GB0WWR Remembrance Sunday Special Event Station

On Sunday 8th Nov, the Bracknell Amateur Radio Club was active operating special event callsign GB0WWR from 09:00 to 18:00 UTC to commemorate Remembrance Sunday.

Operating from the QTH of Nick (M0NPK), we ran two stations running 500W via linear amplifiers throughout the day:

40m Station: Icom IC-7760 with linear (500W), paired with a SteppIR folded dipole oriented North/South.

20m Station: Icom IC-7850 with linear (500W), paired with a Momobeam directional antenna, which was directed towards Europe for most of the day before swinging around to cover North America later in the afternoon.

Our operating duty was covered by eight operators working dedicated shifts of an hour or more: Lee (G0RSZ), Jo (M7OYP), Nick (M0NPK), Paul (G4HLF), Tony (G8TEE), Paul (M9XPN), Mark (G0LPI), and Daniel (G4DGC).

Getting under way just after 09:00, our first contact was logged at 09:23 with M7WIK. At 11:00, both stations went completely silent to observe the traditional two-minute silence. Immediately following the act of remembrance, pileups on both bands were virtually non-stop right through to our final contact at 18:01 with VY2WJ (Wayne) in Prince Edward Island, Canada.

By the end of the operating window, we had logged 915 QSOs in total—with 452 contacts on 40m and 463 contacts on 20m.

The day was marked by great camaraderie across the team, powered by a steady supply of tea, coffee, and biscuits.

The Bracknell Amateur Radio Club would like to send a sincere thank you to everyone who called in throughout the day. Hearing the moving messages of thanks and remembrance from operators across the globe made the event truly special for our team.

All contacts from the activation have now been uploaded to QRZ.com, and electronic QSL cards (eQSL) have been issued to every contact in the log.

This year’s QSL card features a 1944/45 photograph of Pilot Officer George Westwell—father to club member Paul Westwell (G4HLF). George served as a Wireless Operator with RAF No. 37 Squadron, flying operational missions in Wellington and B-24 Liberator bombers, and successfully completed his 30th operational sortie in April 1945.

Thank you all for your support.

Lest we forget.