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 in danger!

 

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

 

Generator

 

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

 

Nautel 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 bookletMinor 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)