The BBC Forces Programme was a national radio station which operated from 7 January 1940 until 26 February 1944, when it was replaced by the BBC General Forces Programme.

History

Development

Upon the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the BBC closed both existing National and Regional radio programmes, combining the two to form a single channel known as the BBC Home Service. Domestically, the BBC's medium wave transmitters continued to broadcast only the Home Service until the start of 1940, when the lack of choice and of lighter programming for people serving in the British Armed Forces having been noted – some of the former regional frequencies (804 and 877 kHz) were given over to a new service known as the ''Forces Programme''.

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 the early days of the war, the theatre organist Sandy MacPherson provided several hours a day of light organ music to fill gaps in the schedule. It became clear that the members of the armed services during the Phoney War, especially those in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

who had been expecting to fight, were now mainly sat in barracks with little to do. The BBC Forces Programme was launched to appeal directly to these men. Although intended for soldiers, civilians in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

could receive the Forces Programme, among them it became more popular than the Home Service and after the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

, will also continue to broadcast in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The Forces Programme's mixture of drama, comedy, popular music, features, quiz shows and variety was richer and more varied than the former National Programme, although it continued to supply lengthy news bulletins, informational and talk. Programming was developed for specific services include: * ''Ack Ack Beer Beer'' – for the anti-aircraft and barrage balloon stations * ''Garrison Theatre'' – for the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

* '' Danger - Men at Work!'' * '' Sincerely Yours, Vera Lynn'' * ''Hi Gang'' – for the British Armed Forces Initially, the station was on the air from 11.00 am until 11.00 pm. However from Sunday 16 June 1940, the station would commence its broadcasting day from 6.30 am and would continue until 11.00 pm. These broadcasting hours remained in place until the new BBC General Forces Programme began on Sunday 27 February 1944, with the service maintaining the same broadcasting hours.

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

troops had broadcasts designed for them on the Forces Programme. From 1942, American troops also received their own broadcasts on the service; popular American variety programming, such as Charlie McCarthy, '' The Bob Hope Show'', and ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio and television comedy series. The show ran for over three decades, from 1932 to 1955 on radio, and from 1950 to 1965 on television. It won numerous awards, including the 1959 and 19 ...

'', appeared on the BBC for the first time. The British benefited from wartime co-operation only had to pay $60 for ''The Bob Hope Show'', which cost $12,000 to produce. A brief daily programme on American sports also began, as did rebroadcasts of the American military's '' Command Performance'' and '' Mail Call''. The broadcasts led to concerns over "

Americanisation Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of the American culture and economy on other countries outside the United States, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, technology ...

" of the BBC, but an executive stated that 90% of British soldiers would choose American music if they had a choice.

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 Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

'. The replacement service was named the BBC General Forces Programme and was also broadcast on the shortwave frequencies of the Overseas Service (which itself had been known until November 1939 as the Empire Service, and it was relaunched again on 1 May 1965 as

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

). After

Victory in Europe Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

, the frequencies of the former National Programme (200 and 1149 kHz) were taken over by the new

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

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.

Sources

References

External links

Radiomusications from Transdiffusion
{{Portal bar, United Kingdom, BBC, Radio Forces Programme Defunct BBC national radio stations Radio stations established in 1940 Radio stations disestablished in 1944 1940 establishments in the United Kingdom 1944 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1940s in the United Kingdom United Kingdom in World War II Radio during World War II Military broadcasting