On D-day was the BC-611 a cell phone?

Of course there were no cell phones on the D-day beachhead.  That June 6^th of 1944 was thirty years too early to benefit from cellular technology.  But, some of the technology available on D day was definitely the predecessor to today’s cell phones.  Specifically, the battery operated hand held BC-611 two way radios  known as handie talkies (not walkie talkies, they were back pack sets).  The handie talkies were essentially vacuum tube versions of basic cell phone technology that could be held in one hand.  

To make the BC-611 certain technological improvements were needed.The personal portable electronics revolution started in 1939 with RCA’s development of miniature vacuum tubes.   By mid 1940 a series of portable radios using the new tubes was available to the public.  Radios were then small enough to be listened to while being carried.   From this “on the go” use of radios Motorola engineer Donald Mitchell recognized the potential military value of portable communications.  In 1940 he observed a National Guard exercise and saw how existing military radios were neither mobile nor effective.  He became convinced that military communications had to be man portable and immediately began to design a radio to meet the need.

He and his team developed a two-way AM radio that a single person could carry and operate with one hand.  It was tuned to a particular channel using sets of crystals.  It was battery-powered and weighed just 5 pounds (2.2 kg). The resulting two-way radio was the Handie-Talkie, or BC-611, the Signal Corps model number, saw action in every theater of war, with nearly 40,000 built for the various services.  Motorola went into full production in July of 1941, six months before Pearl Harbor

Although portable two-way radios existed prior to 1941, none were compact enough to hold in one hand.  That feature, along with the earphone and microphone spaced as in a conventional telephone, were the key differences between the Handie-Talkie and other “walkie--talkies” of the WWII era.  Although these features seem minor, in retrospect the combined features were the key to the truly wireless phone concept.  Like the Willys Jeep the BC-611 was a memorable and iconic product of WWII.   In 1995 a Motorola advertisement credited the BC-611 as being the “grandfather” of the cellular phone.

  The BC-611 Handie-Talkie in action

 Today there is some confusion as to what constitutes a “walkie-talkie”.  During WWII “walkie-talkies” were any man portable two-way radio capable of being used while walking.  Most such radios were pack sets designed to be carried on the back or in some cases on the chest of the radio operator.

Donald Lewes Hings, a Canadian, designed the first portable pack set that led to the walkie-talkies of World War II.   His pack sets were initially developed in the 1930s for mining applications.  The pack sets were not called “walkie-talkies” at the time. They were simply called portable two-way radios or wireless sets.  The term “walkie-talkie" was coined by journalists describing radios of this type used during the war.  Hings' developed a variety of portable two-way radios for the Canadian army including the C-58 Pack Set. The Model C-58 was a very successful design, both in performance and production, with tens of thousands built.  

Alfred J. Gross a.k.a. Irving J. Gross was another early designer of portable two-way radios.  He was born in Toronto, Canada in 1918, but grew up and was educated in the United States.   Soon after the invention of the “walkie-talkie” by Donald Hings, in 1937 Al Gross designed, built, and patented his own version of the “walkie-talkie”.  This led to his involvement in building a two-way air-to-ground communications system for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) for use in military operations, known as the Joan-Eleanor system.  It consisted of a hand-held two-way radio ("Joan") and a much larger aircraft-based two-way radio ("Eleanor"). It was classified Top Secret by the U.S. military until it was declassified in 1976.

Other “walkie-talkies” were used during the war by other nations. The British, Germans, Japanese, and Canadians had their own portable two-way radio designs. Since these various radios used different circuits, they were often developed independently with each making claims of being the first of its kind. There were many differences in the performance and portability of these various designs; however none was similar to a hand held wireless telephone like the Handie-Talkie.

For example, the AN/CRC-7, was the first hand -held VHF AM downed airman's radio.  It was somewhat like a Handie-Talkie in that it could be held in one hand.  But, it had a combination speaker/microphone that changed function when the receive or transmit button was pushed.  It was not like a telephone in appearance or operation (see: http://www.qsl.net/g4bxd/crc7.jpg). 

The BC-222/322 (SCR-194/195) along with the TBY were other early “walkie-talkies” designed by the Army and Navy laboratories.  They were pack radios, and as such designed to be operable while in motion on the operator's back or chest.  Although for these particular radios operation while in motion would result in erratic operation.  Operation at a stationary location was the norm.

The U.S. Navy MAB was a typical chest mounted “walkie-talkie” used during WWII.  It was actually designed prior to the Handie-Talkie for use by Marine paratroops. The Navy MAB was typical of most WWII “walkie--talkies” in that it had a microphone, headset, and antenna, separate from the radio.

The Navy MAB “walkie-talkie” shown with most of its accessories.

One Handie-Talkie feature that was not like a telephone was the need to press a button to switch from receiving to sending.  Most two-way radios to that point in time required such button pushing.  Of course, a cell phone does not.  There were ways to allow simultaneous sending and receiving during WWII, but they were complicated and not amenable to portable equipment.  It wasn’t until the 1970’s that practical simultaneous sending and receiving made the “Handie- Talkie” concept into a true wireless telephone.  The first wireless telephone conversation took place in 1973, but it wasn’t until 1983 that hand held wireless or in this case cellular telephones were available to the public.