The 'radio failure' story is one which has largely been perpetuated by the movie 'A Bridge Too Far' which gives a distorted and far too simplistic slant to this part of the story.

As mentioned above, Lewis Golden's book is a very thorough examination of the subject ( and Golden was actually at Div HQ in the Hartenstein Hotel during the battle ). It must be remembered that radio technology in WWII was fairly basic ; although tanks, ships and aircraft could carry large, powerful radios, airborne troops could not. The portable radios were limited in range and very susceptible to damage. These limitations were well-known to the Signals staff but were discounted by the Operational planning staff.

The 'faulty crystals' story is, so far as I can tell, hogwash.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson