"THIS IS LONDON"


There was a day quite a few years ago when millions of people, whether subjects of the British Empire, or simply people far from civilization, sat down to listen to the evening news from London. The BBC was the virtual anchor that held the empire together as a community. 


From Simla to Singapore, from the Bahamas to Halifax, they were all present for the golden Oxford plum-on-your-tongue mellow cooing of the announcer. And, when the reigning sovereign of Great Britain wanted to call a family gathering, he or she could use the BBC and know that their subjects were hanging on every word.


Some will disagree with the above assumptions, but I have lived it, and I still long for those evenings gathered in the sitting room of the mission guest house to listen to the news from London. Some of your poor beggars haven't a clue what I am talking about because the empire is gone and replaced by a mongrel community called the EU. How very dull.

Before we go on, listen for yourself-- This was the signature tune and voice of all things final and worth knowing about the world.

Some listeners were British civil servants stationed in the Empire in distant places where they ruled an area the size of Texas with maybe twenty British soldiers and clerks. These people lead a lonely existence, for they seldom saw any other Anglo-Saxons for months at a time.


They would never think of coming down to the level of an ordinary Australian or American if they were back with their Oxford set in the UK, but being "in the bush," they welcomed anyone from civilization eagerly. Entertainment would be offered, and it was grossly rude to decline to stay at least overnight. All the formal teas, tiffins, and a five course meal would be included, as well as the help of house boys in the guest house to run the bath water and bring morning tea in bed.


But, one ritual was always anticipated above every other. After the evening meal, everyone retired to the "sitting room" of the presiding official or the guest house. Coffee would be served, and possibly special cheese and crackers. Then, everyone would sit down, the short-wave radio was turned on and tuned to the BBC call sign, and silence fell as the announcer spoke, "This is London," and the bagpipes played the theme music. As the six blips sounded, some would quietly reset their watches, for this was the world's official time- Greenwich, England, Anglo-Saxon time.


Any of you who were missionaries in the past era will recall that we all did the same thing, as an absolutely essential end to the day, in the living room of the mission guest house in the central city, or out sitting under the fly of a tent in the bush.


I have often wondered what those early era African workers thought of this ritual. Some may have thought the missionary or British Sahib was listening to his gods. But, by the 1960s any civilized educated African and Indian had joined in. Indeed, many Africans in the bush and Indians in the Hill Country knew more about world affairs than the average American.


After the news, and the radio was switched off, there would be a lengthy discussion of the news and how it would affect life in the world. There were clues as to how reliable a news item was.


"From our correspondent in South Africa...." would be followed by a (sometimes live) quote from the correspondent. That was pure gold.


"Our correspondent reports that....." meant it was about 90% certain to be true.


"Reliable sources tell us that......" meant it was pretty sure news, but we better see what happens tomorrow.


"It has been reported that......." meant that it was pretty much a semi-reliable bit of international gossip and not something to count on too heavily.


What was dreaded was to hear: "We interrupt this program to bring you the following announcement...." To a District Officer in Gaita, Tanzania, or a magistrate in Madras, even to an African headmaster in Nigeria, those words chilled the bones. What followed was the death of the King, or a war had started, etc. Everyone held their breath and it was silent as a morgue in the sitting room.


British Empire civil servants, and missionaries, were people of the world, not just the nation they worked in. This is something the average Englishman and American today cannot understand. I find it a bit lonely as I am getting older, for I miss people who can talk about the world and not just the stupid Democrats or some famous quarterback.


I hope you will use this blog to amuse me a bit, and leave comments for your friends and children who don't have our memories.


After the BBC news and a lively discussion, some elder missionary would read the evening page for that date from the Daily Light, and prayer followed. In some lonely hill station in northern India, the visiting Anglican vicar was asked to read and pray. 


Often, prayer went around the world because some news item made it very clear that missionaries, empire officials, or expatriates in some other corner of the globe were in trouble due to political unrest or some horrible weather event. Again, I miss having people around me who pray outside their little box, but who pray with full consciousness of the urgency of some need far away. I am not talking about that classic prayer, "God bless all the missionaries in the world."


The BBC was much more useful than the US version, the Voice of America. The VOA was classically a propaganda tool. The BBC, unlike today, was totally unaffected by politics. The staff at the BBC were fired if they got a divorce. They were to be absolutely proper all the time, at work and off duty. They spoke perfect Oxford English, and you could tell an African who learned English listening to the BBC English lessons. You could detect the Oxford pronunciations. The BBC today is not remotely close to the BBC or the 1950s professionally, and they are a propaganda tool for the British left all the way.


And, the rotters have dropped shortwave service to North America. Pray tell, where do they think we went. The only way I can pick up the BBC in Texas is to come round from the other side, which is a rare event with the ionosphere. It is just not the same to get the BBC on the internet. No static-- it just ain't right folks.


Also, long ago, the British Foreign Office used the BBC to inform all British subjects of what to do in an emergency. The Voice of America never did this because the US State Department were notorious for not informing Americans overseas of what was good for their health.


If the BBC news announcer said, "British subjects in Bombay are being told to avoid all unnecessary travel during the crisis........," that was the official instructions to British missionaries and government officials. It also meant, start thinking about where to go if the next night the news announcer says, "British subjects are being advised to move to points of departure and prepare to leave the country........" No other message need be sent from the British Embassy in the country. You had your orders to clear out at once.


We Americans listened to the news just as thoughtfully as our British friends, for the BBC was all the help we might get from the outside world. We basically did what our British friends did.


And, if you were up late, you heard the sign off.






IN DEFENSE OF THE VOICE OF AMERICA


There was one program we just had to listen to from the Voice of America though, at least us boys in the dorm who had short-wave radios-- Willis Conover and the Jazz Hour. It is said that when Willis Conover traveled to other nations around the world, he drew larger crowds at the airport than kings and presidents. No one around the world knew what he looked like, but if they heard him talking in a hotel or restaurant in Hong Kong or Singapore, someone would come up and ask, "Are you Willis Conover?"


You must hear him for yourself:


Every jazz program announcer in America during that era honed his voice to mimic Willis Conover. Also, there are many observers of recent American history that claim Willis Conover made more friends for America than any other single man. His show was almost never jammed by the Societ jamming stations.


You doubt that, don't you? Well, here is a RUSSIAN tribute concert to Willis Conover.
Tell me, what President or Prime Minister has had his very own tribute concert?


Don't you love those KGB looking boys playing the trumpet and sax, and Kruschev's little brother on the piano. I love it. They cannot get along with us, and they cannot get along without us. Makes you feel good to be an American in an age when we are blamed for all the world's ills.


Conover benefit in Poland


By the way, Vladamir Putin rides a big motorcycle-- a "Hog,"-- a Harley Davidson. Stay tuned folks for the next invasion by America into Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. It will be lead by Time Warner I would think, or maybe Wal-Mart.


The "A Train" sure got around the world.


So, America made its mark, but after the Jazz Hour, it was still the BBC that everyone on earth wanted to hear to get the unadulterated news. There used to be two things that said "British Empire"-- the BBC and the Rock or Gibralter. I sympathize with you folks in the UK. Times are not the same.






HERE ARE THE PECULIAR LYRICS TO THE BBC SIGNATURE TUNE:


Lillibullero


The Protestant Boys


The strange thing is that both tunes are based in resentment for British rule in the United Kingdom. I have not yet figured out why the tune was chosen by the BBC.