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BBC Archive recording of the Spithead broadcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodrooffe, Thomas 1899 births 1978 deaths British radio personalities British writers Royal Navy officers BBC people
Thomas Borries Ralph Woodrooffe (24 January 1899 – 25 March 1978) was a British 
In 1937, he commentated on the Coronation Review of the Fleet at
naval officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contex ...
, broadcaster and writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
. He was born in Adelaide, Cape Province, South Africa to George Borries Woodrooffe (1868-1923) and Elizabeth McFarlan "Bessie" Jameson (1872?-1941). He joined the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
in 1917 and served on HMS ''Resolution'' during the last year of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
and left the Navy in 1933.
After his retirement he became a commentator for BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
. He was one of its main commentators during the 1930s, covering amongst many other events the opening ceremony of the 1936 Summer Olympics and Neville Chamberlain's return from Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
in 1938.
In 1937, he commentated on the Coronation Review of the Fleet at Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
from his old ship the battleship . He had met some of his former colleagues before the broadcast for a drink, and was inebriated while giving his commentary. He repeatedly said "the fleet's lit up", and at one point he told listeners "I'm sorry, I was telling some people to shut up talking." His incoherence was such that he was taken off air after a few minutes and suspended for a week by BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Director-General
A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals''
) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...
Sir John Reith. The BBC later said that he was "tired and emotional
The phrase "tired and emotional" is a chiefly British euphemism for alcohol intoxication. It was popularised by the British satirical magazine '' Private Eye'' in 1967 after being used in a spoof diplomatic memo to describe the state of Labou ...
".
A year later his phrase "the fleet's lit up" was used as the title of a musical comedy, and in 1940 Hubert Gregg wrote the song "I'm gonna get lit up when the lights go up in London." Parts of Woodrooffe's commentary were used by the British rock band Public Service Broadcasting
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
in their track ''Lit Up''.
Woodrooffe continued to work for the BBC, and in 1938 he was the main commentator at the FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...
between Preston North End and Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
, the first to be televised
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
. After 29 minutes of extra time it was still 0-0 and Woodrooffe said "If there's a goal scored now, I'll eat my hat." Seconds later Preston was awarded a penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
from which George Mutch scored. Woodrooffe kept his promise, appearing on the BBC television programme ''Picture Page
''Picture Page'' is a British television non-fiction programme, broadcast by the BBC Television Service (now known as BBC One) from 1936 to 1939, and again after the service's hiatus during the Second World War from 1946 until 1952. It was the ...
'' the following week and eating a hat shaped cake.
Woodrooffe rejoined the Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
in September 1939. In 1940, he served briefly as Commanding Officer of the light cruiser HMS ''Coventry''. He spent the rest of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in the Press Division of the Admiralty.
Woodrooffe also wrote books on naval history, including ''River of Golden Sand'' (1936), ''Best Stories of the Navy'' (1941) and ''Vantage at Sea: England's Emergence as An Oceanic Power'' (1958). He married Ida Helen Duncan (1900-1981) in 1927. He died in Kensington at the age of 79.
References
External links
BBC Archive recording of the Spithead broadcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodrooffe, Thomas 1899 births 1978 deaths British radio personalities British writers Royal Navy officers BBC people