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Old 26th Mar 2017, 6:48 pm   #194
David G4EBT
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Cottingham, East Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 5,737
Default Re: Technology related anachronisms on TV and in films etc.

Just seen the newly released film 'Another Mother's Son' about the war years when he Channel Isles were under German occupation from 1940 - '45. It's a true story about a Jersey woman (Louisa Gould) who sheltered a Russian escaped prisoner (being used as slave labour on the Island), and was betrayed in an anonymous letter by a fellow Jersey Island resident.

She was also reported for possessing a hidden radio, which was confiscated. The radio in question appeared to me to be a Portadyne Princess or a 'Noble' which is virtually identical. I have one of each and as they have the Third Programme on the dial, they're clearly post 1948. Whether there was a pre-war version, I've no idea, so I can't unequivocally say that the radio is an anachronism.

I've attached a pic of my Portadyne 'Princess' alongside my 'Noble' and as will be seen from the scan of the dial, the Third programme is clearly marked. Many will remember similar sets being sold in kit form in the late 50s in PW magazine. Minimalist TRF circuit in which the volume control doubles as the reaction control. They perform remarkably well, but should the volume control need replacement, that poses a problem as its an anti-log track.

Incidentally, sadly, though sentenced to two year's imprisonment, Louisa Gould did not survive the war - she was transported to Ravensbruck POW Camp where tragically, she went to the gas chamber in 1945, just weeks before Germany surrendered. Her Brother, who had also been taken prisoner at the same time, was sent to Bergen Belsen, but survived the war - one of only two Brit POWs in that camp to do so. (The Russian managed to evade capture until the war ended).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_Gould

The film takes it's name from the fact that her own son was a soldier who was a prisoner of the German's and she felt she had to look after 'another mother's son'. It held a special interest for me because along with my wife, we visited Jersey in 2015 and spoke to an elderly Jersey historian who knew Louisa Gould personally.
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