DF has been going for a very long time. The earliest reference we have found was in 1925.
Ian Butson has spent a long time compiling press cuttings about DF. He has digitised his collection and has asked to have it preserved on the BTBDFA website. The cuttings are divided into two categories; those from the newsletters of the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society and those from other sources. Some articles or cuttings are the copyright of the Radio Society of Great Britain and are reproduced with their kind permission. Similarly, Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society has given permission to use its material.
To browse Ian's Chelmsford cuttings, click here; his miscellaneous ones are here.
The newsletter archive of the Chelmsford club may be found here and the RSGB website is here.
If anyone has any more historical material, please let the webmaster know and it can be included in the archive.