{"id":39449,"date":"2019-09-04T07:14:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T11:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=39449"},"modified":"2019-09-04T07:14:53","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T11:14:53","slug":"bbcs-secret-world-war-two-activities-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/bbcs-secret-world-war-two-activities-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;BBC&#8217;s secret World War Two activities revealed&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BBC-AT-WAR.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13665\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BBC-AT-WAR.jpg\" alt=\"\" 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> contributors Fred Waterer and Mike Hansgen who share <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/entertainment-arts-49562570\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the following article from the BBC<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>A new archive has revealed the BBC&#8217;s role in secret activities during World War Two, including sending coded messages to European resistance groups.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Documents and interviews, released by BBC History, include plans to replace Big Ben&#8217;s chimes with a recorded version in the event of an air attack.<\/p>\n<p>This would ensure the Germans did not know their planes were over Westminster.<\/p>\n<p>BBC programmers would also play music to contact Polish freedom fighters.<\/p>\n<p>Using the codename &#8220;Peter Peterkin&#8221;, a government representative would provide staff with a particular piece that would be broadcast following the Polish news service.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/av\/embed\/p07mbx8z\/49562570\" width=\"400\" height=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Historian David Hendy said: &#8220;The bulletins broadcast to Poland would be deliberately short by a minute or so and then a secret messenger from the exiled Polish government would deliver a record to be played.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The choice of music would send the message to fighters.&#8221;[&#8230;]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/entertainment-arts-49562570\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here to read the full article at the BBC.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Fred Waterer and Mike Hansgen who share the following article from the BBC: A new archive has revealed the BBC&#8217;s role in secret activities during World War Two, including sending coded messages to European resistance groups. Documents and interviews, released by BBC History, include plans to replace Big Ben&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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}},"categories":[3,305,288],"tags":[104,2937,2729,3422,676,1353,1301],"class_list":["post-39449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","tag-bbc","tag-bbc-wwii","tag-fred-waterer","tag-mike-k8rat","tag-wwii","tag-wwii-archives","tag-wwii-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-agh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62998,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/patrolling-the-ether-a-wwii-era-film-about\/","url_meta":{"origin":39449,"position":0},"title":"Patrolling The Ether: A 1944 Film About Tracking Down Nazis With Radio!","author":"Thomas","date":"May 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer, who tipped us off to Patrolling the Ether\u2014a 1944 short film produced by the U.S. Office of War Information. This wartime documentary highlights how amateur radio operators and federal agents collaborated to monitor the airwaves and track down enemy spies. A fascinating\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/zaB_w-j6bvg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":62407,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/bbc-radio-abroad-still-available-but-not-through-bbcs-own-apps\/","url_meta":{"origin":39449,"position":1},"title":"BBC Radio Abroad: Still Available \u2014 But Not Through BBC\u2019s Own Apps","author":"Thomas","date":"March 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fred Waterer, who shares this update from James Cridland. After initially announcing that BBC Sounds and music radio stations would no longer be available outside the UK, the BBC has quietly revised its FAQ. While you still can\u2019t access content directly from BBC apps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;International Broadcasting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-18.32.41.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-18.32.41.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-18.32.41.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-18.32.41.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65029,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/video-when-shortwave-radio-connected-soldiers-overseas-with-their-families-in-wwii\/","url_meta":{"origin":39449,"position":2},"title":"Video: When Shortwave Radio Connected Soldiers Overseas with Their Families in WWII","author":"Thomas","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer, who writes: \"The History Guy\" (a terrific YouTube channel) talks about the technical marvel of uniting the four radio networks and soldiers overseas via shortwave at Christmas 1942 and 1943. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xiS4Imqs47M Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/xiS4Imqs47M\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9748,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/remembering-bbc-ottringham-on-memorial-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":39449,"position":3},"title":"Remembering BBC Ottringham on Memorial Day","author":"Thomas","date":"May 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Jonathan Marks, who shares this amazing story of the BBC Ottringham (a.k.a. OSE5)\u00a0broadcast site. Since Ottringham was an active transmitting site during in World War II, it makes for a fitting tribute here on Memorial Day. On his blog, Critical Distance, Jonathan writes: \"Few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The BBC Ottringham complex (Source: BBC Humberside History)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bbc_ottringham1_470x352_352x470.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40502,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/bbc-witness-history-britains-secret-propaganda-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":39449,"position":4},"title":"BBC Witness History: &#8220;Britain&#8217;s secret propaganda war&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"November 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out this brilliant BBC Witness History piece regarding the British propaganda effort during WWII: How sex, jazz and 'fake news' were used to undermine the Nazis in World War Two. In 1941, the UK created a top secret propaganda department, the Political Warfare Executive to wage psychological warfare on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Dial.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Dial.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Dial.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38181,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/website-shares-story-of-the-bbcs-wartime-reporting\/","url_meta":{"origin":39449,"position":5},"title":"Site shares story of the BBC\u2019s wartime reporting","author":"Thomas","date":"June 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kris Partridge, who shares the following note following our recent series of posts about WWII radio: The, nearly, full story of the BBC\u2019s wartime reporting can be found here. Yes, I hope another interesting read both for your good self and the readers of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BBC-AT-WAR.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BBC-AT-WAR.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BBC-AT-WAR.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39449","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=39449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}