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The BBC Forces Programme was a BBC radio station from 7 January 1940 until 26 February 1944 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television). ...
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January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...
February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ...
Foundation
Upon the outbreak of World War II, the BBC closed the existing BBC National Programme and BBC Regional Programme, combining the two to form a single channel known as the BBC Home Service. Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II...
The BBC Home Service was the original name for Radio 4 and was on the air from 1939 until 30 September 1967. ...
The former transmitters of the National Programme continued to broadcast the Home Service until 1940, when the lack of choice and lighter programming for people serving in the Armed Forces was noted. At that point, the frequencies were given to a new entertainment network, the BBC Forces Programme. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...
Programming The BBC Home Service had been put together in a hurry and many of the pre-war favourite programmes had been lost. The new network mainly concentrated on news, informational programmes and music - in order to fill gaps in the schedule, Sandy MacPherson provided several hours a day of light organ music.
It became clear that the members of the armed services during the Phony War were mainly sat in barracks with little to do and that the BBC was not providing programming for this bored market. The BBC Forces Programme was launched to appeal directly to those men. British Ministry of Home Security Poster The Phony War, or in Winston Churchills words the Twilight War, was a phase in early World War II marked by few military operations in Continental Europe, in the months following the German invasion of Poland. ...
Its mixture of drama, comedy, popular music, features, quiz shows and variety was richer and more varied than the former National, although it continued to supply lengthy news bulletins and informational programmes and talk.
Programming was developed for specific services - "Ack Ack Beer Beer" for the anti-aircraft and barrage balloon stations, "Garrison Theatre" for the Army, "Danger - Men at Work", "Sincerely Yours, Vera Lynn" and "Hi Gang" for the forces generally - and popular American variety programming was imported for the first time - "The Charlie MacCarthy Show", "The Bob Hope Show" and "The Jack Benny Hour".
Closure The BBC Forces Programme was replaced when the influx of American soldiers, used to a different style of entertainment programming, had to be catered for in the run up to D-Day. The replacement service was named the BBC General Forces Programme and was also broadcast on shortwave on the frequencies of the BBC Empire Service (itself reborn after the war as the BBC Overseas Service and now known as the BBC World Service). Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ...
radio programming, transmitting in 43 languages to around 150 million people throughout the world. ...
World Service logo The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters of radio programming, transmitting in 33 languages to around 150 million people throughout the world. ...
After VE-Day, the longwave frequencies of the former Forces and General Forces Programmes became the BBC Light Programme. Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day or VE Day) was May 8, 1945, the date when the Allies during the Second World War formally celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitlers Third Reich. ...
The Light Programme was a BBC radio station broadcasting mainstream light entertainment and music. ...
Inheritance The pre-war National Programme, whilst using the same frequencies and transmitters as the post-war Light Programme, was not the general entertainment network its successor the Light Programme became. The Light Programme was more of a child of the Forces and General Forces Programme, with a style of presentation and programming that had not existed in the United Kingdom before the war.
References - Various authors BBC Year Book 1947 London: British Broadcasting Corporation 1947
- Graham, Russ J A new lease of life Radiomusications from Transdiffusion, undated; accessed 5 February 2006
- Hancock, Dafydd Forces of Light Radiomusications from Transdiffusion, undated; accessed 5 February 2006
- Took, Barry Laughter in the Air London: Robson Books 1976 ISBN 0903895781 and British Broadcasting Corporation 1976 ISBN 0563171579
Further reading - Briggs, Asa History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom Oxford:Oxford University Press 1995 ISBN 0192129309
External links - Radiomusications from Transdiffusion
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