SOUTHAMPTON WIRELESS COLLEGE

At the College in Colwyn Bay Charles Oliver was employed as instructor in 1926 and due to expansion in 1930 Harry Nelson was taken on as a 2nd instructor.

They were left in charge when Gordon Whale retired to London in 1935. Bored with retirement in 1937 he purchased Loperwood Manor, near Calmore in Hampshire and set up the Southampton college there. He moved his family into the main lodge and Harry Nelson was brought down from Colwyn Bay to run the college. But the building was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1940 and never returned. The whole establishment was moved to Colwyn Bay, which became the major training establishment for Wireless Operators during the war years.

Gordon Whale is in the centre of this photo, given to me by his son, Neville (Bill).

WC Southampton Jan 1940

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