E03 - Lincolnshire Poacher

The Lincolnshire Poacher is perhaps one of the most famous stations. It was transmitted from Cyprus and was operated by the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Its callsign featured a verse of the English folk song "Lincolnshire Poacer" (hence the name) that is played on a calliope machine. The message was then read by a rather cheery female voiced machine. Note the detail on the intonation: every last digit is spoken with a higher intonation, which is something very uncommon for a number station. Interestingly, the Lincolnshire Poacher was prone to frequent jamming by various countries, notably Iraq.

E03 transmissions would appear between 1200 - 2200 UTC, each lasting exactly 45 minutes. This station ceased operation in 2008.