The Radio Tower Project - Part 4

Issue 1 : Updated : 4th July 2008

The full & real story of the ill fated Offshore project to launch a Pirate Television Channel & Radio station from the Sunk Head Fort

Part 4 of our 5 part feature on Radio Tower TV : The End, not quite

Visitors disembark the dreadful personnel ladder as Tower Team bid them goodbye unaware that the end of their radio exploits are close

Pictured Chris Gossling, Dave Simser, Bill Rollins & John Boulter

Customs refusing to allow Radio Tower to use Burnham-on-Crouch, tendering by tug was transferred to Harwich

Considering the very low power reception reports were received from far & wide, this one dated 19th April 1966, better late than never

Below the Tug Agama prepares to leave the Sunk Head Fort with local Press aboard

The Motor tug Agama was built in 1937 for Gaslee & Sons, registered in London Gaslee & Sons amalgamated & became Gaslee & Knight hence the link with JP Knight, she was then sold to Alexander Towing of Felixstowe,

The Agama was used to tow Radio Caroline's, by then redundant temporary radio ship the Cheeta II owned by Britt Wadner of Radio Syd to anchor mid river between Shotley & Parkstone Quay, Harwich

She'd broken her anchor in storm force winds mid July 1966 you can see the Agama alongside the Radio London ship the Galaxy

It's thought the 1st Agama was scrapped & broken in the mid-1970's as she'd become uneconomical to continue operating

Bennett's who named all their fleet after Gaslee Tugs & had an Agama which had been Crescent shipping's Lugette

There's also a later vessel the tug Agama built in 1969

The last view of the Big T

Supplying the fort particularly during the winter months was an endurance, there are many stories of near misses & drama's during supply runs

Tug Agama leaves Sunk Head Fort

During the mid 1950's there are stories that Sunk Head had been hit by a ship & as a result was unsafe

With the sun sets behind the Sunk Head Fort

With a pending act to outlaw the Offshore Pirates & with Radio Towers finances exhausted, & with no sign of future investment the station was in dire straights

Also a supply tender to Tower on Sunk Head the Tug TD Kent pictured on the River Medway outside #1 basin of the Chatham Historic Dockyard, now Chatham Marina - Medway Maritime on 5th July 2006

For more pictures of the Kent navigate from Whitstable Harbour Dayz

Diary notes by Bill Rollins made whilst on Sunk Head Monday 14 - Wednesday 16 March 1966

Diary Pages Sunday 20 - Saturday 26 March 1966

The situation had become critical, in a few days the last of the water & essential food supplies were all but depleted

Sunday 27 - Saturday 2 April 1966

After weeks without a tender, all that remained on the Fort was a supply of beer, spirits, cigarettes & a catering tin of coffee

Sunday March 3 - Saturday 9 April 1966

Sunday 10 - Saturday 16 April 1966

With water down to the last couple of gallons, it was with regret that yet again SOS messages were relayed from Sunk Head Fort

Sunday 17- Saturday 23 April 1966

On Thursday 28th April 1966 Billy Bennett was summoned to rescue those on the fort, he obliged on the promise of payment in kind, & so gained the Outside Broadcast Van

Sunday 24 - Saturday 30 April 1966 reveals the sorry state of affairs

Arriving at the Fort the crew aboard were told to come off leaving everything behind, they hurriedly packed their belongings, & grabbed a few remaining bottles of spirits & duty free cigarettes, which had come from Holland destined for the office

The Sunk Head Fort in July 1967

Office Notes from Bill Rollins diary

Consuming a good quantity of the haul & squirreling away more, the Radio Tower team arrived at Trinity Pier Harwich much the worst for wear

Searched by HMG Customs John Waters bags were searched & some 400 Continental Cigarette found, he was duly fined £12

Soon after HMG Customs confiscated & impounded the Maarje

Paid up until the end unusual to say the least in Offshore Radio

Radio Tower never went beyond the testing, & whilst there are reports that the Tower was heard on 29th April on 1282kHz 234 metres up until 4th May, & with output said to have been logged on 12th May 1966 the reality was that the project folded long before

July 1967 the Sunk Head Fort abandoned awaiting its fate

In June Peter Jeeves made a statement that the station had been plagued by technical problems, with poor signals no advertising had been secured

With a high profile drive in Colchester & Clacton, flyers & stickers had been placed in shop windows for free spots on the station, but it had been too late to save the project

Abandoned the fort lay empty amidst stories of the fort being by another kind of pirate - smugglers

On 9th November Walton-on-Naze Lifeboat removed two men who had run out of food & drink, saying they had no involvement in radio broadcasting

The Naval Tug Collie stands off Sunk Head as Royal Engineers set the charges

With the Sunk Head Fort well outside the territorial limit & with concerns over smuggling, the possibility that the radio pirates might return, or use it as a supply dump, plans were afoot to demolish the Tower

On Friday 18th August 1967 a team of 20 Royal Engineers under Major D T Ives of 24 Field Squadron boarded the Fort from the Naval Tug Collie

Parts of the superstructure were weakened by cutting with oxyacetylene torch & charges set

Fuses ignite & take hold

At 4pm on 21st August Captain Alan Cowie set the timed fuses for the explosives

26/01/10 - As the last man to leave the Fort before its planned demolition & lighting the fuze before I did so I was most interested to read your account. We had little idea of what you were all trying to achieve for us it was a great engineering challenge. I seem to remember we blew out a lot of windows in Felixstowe as well and cleared off back to base as soon as we could! Somewhere I have some cuttings from the newspapers of the day but can't put my hands on them immediately; when I come across them I'll get back to you. interesting that so many of your group have kept in touch must have been a good club. I've lost touch with my military colleagues, the other young officer died 5 years ago and I'm pretty sure his SNCO went a couple of years later. Major David Ives is no longer in our regimental lists so I presume he too is no longer of this world.
All good wishes - Alan Cowie

The Tower saying get a fix on 236 was spectacular

18 minutes later a vivid crimson flash, a cloud of smoke was seen

Concrete sections splashed into the water over half mile away with the noise & heat of the blast felt 14 miles away as Big T finally goes with a bang as the Sunk Head Fort was demolished by explosive charges

The end of Sunk Head Fort was supervised by Australian Commander Kenneth Young & overseen by Collie Skipper Captain Bill Penney, who was in the party that sank the Fort in position on 1st June 1942

The remaining leg stumps all that's left of Sunk Head Fort

Just 6 meters (20 feet) of leg stumps remained, these were to be an obstacle to a ship when in the 1990's a liquid gas carrier fouled the leg remains severely damaging the ship, damages were submitted but the out come of the claim is unknown

4/7/08 - The ship was the ''Lord Kelvin', an LPG carrier bound for the Coryton oil refinery. I don't recall the year but think it was 1994-1997, hope this of some use - Stuart Dymond

29/01/10 - I note you say a ship hit Sunk Head some years later. We deliberately left the tower stubs standing several metres proud of sea level so that they would give a good radar reflection. Either someone's radar calculations were inaccurate or a radar operator blinked. All the other Forts were left alone I presume because of the costs of demolition and because the government could see the 'writing on the wall ' for increased media coverage beyond their control. Once blown, we heard absolutely nothing more of any plans for similar jobs at least that's how I remember it after some 40 odd years - Alan Cowie

Letter to Bill Rollins from Peter Jeeves after the project had collapsed

Relic, key of the House, the Master Key that fitted all the main doors on Sunk Head Fort

Eric Sullivan - Co-Founder Director & MD: With Tower a painful fading memory having thrown all of his capital into the project borrowed money from his father to open the Edensor Guest House in Clacton, this later became a Rest Home, it's thought by 2006 Eric will have retired

George Short - Senior Engineer & Co-Founder: Died some years ago, date unknown

Peter Jeeves - Sales & Marketing Manager, Co Director & Joint MD: Present whereabouts unknown

John Waters - Announcer: Had worked as a postman in Beaumont Cum Moze near Harwich until he died suddenly from cancer about 10 years ago

Dave Cash, Robin Garton with Paul Barber in 2004

Robin Garton - Studio Owner & Advertising Manager: Continued in the family business, the studio became Video Anglia in partnership with Ray Anderson of EAP (East Anglian Productions) at the time of publication Robin is living in Colchester & working as a freelance cameraman

Robin's sons Scott & Juby carried on the tradition as cameramen & work for Sky TV producing News & Sport items

Dave Simser - Announcer & Director: Came from Florida to live in Newmarket where he managed a general stores before joining Tower. After moving to Banbury, Oxfordshire, he toured Europe in a camper van. Returning to the USA & worked in a cheese factory in Minnesota before upping sticks again for Spain in 1980. After 12 years he moved back to America living in Lake Ontario from April 1994, importing miniature ponies & highland cattle from Scotland, rabbits, donkeys, ducks, geese, turkeys, cats & llamas

At the time of publication he's running a business called the Tyre Garden selling tractor tyres, growing & selling; sunflowers, corn, garlic, tomatoes, peas, & rhubarb in Pulaski New York State

Derek Massen - Engineer: Was living in Thetford in 1994, present whereabouts unknown

Chris Gosling - Announcer: Living in Ipswich at the time of publication & working in Felixtowe where he runs the on-line Felixstowe Community TV station

Bill Rollins - Announcer: At the time of publication is working as an electrical contractor at caravan parks in the Clacton area. Bill was heard on Radio Caroline briefly in the mid-1980's as tag voice of the Viewpoint Programmes. In 1989 Mellow 1557, a small Frinton-on-Sea based ILR became part of the Invicta Radio Group. After an initial involvement Bill joined Mellow in 1991. The station was sold to the Tindle Group in 1998 & became Dream 100, Bill's still there on weekend breakfast

Graham London (Smith): Announcer: Present whereabouts unknown

Bob Record - Airtime Sales: Present whereabouts unknown

John Boulter - Security Guard, General Maintenance Man: Lived in Weeley, at the time of publication living in Clacton & working as a BT Telecom Engineer

Terry Lambeth - Security Guard: Lived in Basildon, present whereabouts unknown

Early mornings with Bill Rollins at Dream 100 in Colchester

With grateful thanks to Bill Rollins for sharing his personal archive material, Martin Stevens for his photographs

Continued full detail of the Transmission potential of Tower Radio/ Radio Tower & the Canadian Wireless Set no 52 in Part 5 - Sunk Head Reflections

Thanks for the really good read about Radio Tower, and all the other stations you feature on this website. Best regards - Bill Everatt.

For a brief history on all the Thames Estuary Forts navigate from Fort Fax