Day one of NAS for me, four aircraft in E airspace without Mode C.
I can't understand why these people aren't prosecuted - other than that its hard to track them down I guess? But can you be sure they were in the E, perhaps they were in some underlying class G? Just a thought...
BTW, I do not mean to suggest that its an excuse though... I can't think why squawking mode A alone is ever the right thing to do... (the only exception I am aware of is e.g. when underflying the Schiphol approach in the Amsterdam TMA at 1500' when you are instructed to "squawk standby" so as not to alarm the a/c on final that pass only a few hundred feet overhead. There are some other similar situations at various places in EU where this is sometimes desirable too, but in all of these cases you are directed to do so, either by ATC or by local rules).
Andy