Planet Podcasts

The War Years

Christmas Eve, 1944

One night, four transmitters. Home-front variety, forces mail, London under blackout and a war reported in the present tense.

1944 · 5 stops · 2h 40m

  1. 1

    Hollywood plays to the troops — the biggest names, sent overseas by request.

    Command Performance · Radio

    Eddie Cantor

    1 Mar 1942 · 30 min

  2. 2

    Letters read into a microphone, the closest thing to home on a shortwave set.

    Mail Call · Radio

    Groucho Marx, Betty Grable, Judy Garland

    9 Jan 1943 · 29 min

  3. 3

    London answers: the voice that made radio a strategic instrument.

    Winston Churchill: The BBC Broadcasts · Radio

    Wu330424 Winstonchurchill 0003 The Locust Years

    24 Apr 1933 · 41 min

  4. 4

    The war turned into drama while it was still being fought.

    Words at War · Radio

    Combined Operations - The Official Story of the British Commandos

    24 Jun 1943 · 29 min

  5. 5

    Sign-off with the band still playing — the night ends the way it always did.

    Jubilee · Radio

    Duke Ellington Ethel Waters

    9 Oct 1942 · 29 min