About: Radio Londra

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Radio London (in Italian Radio Londra) was the name used in Italy for the radio broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), starting from 27 September 1938, aimed at the populations of German-dominated continental Europe. The idea may have come from the Italians themselves, as the Arabic-language broadcasts received from Radio Bari in southern Italy were very popular in the Middle East and North Africa, where British and French influence was predominant and where they soon acquired an attentive and interested audience in the local upper middle class.

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  • Radio London (in Italian Radio Londra) was the name used in Italy for the radio broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), starting from 27 September 1938, aimed at the populations of German-dominated continental Europe. The idea may have come from the Italians themselves, as the Arabic-language broadcasts received from Radio Bari in southern Italy were very popular in the Middle East and North Africa, where British and French influence was predominant and where they soon acquired an attentive and interested audience in the local upper middle class. The BBC's Italian-language broadcasts began with the Munich crisis. With the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, Radio London's broadcasts increased, reaching 4.15 hours in 1943. The success of Radio London's broadcasts was because the British War Office, instead of managing their propaganda broadcasts directly, had entrusted them to a self-governing body, the BBC, which was already well known for its independent journalistic style, with news kept separate from comments. Radio London's editorial staff became famous for their timeliness in transmitting information around the world, with a direct and pragmatic, typically British style. The BBC Italian Service was marked by the charismatic personality of Harold Stevens - famous in Italy as Colonnello Buonasera (in English Colonel Good Evening) - a British military officer who had lived in Rome and who, through his calm and reasonable comments, very different from Fascist rhetoric, conveyed a sense of serenity and hope in the future. "Candidus" (the pseudonym of ) was another charismatic figure of Radio London, who, with his relentless dialectical skills, contrasted the attempts of Nazi-Fascist propaganda to distort the reality and seriousness of the situation. Radio London's role in the war also became crucial in sending special messages, drafted by the Allied High Command, for Italian resistance groups. Radio London's broadcasts were opened by the first notes of Beethoven's 5th Symphony (probably because they represented the letter "V" in Morse code, which evoked the idea of "V" for "Victory", also strongly associated with the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill). The BBC continued its broadcasts in Italian with a nightly programme called L'Ora di Londra (London's Hour) until 31 December 1981, when it was cut, despite the protests of many listeners. At least one hundred thousand Italians had apparently retained the habit of listening to the BBC until then. (en)
  • Radio Londra era l'insieme dei programmi radiofonici trasmessi, a partire dal 27 settembre 1938, dalla BBC e indirizzati alle popolazioni europee continentali. Le trasmissioni in lingua italiana della BBC iniziarono con la crisi di Monaco. Con lo scoppio delle ostilità, nel 1939, Radio Londra aumentò le trasmissioni in italiano fino ad arrivare a 4,15 ore nel 1943. La fortuna delle trasmissioni di Radio Londra derivò dal fatto che il Ministro della Guerra britannico Leslie Hore-Belisha del governo di Neville Chamberlain, anziché gestire in proprio le trasmissioni di propaganda, le aveva affidate ad un ente autonomo, la BBC, già allora fiera della propria indipendenza dal potere politico. La redazione di Radio Londra diventò famosa per la sua tempestività nel trasmettere informazioni nel mondo, con il suo tipico stile inglese, diretto e pragmatico. Nel Servizio Italiano si impone la carismatica figura del Colonnello Harold Stevens – il famoso "Colonnello Buonasera" – che, grazie ai suoi commenti pacati e ragionevoli, trasmetteva un senso di serenità e speranza nel futuro. Stevens era stato addetto militare a Roma, il suo italiano aveva l'accento britannico, misto a una rassicurante inflessione napoletana. Altra figura carismatica si rivelò Candidus (pseudonimo di John Marus), che, con la sua dialettica contrastava la propaganda nazi-fascista. Per Radio Londra lavorò dal 1940 anche Thomas Mann, che registrava i suoi messaggi nell'esilio in California. Il ruolo in guerra di Radio Londra divenne cruciale nello spedire messaggi in codice, redatti dagli Alti comandi alleati e destinati alle unità della resistenza italiana. Le trasmissioni in italiano di Radio Londra erano aperte dalle prime note della 5ª Sinfonia di Beethoven (molto probabilmente perché codificavano - scandite secondo l'alfabeto Morse - la lettera "V", iniziale di "Victory", sempre ripetuto da W. Churchill). La BBC continuò a trasmettere in italiano L'Ora di Londra ogni sera fino al 31 dicembre 1981, quando il programma fu chiuso nonostante le proteste di numerosi ascoltatori.Le ultime trasmissioni andavano in onda dalle 22.00 alle 23.00 (23.00-24.00 quando vigeva in Italia l'ora legale) sulle onde medie di m 251 (1196 kHz) e nei campi d'onda corta di m 31 (9,915 MHz), m 49 (5,99 MHz) e m 75 (3,975 MHz). Pare che almeno centomila italiani avessero conservato l'abitudine di ascoltare la BBC fino ad allora. (it)
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  • Radio London (in Italian Radio Londra) was the name used in Italy for the radio broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), starting from 27 September 1938, aimed at the populations of German-dominated continental Europe. The idea may have come from the Italians themselves, as the Arabic-language broadcasts received from Radio Bari in southern Italy were very popular in the Middle East and North Africa, where British and French influence was predominant and where they soon acquired an attentive and interested audience in the local upper middle class. (en)
  • Radio Londra era l'insieme dei programmi radiofonici trasmessi, a partire dal 27 settembre 1938, dalla BBC e indirizzati alle popolazioni europee continentali. Le trasmissioni in lingua italiana della BBC iniziarono con la crisi di Monaco. Con lo scoppio delle ostilità, nel 1939, Radio Londra aumentò le trasmissioni in italiano fino ad arrivare a 4,15 ore nel 1943. (it)
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  • Radio Londra (it)
  • Radio Londra (en)
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