PARASET RESISTANCE RADIO

This set was concealed in a suitcase and parachuted to a resistance operative in Mons, Belgium

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Members of the resistance and Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents used the Whaddon Mark VII (Paraset) for clandestine radio communication in Occupied Europe during the Second World War. Developed by the Royal Signals Special Communications Unit in the opening stages of the conflict, it became known as the Paraset because airmen dropped the radio by parachute into occupied territory. A team of scientists, engineers and radio amateurs designed the Paraset to be reliable and rugged, building prototypes in workshops at the grounds of Whaddon Hall, Buckinghamshire. The radio also needed to be concealable as being caught with such a device in Occupied Europe would mean interrogatio