Cash Casino
competition. The photo below shows the postmen delivering just one day's entries. Terry says they were getting “circa two million entries a week!” Terry on the left, Allan on the right and some postmen outside Caroline
House.
Bill Hearne with a longer than usual edition of Caroline Cash Casino from 23rd December 1966. This clip is part of a recording made available by The Offshore Radio Archive. The clues for this particular competition
led to the answer ‘ears’, with the eventual winner receiving a prize of £2,490 (duration 5 minutes 41 seconds)
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