Author: Alan, 5B4AHJ
The VQ8 prefix was used until 1970. Licences were issued by the British Administration in Mauritius.
Although Mauritius gained independence at 0800z on 1968-03-12, VQ8 callsigns continued to be used until 1970.
The Republic of Mauritius was born on 1992-03-12.
As well as Mauritius, the VQ8 prefix was also used for what are now the DXCC entities of Agalega & St Brandon, Chagos, and Rodrigues.
Note: DXNS #305, dated 1968-01-23, reports: "VQ8 administrative authorities confirm 'Diego Garcia is included in the Schedule of the Queen's Order in Council' setting up B.I.O.T., but Nelson's Island is not, & thus it remains a dependency of Mauritius'". B.I.O.T. = British Indian Ocean Territory. More information can be found about B.I.O.T. in Wikipedia.
From mid-1958, callsigns were of the following structure:
Club Log maps all VQ8 calls according to the above, without requiring callsign exceptions to be raised.VQ8xx - Mauritius
VQ8xxA - Agalega
VQ8xxB - St Brandon
VQ8xxC - Chagos
VQ8xxN - Nelson Island - an island in the Chagos Archipelago
VQ8xxR - Rodrigues