Voice Of Peace

This first batch of photographs were taken between January & July 1987

The main supply tender tied up in Tel Aviv Marina
First view of the MV Peace, rather rusty isn’t it!
The main supply tender comes alongside the MV Peace with food supplies
Mike Davies in the main studio. Must have been a cold day as he has both a Fred Perry jumper and polo shirt on!
Gil Katsir
Itzik, the office driver. He was smuggled onboard when there was a change of captains, and stayed onboard overnight. He jointly presented a programme with Steve Richards
Benny Berman visits the VOP
Gil with Benny Berman, an Israeli singer who came out to the ship to launch his new record
Neil & Mike Darby doing some studio maintenance
Very sadly Gavin Ford is no longer with us, but we all remember him with fondness. R.I.P.
Mike Darby, Neil Armstrong, Mike Davies (L-R standing) Dave Asher, Alex Lee (L-R sitting)
Brothers in Peace, Mike Darby and Alex Lee
Mike Davies in the main on-air studio
Mike Davies & Steve Richards
The Captain of your ship today is Mike Davies!
Mike Davies on the ‘plank’
Noam Aviram, transmitter engineer, DJ, TV host and also an actor in one of the Lemon Popsicle films!
Loop linkage between the aerial tuning unit and AM aerial
Canadian engineer Jack Hoeppner
Tony the engineer. I know very little about Tony other than he had been involved in pirate radio in the Birmingham, UK, area. As was customary on the MV Peace, most staff were given nicknames, Tony was called ‘Cucumber’
I do believe this piece of artwork was constructed by Tim Shepherd who had seen something similar on the Radio Caroline ship
Richard Steed, DJ and actor. Richard appeared in some British TV dramas before travelling to Israel to work on a kibbutz before joining the VOP
Steve Richards
Mike Davies with the ‘Popemobile’
Generators
Generators
Generators
Tel Aviv as seen from the normal anchorage location
Fishing boat and launch near the MV Peace. Reading (NW Tel Aviv) power station in the background
New Nautel AM transmitter being craned aboard
Radha attaching the AM aerial array
Radha working on the AM aerial. Note the four u-shaped FM radiators
The tower seems very thin, but it stayed up!
Don’t say you weren’t warned!
AM aerial attached to the main tower
Control panel for the AM transmitter
AM transmitter and power supply unit
The audio processing rack
Reel to reel tape machine in production studio
Production studio/DJ hang out
Cart rack and turntables in the main studio
LPB audio console in the main studio
LPB audio console in the main studio
The Astor Hotel on Tel Aviv seafront. The DJs and crew stayed here whilst on shore leave. It was convenient for the bars and restaurants in the area, and a strategically placed pedestrian crossing lead directly from the hotel to The White House bar!
The famous White House bar and café. Conveniently situated opposite the Astor Hotel where the DJs stayed when on shore leave
Radha Krishnan, engineer, cook, friend of the DJs, top man!
Format clock
Ian, one of the many deckhands we had. He was ex-British army, and had been working on a moshav, which was a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms
Radha Krishnan
The crew, Arnold the engineer, Radha & Max the cook
Feeding time, Richard, Tony, Neil, Tim & Alex
Sarit, who was one of the secretaries in the VOP office
Tony Stevens, Mike Davies, Alex Lee, Paul Fraser
Gavin Ford, and station accountant Helen
Mike Davies and Yael Saul
Vered & Gali. Dedicated VOP listeners who seemed to be listening 24 hours a day. Very little of importance was not recorded by these two young ladies
We even had members of the IDF listening to the VOP. This is a young Avner Epstein who I met on one shore leave. Knowing that I would probably not be interested in meeting a young male he got a female friend to arrange to meet me at the Astor Hotel, and he just so happened to tag along! His ingenuity led to a long friendship which continues to this day!
A very young, and very slim, Mike Davies!
In the office with the daughter of the station accountant
Dave Asher in the studio in the Frug Street office
‘Mad’ Max, the Irish cook. His father was a rabbi in Dublin. Sadly Max died a few years ago
Arnold, the ship’s chief engineer. He was from The Philippines, and is remembered for his ‘pooky pooky’ phrase
I think Mike Darby is showing off how much weight he has lost after a week or two onboard!
Neil Armstrong, Mike Darby & Dave Asher doing bridge watch
Reuven, Captain Teunis, Alex Lee & Mike Darby
The Captain, Arnold the engineer (by the generator), and Max the cook
Mike Davies setting the pace!
Neil, Itzik, Alex Lee and Mike Davies
…is the word, 24 hours a day
Neil, Alex and Paul
An Ashdod tug preparing to tow us out of the harbour after a refuelling trip into port
The view from the top of the Shalom Tower, and you can see The Peace Ship as well
The Shalom Tower in Tel Aviv. At the time it was the tallest building in the Middle East
I understand that this was a lookout tower. Situated in old Jaffa
Jaffa. The outcropping of rocks near the harbour is reputed to have been the place where Andromeda was rescued by Perseus
That little white blob on the horizon is the Peace Ship, as seen from the Tel Aviv sea front
Nice legs Tim S. Top of the Shalom Tower in Tel Aviv

The following photos were taken between September & December 1988

A specially commissioned painting outside a bar in Tel Aviv featuring many of the personalities and influential figures in Israeli society. Abie Nathan can be seen sitting just off centre in the light blue shirt
Transmitter engineers’ work desk
Captain Tony, TX Engineer Dan Smith, ship engineers Radha and Jose
The original AM transmitters which were taken out of service after the death of a transmitter engineer in 1986
The Harris FM transmitter
The fore deck, and bridge on the MV Peace
Jose the ship’s engineer doing a bit of fishing
Scottish deck hand Keith painting the MV Peace
We occasionally let Keith into the studio for a play with the equipment
Captain Murphy in the studio. Martin worked in Irish radio before and after his VOP stint. He recently retired from his job as a Senior Pilot with a well known airline

After the Peace Ship

Mike Davies and VOP listener Avner Epstein meet up in Wales in August 2019!
Richard Steed recording a programme in Mike Davies’ studio
Alex Lee & VOP Agent Barrie Johnson at the Driftback event in London
Gil Katsir & Steve Richards in Mike Davies’ studio in 1988
Mike Davies down on the farm in West Wales!
There is very little video material about the VOP, so when I returned to Israel in 1988 I took a newly bought video camera with me. A year or two later I managed to edit up the recorded material into a decent hour long feature. A few hundred copies were made and sold over the next few years. Hopefully viewers enjoyed some of the behind the scenes footage!
Dave Asher working on the VOP – The Eighties, documentary vinyl LP
Interesting to see the LP I produced going for daft sums of money!

Interesting to see the LP I produced going for daft sums of money!

VOP -The Eighties
The Voice Of Peace Documentary Pirate Radio Galim Records Caroline Vinyl LP
Sold – 12 May 2018, 12:15 £39.99 Buy It Now, £3.99 Shipping, 14-Day Returns, eBay Money Back Guarantee
Seller: Top-Rated Seller raven-records (25,778) 99.7%, Location: England, Ships to: Worldwide, Item: 362077800721 The Voice Of Peace Documentary Pirate Radio Galim Records TSI 5062 Abie Nathan. Narrated by Dave Asher. Includes 4 page insert booklet Minor shelfwear to sleeve (see photos), but otherwise in excellent condition. Please check out our other items! Condition: Used, Genre: Soundtracks, Sub-Genre: RADIO, Speed: 33 RPM, Record Size: LP (12-Inch)