During the war, the walkie-talkie helped soldiers to communicate with each other thanks to Henryk Magnus and his team – they invented the device during the Second World War. The American army used it first.

The future inventor worked before the Second World War in Poland at the State Tele- and Radiographic Works. As a conscientious and talented employee, in June 1939, he received an honour: he was sent to New York for training.

Not long afterwards, on 1 September 1939. Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War had begun. Magnuski was stuck in New York, but it turned out well for the US Army.

Portable radio station

The Polish engineer became involved with the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago (later known as Motorola). In the ‘windy city’, a team led by Magnuski worked hard to develop a ‘portable radio station’ for the army. They succeeded! Two devices named SCR – 536 (1940) and SCR – 300 (1941) were introduced to the US Army. The name walkie-talkie was suggested by Magnuski’s team. Some soldiers called the device handle-talkie.

Magnuski’s influence on the creation of the device was enormous. It was soon used by soldiers fighting in the US Army on the fronts in Europe and the Pacific. The device was operated by two soldiers. One had the radio and battery on his back, while the other held the handset on a long cable.  The Pole was appreciated by the US Army.

He did not rest on his laurels

By 1945, Galvin’s company had launched more than 40,000 walkie-talkies. In the following years, the device was permitted to be used by the civilians.

Magnuski did not say the last word when it came to inventions for the military. He designed and constructed a microwave-based device called AN/CPN-6 – a kind of beacon that guided pilots to the aircraft carrier when conditions of limited visibility prevailed. The Pole introduced 30 patents to telecommunications – 7 of which were used to create the modern mobile network.

Henryk Magnuski died in 1978 in Glenview, USA.