- Contributed by听
- katherinep
- People in story:听
- Derek Prentice
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A2114867
- Contributed on:听
- 07 December 2003
From Katherine Prentice
My husband, Derek Prentice, was a news reader for the 大象传媒 World Service during the Second World War. He was on duty when the time-bomb entered Broadcasting House.
Warned by the firemen to leave his studio on the fourth floor, he went down to the emergency studio in the basement. As he got out of the lift the bomb went off.
Bruce Belfrage was reading the nine o鈥檆lock Home Service news at the time, but he did not hesitate and went on broadcasting as if nothing had happened. When Derek went up to his studio later he could not get in the door. The room was a mass of concrete. Sadly the fireman and some of the monitors were killed.
Derek often had to walk from Victoria Station during a raid, as all the buses stopped running.
From 1940, millions of people all over the world listened to his voice, with the news good and bad, beginning with 'This is London Calling'. His fan mail was enormous and listeners sent food parcels (greatly appreciated by his family) from the United States, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, India and Mauritius. These were shared with other members of the staff.
After Broadcasting House was bombed, the Overseas Service operated from Abbey Manor in Evesham and later from Aldenham.
News of the D-Day landings in 1944 was put out by the Overseas Service when the 大象传媒 was linked up to the USA network. Derek was told he must have had 100 million listeners - at the time the greatest radio audience in history.
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