W3APK Sharpsville, PA

Operator: William "Bill" Roscoe

Here is one of Bill's novice cards from 1955.

Bill Roscoe W3APK August 2004

My Uncle Bill was a very helpful "elmer" for me achieving my ham license! He put me on the air from his station at age 12. I remember that I was very nervous but he wrote down everything that I was suppose to say. That really helped! He also gave me my Technician class license when my Novice license expired in 1964. I had to pass on my own or he would fail me and tutor me for the next test. I passed and went to Cleveland, OH for my General class license within a year. I was WA8KCX. I went to Pittsburgh, PA in 1969 and passed my Extra class. Because I had an Extra class, in 1976 I applied for and received K8CX.

Certificate awarded to William "Bill" Roscoe W3APK for meritorious work in connection with a New Brunswick bomber crash on January 10, 1957.

Uncle Bill's plane was shot down over Europe in WWII. He wouldn't bail out of his plane until all others were safely out. He bailed out too close to the ground and hurt his feet. He was captured and tortured in a German POW camp. He survived and lived a good and long life in Sharpsville, PA until becoming a SK on March 21, 2010. He was 94.
His wife Dolores W3FSH survives.

You can read his story here!

More info here!

This is one of the WWII Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress that W3APK was a radioman in when shot down over Germany. Around 55 thousand airmen died in those things during WWII. I believe the fighters B24 and B25 were included in the killed and missing. I have the deepest respect and admiration of the B17 crews and what they did for our freedom!

My first receiver was an ARC5, 3 to 6 Mhz for 80 meter CW. I still have it. I worked 36 states with it in 1957 on the novice portion of 80M. The B17 was full of those ARC5 sets and somehow I felt mine was used on one of their flights. W8SU

This would have been Bill's radio position

Main HF CW Transmitter

Battle position for radioman, waist gunner center.

Novice QSL, Certificate K8CX Collection
Hamshack Photo by K8CX
Links, Info, Plane Photos courtesy of W8SU