Soup Safari #78: Spicy Three Bean at Minna.

Lunch. £5.50. Minna, 94 Lark Lane, Liverpool L17 8UU. Website.

A History of the BBC in 100 Blog Posts: 1942.

Every now and then in researching these posts, I'll come across a fact which is so interesting (at least to me!) that I'll end up telling everyone I know.  In the Chronomedia page for 1942 we're told "March 22, 1942:  BBC begins transmitting news bulletins in Morse code for the benefit of resistance fighters in mainland Europe".  I've tried to find more information about this because I have questions.  Was this as part of the schedule or via telegraph equipment - I'm assuming the latter.  How did it start?  How did "listeners" know that it was starting and how and where to pick it up?


People in War


"The B.B.C. broadcasts messages to men in the Royal Air Force who are serving in Canada."

"British Broadcasting Corporation radio programme entitled 'War Commentary' on contribution of West Indian personnel to the RAF's air campaign." 
[Imperial War Museum][BBC Programme Index]

[Imperial War Museum]

"Eighty years ago, the BBC broadcast a program about the Holocaust of Polish Jews, based on materials donated to the Polish government in London by Jewish organizations in Poland. It was an important day for Emanuel Ringelblum's associates. Unfortunately, the ordeal of Jews in occupied Poland continued."
[Jewish Historical Institute]

"By Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Good evening.   First of all I should like to thank the people of Great Britain, who everywhere have given me such a warm and sympathetic welcome, and to rejoice with them on this momentous day. I also want to thank the many kind people who have written me. I have not been able to answer all of these letters, but I am nonetheless appreciative."
[Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project]

"Children Calling Home, Friday 25 December 1942, BBC Home Service, BBC Forces Programme."
[BBC Clips][BBC Programme Index]

"In 1942, the BBC was recording an outside broadcast of nightingales singing when 147 RAF bombers flew overheard."
This story is illustrated with images of Beatrice Harrison for some reason.
[BBC News]


Behind The Scenes


"There are, of course, many text books on electrical engineering and that branch of it known as 'telecommunications', but up to now there has never been a book describing the technical practice and equipment of the BBC."
[World Radio History]

"M.J.L.Pulling, the Superintendent Engineer of the BBC Recording Service, gives an illustrated talk on the technical side of BBC recordings, broadcast 11 April 1942: covering direct-cut disks, steel tape (the Marconi-Stille), and the Phillips-Miller non-photographic optical system. (Modern magnetic tape was still under development in Germany and not available until after the war)."
[Roger Wilmut]

"In this programme, which was made to explain the work of the Recorded Programmes Department, Lynton Fletcher and Marie Slocombe give the audience a guided tour of some of the items they have collected in the Library of Historical Recordings."
[BBC Archive][BBC Programme Index]

"Kirsty Young tells the story of the long-running programme as it celebrates its 70th anniversary and investigates what has made it such an enduring part of the radio schedule."

"During WWII, Latin America was considered by Britain as a region of strategic, economic and military interest, as well as a source of concern due to its large German and Italian migrant communities."
[King's College London]

"Accurate radio reporting of British defeats helped win trust of German listeners."
[The Guardian]

"This book gives a brief account of how the British broadcasting service has developed and has been carried on in 1942."
[World Radio History]