{"id":18852,"date":"2016-05-18T20:00:57","date_gmt":"2016-05-19T00:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=18852"},"modified":"2016-05-18T08:21:51","modified_gmt":"2016-05-18T12:21:51","slug":"from-the-bbc-archives-the-first-21-years-of-the-world-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/from-the-bbc-archives-the-first-21-years-of-the-world-service\/","title":{"rendered":"From the BBC Archives: The first 21 years of the World Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BBC-AT-WAR.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13665\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BBC-AT-WAR.jpg\" alt=\"BBC-AT-WAR\" width=\"650\" height=\"363\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BBC-AT-WAR.jpg 650w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BBC-AT-WAR-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many thanks to <em>SWLing Post<\/em> contributor,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/aborgnino\/status\/732223191679176705\" target=\"_blank\">Andrea Borgnino<\/a>, who shares a link to the excellent archived radio documentary,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p033xfnr\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The first 21 years of the World Service<\/em><\/a>, via the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p033xfnr\" target=\"_blank\">BBC World Service<\/a>&#8216;s\u00a0online audio archives.<\/p>\n<p>The recording\/broadcast dates from\u00a0December, 18 1953.\u00a0Here&#8217;s the description of the recording:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>The first 21 years of the World Service: how it began in 1938, its important role in WW2 and its aftermath, including historic moments as they were first broadcast by Churchill, de Gaulle, Eisenhower.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p033xfnr\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to listen to the documentary via the BBC World Service.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\">VOG Interval Signal<\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I learned an interesting fact in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p033xfnr\">this documentary<\/a>:\u00a0I had <em>no idea<\/em> that the BBC used the Greek radio\u00a0interval signal for their Greek language service while Greece was occupied in WWII. After liberation, the BBC Director General &#8220;solemnly&#8221; handed the famous interval signal&#8211;<em>&#8220;the sound of shepherds&#8217; pipes mingling with the bells of their flocks&#8221;&#8211;<\/em>back to Greece. Amazing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The Greek radio\u00a0interval signal is one of my all-time favorites. Indeed, my mobile phone&#8217;s ringtone is the <a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/ringtones\/VOG-Ringtone.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">VOG interval signal<\/a>:<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-18852-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/ringtones\/VOG-Ringtone.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/ringtones\/VOG-Ringtone.mp3\">http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/ringtones\/VOG-Ringtone.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>If you would like to add this ringtone to your mobile phone, <a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/a-little-gift-for-you-that-keeps-on-ringing\/\">check out this post from 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Andrea Borgnino, who shares a link to the excellent archived radio documentary,\u00a0The first 21 years of the World Service, via the\u00a0BBC World Service&#8216;s\u00a0online audio archives. The recording\/broadcast dates from\u00a0December, 18 1953.\u00a0Here&#8217;s the description of the recording: The first 21 years of the World Service: how it began in 1938, its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[56,3,305,288,43],"tags":[104,1360,327,1816,2937,4508,676],"class_list":["post-18852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","category-shortwave-radio","tag-bbc","tag-bbc-history","tag-bbc-world-service","tag-bbc-world-service-shortwave","tag-bbc-wwii","tag-wwi-radio","tag-wwii"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-4U4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66022,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/carlos-illustrated-radio-listening-report-and-recording-of-the-bbc-emergency-radio-service-may-4-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":18852,"position":0},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of the BBC Emergency Radio Service (May 4, 2026)","author":"Thomas","date":"May 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares the following\u00a0illustrated radio listening report of a recent BBC ERS broadcast. Carlos notes: BBC Emergency Radio Service https:\/\/youtu.be\/yu5E6PaiTUk?si=_l7XpxsmfnhCedRY Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/04may2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/04may2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/04may2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/04may2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/04may2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66026,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/carlos-illustrated-radio-listening-report-and-recording-of-the-bbc-emergency-radio-service-may-5-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":18852,"position":1},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of the BBC Emergency Radio Service (May 5, 2026)","author":"Thomas","date":"May 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares the following\u00a0illustrated radio listening report of a recent BBC Emergency Radio Service broadcast. Carlos notes: BBC Emergency Radio Service https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/LggM7mvnTRg?si=5CgY_WhCMF1KYrJn Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66049,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/carlos-illustrated-radio-listening-report-and-recording-of-the-bbc-emergency-radio-service-may-6-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":18852,"position":2},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of the BBC Emergency Radio Service (May 6, 2026)","author":"Thomas","date":"May 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares the following\u00a0illustrated radio listening report of a recent BBC Emergency Radio Service broadcast. Carlos notes: BBC Emergency Radio Service https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/MPxKGv1yT80?si=6ooOFzsUBN8qRINF Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Latuff-BBC-ERS-May-6-2026-1-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65936,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/carlos-illustrated-radio-listening-report-and-recording-of-the-bbc-emergency-radio-service-april-30-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":18852,"position":3},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of the BBC Emergency Radio Service  (April 30, 2026)","author":"Thomas","date":"May 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares the following\u00a0illustrated radio listening report of a recent BBC ERS broadcast. Carlos notes: BBC's Emergency Radio Service: https:\/\/youtu.be\/CnaRe6V4d2E?si=FJh0H3KGlVAukv_3 Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/30april2026-BBC-ERS-Latuff-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/30april2026-BBC-ERS-Latuff-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/30april2026-BBC-ERS-Latuff-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/30april2026-BBC-ERS-Latuff-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/30april2026-BBC-ERS-Latuff-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65899,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/carlos-illustrated-radio-listening-report-and-recording-of-the-bbc-emergency-radio-service-april-27-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":18852,"position":4},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of the BBC Emergency Radio Service (April 27, 2026)","author":"Thomas","date":"April 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares the following\u00a0illustrated radio listening report of a recent BBC broadcast. Carlos notes:\u00a0 BBC'S emergency radio service, 15280 kHz https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/skoP9VQHgDA?si=KNt6F_CmlYjhQ31o Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-27-2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-27-2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-27-2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-27-2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-27-2026-Latuff-BBC-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7317,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/shortwave-radio-recordings-bbc-world-service-hausa\/","url_meta":{"origin":18852,"position":5},"title":"Shortwave Radio Recordings: BBC World Service Hausa","author":"Thomas","date":"September 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"For your listening pleasure: the BBC World Service Hausa language service recorded on 17,885 kHz on September 16, 2013, starting at 19:30 UTC. This BBC WS broadcast originated from a 250 kW transmitter located on\u00a0Ascension Island in the south Atlantic ocean. Click here to download the recording as an MP3,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"BBC-Hausa","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/BBC-Hausa.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18852\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}