1BW 1928 Duxbury, Massachusetts

The operator was Bradford W. Thompson, W1BW, ex-1AGO, 1GAO and 1BW. In 1930 he was employed as a railroad civil engineer.
He was born June 30, 1903 and became a Silent Key December 13, 1994.

Over the past few years I have been collecting QSL cards from my hometown of Duxbury and I will be presenting a display at the historical society about the role Duxbury hams played in the prohibition era (Duxbury was a major entry point for booze smuggled into Massachusetts from Canada). Eli Cushing (1BCF) and 1BW (BW Thompson) were two of the local hams who would tell the ships offshore when it was safe to hit Duxbury beach (the feds would be watching Marshfield or Plymouth).
When I moved to Duxbury in 1986 I lived 1/2 mile from Eli and visited him often. 1BW's station was less than 1/4 mile on the same road as I live now.

From the estate of G2CX
Courtesy of G3NDC
Duxbury Info courtesy of N1DG
Callsign, employment, SK Info courtesy of W5KNE