Who else has a QSL for these BFBS broadcasts on shortwave during Operation Granby (the codename for the British part of the Gulf War in 1990-1991) or later during the Iraq War in 2003? If you have any further information about these broadcasts, please let me know.
Here is the mystery. Where was the transmitter site for the BFBS broadcast in 1991 during the Gulf War? My intent is to find out if other DXers heard these broadcasts and if they received a QSL from them. I am also in the process of collating information from internet searches.
BFBS was widely heard and reported by DXers at the time. There was a lot of speculation about where was the transmitter site for these broadcasts. Some of candidate sites included Moosbrunn, Austria; the BBC East Mediterranean Shortwave Relay Station (BEMRS) in Zygi, Cyprus (east of Limassol); Julich, Germany, or maybe some Merlin Broadcast Ltd. site.
Fortunately, the verie signer provided a clue by stating on the QSL card that the “site” was Akrotiri, Cyprus. That would basically rule out the BEMRS in Zygi because Akrotiri is to the west and south of Limassol, while Zygi is east of Limassol.
This map below clearly shows the location of Zygi/Zyyi, where the BBC Shortwave East Mediterranean Relay Site is located and Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area, where I believe the BFBS shortwave transmitter was located. Note that City Limassol is in between the two locations.
The QSL letter received by DXer Andree Bollin below sheds more light on the transmitter site that BFBS have used during Operation Granby (Gulf war 1990/1). The verification signer M. E. Townley of BFBS Cyprus revealed some interesting history about BFBS’s broadcasts which were transmitted on Shortwave. More importantly, Townley stated that “the transmitter is located adjacent to the Akrotiri salt lake in the south of Cyprus and uses a specially designed USB drive into a 10Kw transmitter. The aerial is a Log periodic array which is directional toward the Gulf. “
https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/profiles/Akrotiri/Media
https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/profiles/Cyprus/Media