OFFSHORE RADIO ENGINEERS OF THE SIXTIES
continued.

As was mentioned on the previous page, there are undoubtedly many names missing from this list at present. If you have any information, either about these people or those who are currently omitted, please get in touch. The page will be updated as more information becomes available.

Radio Sutch / Radio City

GRAHAM BUNCE joined Radio City in 1966 and stayed until the station's closure the following year. Later with Associated-Rediffusion Television, he then worked for BBC radio for many years until he retired in December 2013.
DICK DICKASON worked for Radio Sutch and Radio City and was heard on air under the slightly abbreviated name of Dick Dickson or Dixon (the spelling changed during the course of his career). He later joined Radio Essex, see over page.
PAUL ELVEY joined Radio Sutch as a generator engineer but quickly found himself broadcasting as well, see here. Stayed with Radio City until 1966.
JOHNNY EVLIN (or EVELYN?). There were pictures of Johnny on Bob LeRoi's (now closed) website.
GRAHAM HORNE Australian diesel mechanic, he looked after the generators for the last few months of Radio City's existence. He tells us: “At 27, I was the oldest of the City Slickers and just did my job without drama till the end. Radio City was never off the air on my watch. Military engineering, oil well drilling in Australia and Libya, Marine Engineer ticket with sea time, I must have looked good to (station owner) Mrs Calvert when she took me on in August 1966. When it was all over I took a pair of big speakers, lots of 45s, a Geloso amplifier and some turntables - all in lieu of wages - and set up a disco in St Anton, Austria, at the Krazy Kangaroo. Fun.” There are photos of Graham in Bill Price's album.
PHIL PERKINS Had previously been on Radio Invicta. On both Invicta and City he occasionally presented programmes under the DJ name Tony Silver. Paul Elvey writes: “Phil Perkins was the electronics engineer - he was a genius.” Phil later joined Radio Caroline North.
TONY PINE Tony was very closely connected with Radio City. He was the station's longest serving electrical and general engineer, his family's shop, ‘Pine's General Stores’ of Whitstable, supplied provisions. There is a photo of him in Eric Jay's photo album. More recently Tony has been involved in the Red Sands Radio broadcasts from the neighbouring Thames fort. He attended Radio City's 50th birthday gathering in Whitstable in September 2014.
BILL PRICE Signed The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame guest book a few years ago. He has also kindly provided some photos from his time on Radio City.
IAN WEST engineer and occasional disc-jockey, he worked for Radio London after City had closed down. After his time with the pirates he ran a TV repair company in Canterbury. He died on 9th May 2009. His Radio City boss, Dorothy Calvert, wrote to The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame: “It is with sadness that I am writing this letter to the Hall of Fame. So many things have been happening this year about Radio City and I have had to dig deep and remember those days. Some were fun and others full of grief but they were momentous times. The ‘boys’ who worked on and for Radio City were a good bunch and put their hearts into broadcasting the pop hits of the time. Without the engineers though, there would not have been modern radio and Ian West was one of the best. I remember him with respect as a true help in keeping Radio City on the air through all our troubles. My deepest sympathy goes out to his family at this time but his memory will always be of one of the nicest and most genuine men that I had the pleasure of knowing. With regards to all the followers of Radio City and many thanks for the Hall of Fame website. Dorothy Calvert.”
DON WITTS The first chief engineer. There are photos of Don in Eric Jay's and Cliff Cuttelle's albums.

Radio Invicta / King Radio / Radio 390

LAURENCE BEAN Senior engineer on Radio 390, there are pictures of him in Roger Scott's, Graham Gill's and Peter Berkeley's photo albums.
CLIVE BERRY Engineer on King Radio and Radio 390, Clive also presented programmes on the first of these. He kindly signed The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame guest book a few years ago.
ALAN CAMBRIDGE Engineer on Radio 390, he was also something of a photographer. Some of the photos in Edward Cole's photo album were taken by him.
ERIC DAVIES Transmitter engineer on Radio Invicta, he also broadcast under the DJ name of Ed Laney. He died in 2002.
JOHN DAVIES Engineer on Radio 390, there is a photo of him in Edward Cole's photo album.
JACK DOBSON An engineer on Radio 390, he collapsed and died while on the station's Red Sands fort on 16th December 1965.
JOHN GLENDINNING A transmitter engineer on Radio 390, often known as “Ray” after the famous sports commentator Ray Glendenning. There are pictures of John in David Allan's, Graham Gill's and Peter Berkeley's photo albums. His daughter Fiona writes “I have very fond memories of Radio 390. I was only very young but can remember waiting at Whitstable harbour for (tender captain) Vic to bring my father home off the forts every couple of weeks. Pirate radio was in dad's blood. His father William was an engineer for Radio Caroline for a few years and this is where my father got his passion from. He mourned the loss of Radio 390 and after its closure was invited to work for the BBC. He remained with them until 1995, working for The World Service. Sadly my father died in May 1996.”.
STEPHEN C MUIR-FIELD From St Peter Port, Guernsey, he also worked for Radio 270. Later with Pye Records and De Lane Lea Studios, he has now retired.
PHIL PERKINS Engineer on Radio Invicta, he was also heard on air under the DJ name Tony Silver. He later worked for Radio City and Radio Caroline North. His memories of Radio Invicta are here.
MARTIN SHAW Engineer on Radio Invicta, he died in December 1964 when the station tender carrying him, disc-jockey Simon Ashley and station owner Tom Pepper sank. He was just 18 years old.

Radio London

LUDO GIJS A Belgian engineer, he worked for Radio London at the start. He had previously been employed by the shortlived Dutch offshore radio and television station, Noordzee (no relation to the later Radio Northsea International) which had just been closed down. He was later with the Belgian power authority.
ART NOBO A Cuban engineer, he crossed the Atlantic with the Radio London ship, mv Galaxy.
DAVE HAWKINS An Australian engineer, Dave joined Big L in February 1966. He was often referred to on air as “Hermione” after all the DJs and engineers were given jokey women's names. He was also heard as “Apsley Guise” on the April Fool spoof radio station Radio East Anglia. Dave stayed with Radio London until the closedown and is now the boss of Eastlake Audio (UK) Ltd. Some of his photos from his time at sea can be found here and others are on Svenn Martinsen's Northern Star website. He attended the Offshore 50 reunion in August 2017.
MIKE HOWELL Joined Big L as an engineer in December 1966. He later had a company which installed and maintained studios. He died in 1991.
MARTIN NEWTON Formerly an engineer with the BBC and Radio Caroline, Martin joined Big L in September 1965. He later worked in studio installation but died in 2002. There is a tribute here.
JEAN-PAUL PIETERS Belgian contract engineer.
PETE (or PIET?) POSTHUMUS had previously done some work for Caroline South. He built a new studio mixing desk for Radio London. Correspondent Godfrey Spargo tells us: “Piet Posthumus had a very guilty secret. He was actually a full time employee studio maintenance engineer for BBC World Service and because of the shift pattern spent his 4 days off on the Galaxy. If Big L played a certain record after the 9am break it meant conditions were too rough to get off the boat and he wouldn't be in for his 4pm shift.” He retired from the BBC in 1989 but continued to work as a freelance engineer. He died following a fall at his home in September 2019.
JIM RASTENHOFF (or RASTERHOF?) Senior marine engineer, taken off the Galaxy by lifeboat in April 1965 after falling ill on board.
JOHN ROBERTS Formerly an engineer with Radio Caroline, John also worked for Radio England/Britain Radio. Now retired, he lives in Australia.
RAY SMITH Formerly in the Army Engineering Corp.
RUSSELL TOLLERFIELD Previously with the BBC, Russ joined Radio London in January 1965 and stayed until the end. In fact he was the one who drew the short straw to switch the transmitter off for the last time on 14th August 1967. There is a picture of him doing it on Svenn Martinsen's Northern Star website. We also have some photos of him taken in 1965. Russ later worked for Capital Radio, Radio Victory, Ocean Sound and the annual Isle of Wight RSL station Cowes Radio but died in April 2017.
IAN WEST Formerly an engineer with Radio City, Ian joined Radio London in 1967. He was heard on air as “Bob Parkin” on the April Fool spoof radio station Radio East Anglia. After the pirates, he ran a TV repair company in Canterbury. He died on 9th May 2009.