1944 in British radio explained

This is a list of events from British radio in 1944.

Events

January

• No events.

February

• 27 February – BBC General Forces Programme replaces the Forces Programme to provide entertainment suitable for American forces in Britain as well as British military and civilian audiences, including a large number of American network and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation programmes. It is also broadcast on shortwave frequencies of the BBC Overseas Service.

March

• 6 March – The BBC transmits a ballad opera, The Man Who Went to War, concerning an African American soldier, written by Langston Hughes and D. G. Bridson and featuring Paul Robeson.^[1]

April

• April – The American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) is established, transmitting from Britain in English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, and Norwegian to resistance movements in mainland Europe.

May

• No events.

June

• 5 June – One day before D-Day, the BBC transmits coded messages (including the second line of a poem by Paul Verlaine and Hubert Gregg's "I'm Going to Get Lit Up When the Lights Go Up in London")^[2] from Britain to underground resistance fighters in France warning that the invasion of mainland Europe is about to begin.^{[3] [4]}
• 6 June – D-Day: The 08:00 BBC news bulletin announces that paratroops have landed in France (reporter Guy Byam is among them). 17 BBC reporters are embedded with the invasion forces. At 09:32 John Snagge begins reading announcements of the landings "on the northern coast of France", broadcasting over BBC transmitters to home and overseas audiences and introducing a message from General Eisenhower.^[5] At 13:00, the first eyewitness report, recorded on a bomber, is broadcast.^[6] The King speaks to the nation at 21:00.^[6] Reports of the landings are carried by around 725 of the 914 broadcasting stations in the United States.^[4]

July

• 28 July – Sir Henry Wood, aged 75, conducts his last Promenade Concert, evacuated to the Corn Exchange, Bedford,^[7] three weeks before his death.

August

• 28 August – The BBC begins broadcasting in Dutch to Indonesia and in French to southeast Asia.^[8]

September

• 17–26 September – Battle of Arnhem: BBC correspondents Guy Byam and Stanley Maxted report from the scene.^{[9] [10]}

October

• • No events.

November

• • No events.

December

• 31 December – A live BBC broadcast of a service from St Paul's Cathedral, London, includes the background sound of a V-2 rocket.^[11]

Debuts

• 4 January – Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh (BBC General Forces Programme) (1944–1954)
• 27 February – Variety Bandbox (BBC General Forces Programme) (1944–1952)
• 6 June – War Report (BBC Home Service)

Continuing radio programmes

1930s

• In Town Tonight (1933–1960)

1940s

• Music While You Work (1940–1967)
• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)

Births

• 2 February – Andrew Davis, orchestral conductor (died 2024)
• 9 May – Tony Prince, "The Royal Ruler", born Thomas Whitehead, DJ
• 12 May – Brian Kay, bass singer and radio music presenter
• 5 June – Nigel Rees, radio broadcaster
• 28 October – Gerry Anderson, Northern Irish radio broadcaster (died 2014)
• November – Jim Eldridge, scriptwriter
• 25 December – Kenny Everett, born Maurice Cole, DJ (died 1995)

Deaths

• 22 June – Kent Stevenson, war reporter (shot down while flying on an air raid)
• 19 August – Sir Henry Wood, orchestral conductor (born 1869)

See also

• 1944 in British music
• 1944 in British television
• 1944 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1944

Notes and References

1. Book: Seatter, Robert. 1944. Broadcasting Britain: 100 years of the BBC. London. Dorling Kindersley. 2022. 9780241567548.
2. News: Hubert Gregg. Tim. McDonald. The Guardian. London. 2004-04-01.
3. Book: Foot, M. R. D.. M. R. D. Foot

   . M. R. D. Foot. SOE: An Outline History of the Special Operations Executive 1940–46. London. Pimlico. 1999. 0-7126-6585-4. 143.

4. Book: Stourton, Edward. Edward Stourton (journalist)

   . Edward Stourton (journalist). Auntie's War: the BBC during the Second World War. London. Doubleday. 2017. 978-0-857-52332-7.

5. Web site: D-Day Broadcasts. BBC 100. BBC. 2022. 2022-04-29.
6. Web site: David. Hendy. D-Day. BBC 100. BBC. 2022. 2022-04-29.
7. News: Jubilee Prom. 1944-07-28. The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. from the rural B.B.C. studio to which the concerts have been transferred..
8. Web site: Chronomedia: 1944. Terra Media. 2016-03-01.
9. Book: Bowman, Martin. Shrinking Perimeter. 2013. Pen and Sword. Barnsley. 978-1-78159-177-2. 179–.
10. News: 1963-05-11. Stanley Maxted: Former Singer Covered Plight Of Red Devils. The Globe. Toronto. 2.
11. Book: Waller, Maureen. London 1945: life in the debris of war. John Murray. [London]. 2020. 2004. 978-1-529-33815-7. 18-49.