II.

The Effects of World War II

In 1939 World War II forced the closure of the television service and, under necessary censorship conditions, BBC Radio sought to provide as accurate a picture as possible of the war’s progress while maintaining the morale of a beleaguered population. A special Forces Programme was created in 1940 and the output lightened in tone with entertainers such as Tommy Handley in his famous ITMA programme and Vera Lynn, the “Forces’ Sweetheart” singer, and the new Desert Island Discs series—still going strong—with its original format of talk and music centred on a celebrity. Serious programming also flourished, with classical music more popular than ever, the Radio Doctor giving advice on health and fitness, J. B. Priestley delivering his famous controversial Postscripts to the 9 o’clock evening news, and Mr Middleton dispensing advice on gardening, especially on growing vegetables. The Empire Service underwent huge change, and expanded from 1938 as foreign language broadcasts began with Arabic, soon joined by most European and East Asian languages.

From 1940 onwards the BBC became the sole conveyor of some kind of truth and a source of hope to many European resistance movements. The Victory Campaign evoked a huge emotional and practical response with its “V for Victory” slogan. Many Allied leaders, including General de Gaulle, sent messages to their people from the BBC studios in London. As D-Day approached, coded messages were sent to men and women in the “underground”, planning to help the Allied invasion while the German Service, headed by Hugh Greene, later a BBC director-general, sent warnings to the German people, whose broadcasting system he helped reorganize after the war.