Finding the Deleted Ones Jim Mc Cook W

Finding the Deleted Ones Jim Mc. Cook W 6 YA

Remember the days when you started to chase DX? There were two lists to see. One was the current list of countries (entities). The other was the list of ones you missed. It was the deleted list. Wayne, N 7 NG, reminded me that when we first started watching this list in the ’ 50 s, there was one prefix that started with a number! That was 9 S 4, Saar. It sounded exotic, to say the least. Where was this place? Where was Manchuria? Trieste? These were deleted, so I wasn’t interested. Like most of you, I focused on those that still counted as new ones. We all tried to climb up that ladder. The deleted list was of no real concern.

Blenheim Reef Geyser Reef Abu Ail Is. 1 M(1), (5) Minerva Reef 4 W(6) Yemen Arab Republic 7 J 1(7) Okino Tori-shima 8 Z 4(8) Saudi Arabia/Iraq Neutral Zone 8 Z 5, 9 K 3(9) Kuwait/Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone 9 S 4(10) Saar 9 U 5(11) Ruanda-Urundi AC 3(1), (12) Sikkim AC 4(1), (13) Tibet C 9(14) Manchuria CN 2(15) Tangier CR 8(16) Damao, Diu CR 8(16) Goa CR 8, CR 10(17) Portuguese Timor DA-DM(18) Germany DM, Y 2 -9(19) German Democratic Republic EA 9(20) Ifni FF(21) French West Africa FH, FB 8(22) Comoros FI 8(23) French Indo-China FN 8(24) French India FQ 8(25) French Equatorial Africa HK 0(26) Bajo Nuevo HK 0, KP 3, KS 4(26) Serrana Bank & Roncador Cay I 1(27) Trieste I 5(28) Italian Somaliland JZ 0(29) Netherlands New Guinea KR 6, 8, JR 6, KA 6(30) Okinawa (Ryukyu Is. )

KS 4(31) KZ 5(32) OK-OM(33) P 2, VK 9(34) PJ(35) PK 1 -3(36) PK 4(36) PK 5(36) PK 6(36) R 1/M(51) ST 0(37) UN 1(38) VO(39) VQ 1, 5 H 1(40) VQ 6(41) VQ 9(42) VS 2, 9 M 2(43) VS 4(43) VS 9 A, P, S(44) VS 9 H(45) VS 9 K(46) ZC 5(43) ZC 6, 4 X 1(47) ZD 4(48) ZS 0, 1(49) ZS 9(50) Swan Is. Canal Zone Czechoslovakia Papua Territory of New Guinea Bonaire, Curacao St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius Java Sumatra Netherlands Borneo Celebe & Molucca Is. Malyj Vysotskij I. Southern Sudan Karelo-Finnish Republic Newfoundland, Labrador Zanzibar British Somaliland Aldabra Desroches Farquhar Malaya Sarawak People's Democratic Rep. of Yemen Kuria Muria I. Kamaran Is. British North Borneo Palestine Gold Coast, Togoland Penguin Is. Walvis Bay Total: 61

If you worked a German ham in Saarbrucken, you have worked the old 9 S 4 area. If you worked a Chinese ham with a “ 2” in the prefix, you worked the old Manchuria. Most likely you have worked YB stations in all the old PK areas of Indonesia. You quickly find that you have worked most places on the deleted list, but there a few that you probably have missed. There are 21 deleted entities that I never worked before their deletion, mostly because of my own inactivity between 1960 and 1968. Regardless of being deleted, those places still exist! I wondered how many of the areas I actually had worked, so I went through my QSLs to find out. What I found was most interesting (I still need to find five of the 21). In the following few examples, the top QSL is the deleted entity, and the bottom one is current.

8 Z 5 - Kuwait-Saudi Neutral Zone The Kuwait-Saudi Neutral Zone was deleted in 1969. Near Qasi, El Khiran is now a Persian Gulf resort. 9 K 2 UU has his retreat and primary station there.

9 S 4 - Saarland The Saar Protectorate existed between 1947 and 1956 as a French occupied territory. Saarland is now a German state located next to the French Border in Southwestern Germany. Saarland is about 50 miles wide. Its largest city is Saarbrucken.

Saarland

9 U 5 - Ruanda-Urundi This area of central Africa was a combination of Rwanda and Burundi that was managed by Belgium. Before July 1960 it was part of the Belgian Congo. After independence in 1962, Rwanda and Burundi became separate, shortly after the adjacent Belgian Congo became today’s Democratic Republic of Congo.

AC 3 - Sikkim This Himalayan kingdom was annexed by India in 1975. It’s ruler, Prince Namgyl, was AC 3 PT, sporadically active on SSB. In 1963 he married Hope Cooke from New York, and later moved there after his exile, where he died. See Nat. Geo Feb/Nov 1963. Currently there are 8 VU stations there.

Sikkim

AC 4 - Tibet Robert Ford was a British citizen working in Tibet in the late 1940 s. Operating as AC 4 RF, he made many contacts on 20 m. In 1950 he was imprisoned by the Chinese for nearly 5 years. He eventually returned to England, where he died on September, 2013, age 90. His book, Wind Between the Worlds, can be read over the internet. Tibet was assimilated into China in 1951 and deleted in 1974. There are occasional Chinese expeditions to this area. See The Cry of the Snow Lion, available on Netflix.

C 9 - Manchuria (Manchukuo) Manchuria is the area north of the Korean peninsula, also called Manchukuo. It was controlled by Japan and used as a staging area for the invasion of China. After WWII it was divided between China and the Soviet Union, and was deleted in 1963. All Chinese call area 2 stations are in the former Manchuria.

Manchuria

CN 2 - Tangier was founded in the 5 th century BC by Carthaginians. It became part of Morocco and was deleted in 1960. It is located at the western end of the Strait of Gibraltar, about 25 miles from Ceuta.

Morocco Tangier

CR 8 - Portuguese Timor became a part of Indonesia in 1975, deleted in 1976. East Timor then gained independence in 2002 as Timor. Leste. Capt. Bligh landed at the west end of Timor after a 4163 mi. open boat voyage, following the mutiny of his ship, The Bounty.

Portuguese Timor

CR 8 - Goa From 1510, Goa was a Portuguese colony on the west coast of India. Among Indian food lovers, it is well known for its cuisine. It still has some Portuguese street and city names. Some Indian hams in Goa have Portuguese names. It is the richest state in India.

Goa

CR 8 - Damao/Diu Both the French and Portuguese had colonies in India for centuries. The Portuguese area was on the west coast, consisting of Goa and Daman/Diu. There was only one operation of 55 contacts (in Diu) by W 6 ODD/CR 8 in 1948. He was a merchant marine who also visited and operated from FI 8. There was no operation from Daman. In 1961, W 6 CUQ noticed the distance from Goa to Diu Island (the site of W 6 ODD’s operation) seemed to be adequate for separate status (over 400 miles). Bob White at DXCC confirmed this, and 13 years later it became a separate country, deleted in the same year along with Goa. There is no activity from Daman or Diu today.

Daman and Diu

W 6 ODD/CR 8 is the rarest post WWII QSL

FI 8 – French Indo-China FI 8 was deleted in 1950. The few 1952 -1954 FI 8 stations counted as Vietnam. The exiled emperor, Prince Vinh San, FR 8 VX, who became the first ham on Reunion I. , was killed in a 1945 plane crash, leaving Ho Chi Minh as ruler. The French finally left in 1954, after the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. 3 W, XU, XV, XW then went on the banned list. The first Vietnam station to qualify for DXCC after the ban was W 3 ZA/3 W in 1958.

French Indo-China

FN 8 - French India The French colonies were scattered along the East coast of India, except for a small area on the southwest coast. The only licensed operation was by Deb Seal, FN 8 AD, who was in Chandernagor, just north of Calcutta. When the French colonies were annexed by India in 1954, Deb continued to operate from the same house as VU 2 AX. In 1959, as India’s ambassador to Tibet, he operated as AC 4 AX. Many Indians in Pondicherry speak French as their usual language. Some of the streets and businesses have French names.

FF – French West Africa In 1960, France gave up this colony, which then became 3 X – Guinea 5 T – Mauritania 5 U – Niger 5 V – Togo 6 W – Senegal TU – Ivory Coast TY – Dahomey TZ – Mali XT – Upper Volta

FQ 8 - French Equatorial Africa In 1960, France gave up this colony, which then became TJ – Cameroon TL – Central African Rep. TN – Rep. of Congo TR – Gabon TT – Chad

I 1 - Trieste is a port that had been a part of the Austro. Hungarian Empire. It ranked with Vienna, Budapest, and Prague as the most significant cities of that Empire. Located in the extreme north part of the Adriatic Sea, it has remained a part of Italy since 1957. A number of stations are active from Trieste, so check your stack of IV 3 and IW 3 QSLs.

Trieste

JZ 0 - Netherlands New Guinea This western part of New Guinea became Indonesian in 1969. Its prefix today is YB 9. SDDXC member K 6 DLV (SK), was active there for several years as YB 0 ARA/9. This area, the Papua Province (previously Irian Jaya), is the site of the Freeport. Mc. Mo. Ran copper mine where K 6 DLV worked.

Papua Province, previously Netherlands New Guinea

I 5 - Italian Somaliland This entity, along with British Somaliland, became part of what is now Somalia. It was deleted in 1960. The main city was Mogadishu, where 10, 000 Italians once lived, prior to WWII. There was also a French Somaliland, which now exists as the same entity, renamed Djibouti. It has been independent since 1977.

VQ 6 I 5 British and Italian Somaliland

VQ 6 - British Somaliland was also integrated into Somalia in 1960. Its capital was Hargeisa. Note the QSL from VQ 6 LQ. This is an example of generic cards used by members of the Southern California DX Club to be filled out and sent to the DX station for a signature. Many confirmations were made this way in the 1950 s and 1960 s. In 1991 the area declared independence from Somalia, but this is not recognized.

VS 4 - Sarawak VS 4 (Sarawak) and ZC 5 (British North Borneo) were British colonies on the island of Borneo. Today these together form East Malaysia. It is known as the Land of the Hornbills. Nearby is V 85 (formerly VS 5), the Sultanate of Brunei (Brunei Darussalam). The rest of the island of Borneo is a part of Indonesia, YB 7.

ZC 5 - British North Borneo became a part of East Malaysia, along with Sarawak, in 1963. Most of the island of Borneo is Indonesian, called Kalimantan (formerly PK 5). Martin and Osa Johnson filmed their last jungle movie from this area in 1935 -6. See I Married Adventure.

ZC 5 VS 4 British North Borneo and Sarawak

I hope these examples highlight how much more interesting DXing can be, especially when you’re bored by chasing DX on new bands or are stalled trying to find new entities. This also explains my preference for paper QSLs. Contacts to most deleted areas around the world are still available by working stations that are on the air today.