Walter Henry Hannam (1885–1965) was an Australian wireless experimenter, a founding member of the Wireless Institute of Australia, wireless operator and mechanic on theAustralasian Antarctic Expedition, a member of the ANZAC Wireless Company in World War I, and tireless promoter of amateur radio in the 1920s.
Hannam was selected as part of theAustralasian Antarctic Expedition. He helped to set up the wireless equipment onMacquarie Island.[2] He is credited with being the first person to establish wireless contact with Australia from Antarctica.[3] He set up the wireless equipment at the main base and remained atCape Denison as wireless operator for two summers and a winter.[4][1] On his departure in February 1913,Sidney Jeffryes took over his post as wireless operator.[5][1]
Circa 1910, Hannam was closely involved with CaptainGeorge Augustine Taylor in a number of successful demonstrations to the military as to the potential uses of wireless telegraphy. Following the commencement of World War I, Hannam enlisted on 2 June 1915 in the Australian Imperial Forces, embarked for France and commenced duties in the field workshops. He was a large man and struggled with a number of medical issues. But his previous wireless experience was identified and he was transferred to the ANZAC Wireless Coy. The Wireless Coy. was eventually renamed Australian Army Signal Corps. He was discharged on 7 November 1919.[6] He served as an engineer in the Australian Motor Transport Corps.[1]
^"Sidney Jeffryes".Home of the Blizzard: the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Commonwealth of Australia. 26 October 2011. Retrieved4 June 2015.
^HANNAM Walter Henry : Service Number – 6946 : Place of Birth – Burwood NSW : Place of Enlistment – Sydney NSW : Next of Kin – (Father) HANNAM W H, Series Number B2455, National Archives of Australia
Carty, Bruce.Australian Radio History (4th ed. Sydney, 2013)[1]
Cormick, Craig.In Bed with Douglas Mawson: Travels Around Antarctica (New Holland Publishers, 2011)TroveGoogle Books
Curnow, Geoffrey Ross.The history of the development of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia to 1942, with especial reference to the Australian Broadcasting Commission: a political and administrative study.online
Friends of Mawson.Friends of Mawson. (Website)Online (excellent reading list and newsletter archive)
Mawson, Douglas.The home of the blizzard : an Australian hero's classic tale of Antarctic discovery and adventure (Unabridged, two volumes), (W. Heinemann, London, 1915 )TroveNLA
Mawson, Douglas.The home of the blizzard : an Australian hero's classic tale of Antarctic discovery and adventure (Abridged, one volume) (Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 2010)TroveNLA
Mawson, Douglas.The home of the blizzard : an Australian hero's classic tale of Antarctic discovery and adventure (Electronic edition)OnlineArchived 15 April 2018 at theWayback Machine (Includes full PDF)
Ross, John F.Radio Broadcasting Technology, 75 Years of Development in Australia 1923–1998 (J. F. Ross, 1998)[2]
Wireless Institute of Australia (editor Wolfenden, Peter).Wireless Men & Women at War, Article 1, Walter Hannam (Wireless Institute of Australia, Melbourne, 2017)[3]
