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Austria Cold War SBO BE-20/1 →
Spy radio set
BE-20 was a three-piece valve-based short-wave (SW)
spy radio set,
developed around 1948 by
Dr. Hermann Berger
in Innsbruck (Tirol, Austria). The device was supplied to several customers,
including the Austrian Army, the armies of the occupying forces 1
and the state security services.
It was also used for a secret
Austrian Stay-Behind network
that would be activated in case of an escalation with the Soviet Union,
in the early years of the Cold War.
Three versions are known:
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The BE-20/1 was the protype and was only released to the
French Army for evaluation in 1948. Although the
circuit diagrams
of this version have been retrieved, it is unlikely that any units
have survived.
After a few modifications, the BE-20 was taken into
production in 1949 as the BE-20/2 for the French,
and BE-20/3 for the German-speaking customers (i.e. the Austrians).
It is believed that a total of 100 units were made.
The radios were in production until at least 1952 or 1953.
Quite a few BE-20/2 radios have survived and are now in
the hands of collectors and museums.
These were mainly leftovers of the French order and were retrieved from
B-Gendarmerie 1 surplus later [1].
The BE-20/3 model was completely unknown to the general
public for many years, until it was rediscovered in an estate
in November 2016 by Austrian collector Günter Hütter [3].
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The B-Gendarmerie was the predecessor of the Austrian Federal Army
(Österreichisches Bundesheer), similar to the German post-war
Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS). ➤ Wikipedia
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- Prototype
- French Version
- German version
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Just before World War II, Austria became part of the Third Reich
(i.e. Nazi Germany)
by way of the Anschluss 1 in March 1938 [4].
Although this officially meant that Austria had joned voluntarily,
it was seen by the Allied powers as occupation by Nazi Germany.
As such it was agreed by the Allies in the Declaration of Moscow,
that they would regard Austria as the first victim of Nazi agression,
and that it should be treated as a liberated and independent country
once the war was over [5].
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When Austria was liberated, the country was divided into four
occupation zones, under control of the United States (USA), the Soviet
Union (USSR), the United Kingdom (UK) and France. Like Berlin, the capital
Wien (Vienna) was divided into similar zones, but the central
district was administered jointly by the Allied Control Council.
Although the Western Allies wanted to withdraw gradually
from 1950 onwards, the country remained under occupation of the
Soviet Union until 1955.
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Meanwhile, in the spring of 1946, the Cold War had begun 2 and the Western
Allies were afraid that the country would be invaded by the Soviets once
they had left, just like it happended with Czechoslovakia in 1948.
Because of this, the UK had been quietly
arming the Austrian so-called B-Gendarmerie 3 since 1945,
and were even discussing an independent Austrian Army by 1947.
The Americans, who shared this fear, even created a backup government
base in Salzburg.
At the same time, they also started the secret training of an
underground Austrian army at a rate of 200 men a week, which was
complemented by training of the B-Gendarmerie from 1950 onwards.
In the fall of 1950, the American aid was coming to an end and Austria
faced the communist-led October Strikes, which are regared by historians as the
the most dangerous events since the end of the war. The communists stormed
trade union offices and disrupted railroad traffic, but failed to gain
sufficient public support for their actions, and finally had to admit their
defeat. The strike intensified the militarization of Western Austria,
with active input from France and the US CIA
[5].
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As a result of the East-West tension, the Americans and the French had
started the formation of a secret well-trained
Stay-Behind organisation
that had bases at strategic positions throughout the country, with
weapons caches and communications centers,
operating under the cover name
Österreichischer Wander-, Sport- und Geselligkeitsverein (OeWSGV),
literally: Austrian Association of Hiking, Sports and Society.
The organisation had the full cooperation of
MI6
and the CIA
[6].
With permission of the Western occupying forces,
Dr. Hermann Berger in Innsbruck
developed a suitable spy radio set, the BE-20, also known as
Funkkoffer BE-20 (radio suitcase BE-20) [3].
Development of the BE-20 started in the late 1940s, with the first protype,
the BE-20/1, being presented for evaluation to the French Army in 1948.
After some modifications, this resulted in an order from the French for 100
BE-20/2 sets.
The front panels of these radios had French text on them.
The BE-20/2 was nicknamed Cunzi, after Berger's contact
person with the French Army.
In addition, Berger got an order, probably from the Americans,
for another 100 units 4 that were to be supplied to the secret section of
the B-Gendarmerie,
various Police stations, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Staatsschutz)
and the command stations of the Western occupation forces.
This version was known as the BE-20/3.
For production of the units, Berger used military and
civil surplus parts, complemented by 'modern' parts, and
components produced by his own company.
➤ More about the Austrian stay-behind organisation
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Anschluss is the German word for 'connection' or 'joining'.
From 1996 onwards, it is written as Anschluß.
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In Austria, the Cold War began in the spring of 1946, a year before
the outbreak of the global Cold War. ➤ Wikipedia
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The B-Gendarmerie was the predecessor of the Austrian Federal Army
(Österreichisches Bundesheer), similar to the German post-war
Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS). ➤ Wikipedia
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It is also possible that the entire order (BE-20/2 and BE-20/3)
amounted to 100 units.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 18 December 2016. Last changed: Thursday, 15 December 2022 - 17:05 CET.
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