BBC Radio Europe

Wing Commander James Sutton DFC, was given a position in the BBC shortly after the war in July 1946. He had been a bomber pilot and saw first hand much of the destruction of Europe. Perhaps his part in the destruction of the many of the beautiful cities was behind his innovative idea. He said that it was when he kept seeing the slogan ‘Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation‘ over the entrance doorway to the BBC in Portland Place, that he had his vision for a new radio station.

Up until then the Home Service, Third Programme and the Light Programme had been the main stream radio stations. James Sutton proposed the a new radio station take to the air called ‘BBC Free Radio in Europe‘.

The then time Controller liked the concept and a working group was formed within the BBC. After a summer of deliberation in which some promising ideas around farming and fisheries, culture and entertainment, religious affairs, re-uniting families lost during the war and human interest stories from across Europe. Eventually it was the reality of not being able to fund such an ambitious project that stopped further progression.

But in the mid 1960’s another Controller read about the project and believed it was right for the times. There was then a great deal of discussion about the Common Market and whether the UK should join it.

Money was found by cutting some of the more expensive programmes in the World Service under whose direction the new station would be formed. It was to be called BBC Radio Europe with the mission statement;

Bringing Europe together.

There was certainly no shortage of material and quickly a broad menu of programmes was formed. Most well known was the Comedy Hour on Sundays with stars such as Franky Howard and Tony Hancock delivering humour that it was expected Europeans would understand. They did, and quickly the rather saucy, dry and clever wit of the writers adapted their material around European interest.

In Your Garden was to become another staple for European listeners. Presenters would visit well known and less well known gardens and interview gardeners there. A small part of the garden would be focussed on in great detail so that listeners might recreate the ideas and enjoy new planting techniques and garden design.

The list of successful programmes is too long to describe here but the point can be made of how the formation of BBC Radio Europe put it’s finger on the pulse of public opinions, needs and hopes. Where distrust and envy had been barriers to peace before the war, in some small way, BBC Radio Europe enabled all people whatever their culture and geographical background in Europe, to see over the fence and enjoy the company of neighbours.

There is always a slightly darker side as in all new ventures. MI6 were rumoured to have one time requested the ‘time signal pips’ be encoded with secret messages. Some boffin had worked out a way to compress a long string of Morse code into a single beep. Replayed slowly, the pip could be read and British agents across Europe instructed and informed.

The Controller put a complete ban on this idea, claiming it interfered with the principle of the BBC being detached in every way from Government. He was concerned, rightly, that should this technique be discovered the whole integrity of the radio station and perhaps even the BBC’s charter, would be compromised.

As the decades passed into the 90’s and 00’s, BBC Radio Europe became a progressive and instructive voice across the falling boundaries of Europe. Greater emphasis was placed on language skills and building on a common language such as English to bring people together. A spotlight was placed in programme schedules on the one time Soviet Union satellite countries such as Poland, Ukraine and Hungary as well as the minor Baltic States. BBC Radio Europe was believed to have provided valuable support to the people of Germany both prior and after unification of East and West. Families were re-united, reliable breaking news stories broadcast, new political directions for democrats of all parties, were all given a platform to speak.

Combined with the growth of the internet and the world wide web, BBC Radio Europe became a stronger voice then ever before. Many of the programmes were made available on the internet and to download although at first the choice was limited, soon the possibilities expanded into the ‘I-Player’ and ‘Sounds’, we know today.

At one time an ‘European Radio Licence’ scheme was discussed in the European Parliament. The proposal was to evolve BBC Radio Europe into a station controlled independently of all parliaments through subscription, on the lines of the BBC Charter. It would be based in central Europe, maybe somewhere like Lichtenstein, where it would continue to evolve independently and without prejudice towards one way of thinking or another.

The BBC were initially in agreement and indeed a trailblazer for what was in effect a new and very promising income source. The lessons of ‘missing the boat’ over the Pirate Radio evolution in the 1960’s had been learned. This time the BBC wanted to be on the side of the pirates, and rightly so for there was known to be another gathering storm of Nationalism within Europe and across the world.

The continued independence of radio programming was what killed the idea in the end. There was a growing feeling in the management of the BBC that BBC Radio Europe would become a monster which no one could control. They were thinking of right wing influences and quasi government organisations, infiltrating and gaining control of news content and programme scheduling.

Then came the nail that closed the lid on the coffin of BBC Radio Europe. From within the BBC strong right wing influences guided programme controllers and presenters into an agenda of patriotism or perhaps better named nationalism. Forward looking thinkers who had brought BBC Radio Europe into centre stage of ‘fairness and reasonableness’ were replaced by figures looking back to Britain’s Imperial past. This despite the fact that much of Britain’s prosperity is known to have been forged on the back’s of the poor of the so-called third world.

In this new world where borders are once again drawn with the steel pen of walls and border posts, the voice of BBC Europe has failed in it’s once optimistic vision.

BBC Europe will cease to broadcast on the day that the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. This will undoubtedly be a sad day for all citizens, not only of the UK but for the whole of Europe. Peace was bought at a high price in Europe. Radio Stations, you would like to think, are worth more than a sudden closure, after it’s long service to the freedom of the citizens of Europe.

All the above is entirely fictitious. There never was a BBC Radio Europe. Perhaps if their had been and many similar European combined enterprises based on communication and understanding, Europe and the World would be in a better place today.