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studio quality with no background noise； really a 'super' version of the
mini cassette recorder。
In Athens we continued to operate even through the Dictatorship of
General Metaxas which began with a coup in August 1936； but not
without some problems。 The main target of the infamous Maniadakis；
Minister of the Interior under Metaxas； were of course the Communists；
but the handful of radio amateurs also came under suspicion of being
subversive elements。 Things got worse； in fact； when the newspaper
ESTIA owned by K。Kyrou； published an article blaming 'amateurs' for
being responsible for interference to short wave reception。 I must explain
that the writer was referring to the dozens of pirate low power
broadcasting stations operating in the medium wave （broadcast） band。
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
Regretably； I have to place on record that owing to the late development of
broadcasting and official recognition of amateur radio in Greece； the word
'amateur' in the minds of the general public embraces CBers； pirates of all
kinds operating on medium waves and recently in the FM band； and
genuine licensed amateurs as well。 So； as I was working in the basement
workshop at SV1KE's one afternoon； three of Maniadakis' plain…clothes
men turned up and said they had come to seize 'the broadcasting
equipment'。 Fortunately Bill was not in the shop when they came。 I asked
them if they had a search warrant and they said no。 I replied that I was
only an employee and could they call back a little later when Mr
Tavaniotis himself would be there to answer their questions； and thus
managed to get rid of them。 When Bill returned I told him about the
incident and he left straight away and went to the Ministry of Posts &
Telegraphs to see Mr。 Stefanos Eleftheriou。 And so it came about that
Eleftheriou who knew all about our activity in the amateur bands issued
the first three licences to SV1KE； SV1CA and SV1NK 'to carry out
experimental transmissions relating to the study of propagation on the
short waves'。 He knew that he had every right to do this as Greece was a
signatory to the international telecommunication treaties。
I would like to record at this point that Aghis Cazazis SV1CA now a
silent key； has left his own 'monument' in Athens。 After the end of World
War II； in his capacity as Head of Lighting Development with the
Electricity authority； he designed the magnificent floodlighting of the
Acropolis which is admired by tourists to the present day。
To return to 1937： Mr Eleftheriou entrusted us with the task of
preparing draft legislation for legalising amateur radio activity。 We wrote
to the U。S。A。； to England； France and Germany and obtained copies of the
laws governing the issue of licences in all these countries； and we began
the long task of drafting a text which would be appropriate to the political
situation then prevailing in our country （military dictatorship）。 Norman
Joly； then SV1RX； had written a text in English； but before we could
translate it into Greek or do anything about it； all our hopes were dashed to
the ground by the outbreak of war in September 1939。
In 1944 while serving as a reserve officer in the Greek army； I was
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
seconded to the British Military Mission to Greece （B。M。M。） because of
my knowledge of English and French。 There I met several amateurs
serving with the British forces； and one of them gave me a small military
transmitter； so I was able to come on the air again with my old callsign of
SV1AZ。
3。 Constantine 'Bill' Tavaniotis （formerly SV1KE）。
There is no doubt that the most active and best known amateur in
Greece before World War II was 'Bill' SV1KE。 He was active on 20 and 10
metres on AM phone and CW； using his famous McElroy 'bug' to good
advantage。 （No electronic keyers and no 15 metre band in those years）。
Tavaniotis was born in Rostov； USSR； of Greek parents。 His father
was a well…known doctor。 Like many other Greek families Bill and his
parents left Russia in the early years of the Communist regime and moved
to Istanbul； Turkey； where he began his studies at the famous Robert
College。 Later he went to London where he first came into contact with
radio amateurs； while studying Electrical Engineering。 After that he went
to Belgium。
Bill had a knack of picking up languages and when I met him in
Athens in the early thirties he spoke at least seven to my knowledge：
Russian； Greek； English； French； Italian； Turkish and German。 His
pronunciation in all them was excellent。 On one occasion at a party in the
Athens suburb of Palaio Psyhico one of the guests was an amateur from
Italy who spoke no English； so Bill interpreted from that language into
Italian for his benefit。 He then translated what the Italian had said into
English for the others。 But suddenly their faces went blank。 Quite
unconsciously Bill had translated the Italian's remarks into Turkish！ Many
years later Bill was employed at the United Nations in New York as a
simultaneous translator。 In October 1946 Bill and his wife Artemis visited
Charles Mellen W1FH in Boston for an 'eyeball' after more than ten years
of QSOs over the air； with the exception of the war years of course。 Chas
photographed Bill outside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
Bill photographed Mary （Chas' xyl）； Chas and Artemis standing in front of
the W1FH tower。
The first transmitter he built can be seen in the photo taken from the
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
book GREEK BROADCASTING published by Radio Karayianni in 1952。
His shack was in the basement workshop at 17a； Buchare