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Are you old enough to remember Second World War radio classics such as ITMA? Do you recall listening to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ during the blackout? Tell us what you liked or disliked about broadcasting in wartime? Has the ´óÏó´«Ã½ helped you through times of war, whenever and wherever in the world you have encountered conflict? Let us have your comments, thoughts and ideas.

Your memories

I miss Red dwarf, but ´óÏó´«Ã½3 returning was cool!

Char, Stockport

During WW2 when I was five or six I used to listen to the programme “Mighty Fine". It had a Western flavour. I have no trace of the programme. In fact, I have begun to wonder if it even existed.

Michael Hewes, Quebec, Canada

My family always talked about the radio as a constant and important connection to the world in the Second World War and as someone who grew up in the 1950s, in the shadow of the war, I didn’t expect my country to be involved in war ever again. (I was too young to understand Suez, which was, after all only a 'crisis') I have never forgotten listening to the radio in 1982 while feeding my one year old son in his high chair. The explosions were part of a report on the sinking of the Belgrano and my son asked "What’s that mummy?" and how profoundly sad, angry, ashamed and distressed I felt that violence and death were still perpetrated, in our name, where peaceful solutions may well have been possible, and mothers somewhere will lose their sons until we learn to use our minds and words to resolve conflicts instead of weapons which make a few people very rich.

Viv Thom, Sheffield

My Grandad bought back a piece of the Dunkirk jetty. It's in the Palace of Westminster but does not have his name on it. Its a shame as we have all been told about it as a family. My Grandad was a stretcher bearer on the beach. He was terrified. As the queues of wounded grew shorter he and a friend decided to stay on board a departing boat. They were both ordered off at gunpoint. They made it back home but Grandad was hospitalised three times in Sheffield Hospital for shell shock. He became callous and a bully, probably due to the war. He spent many years selling poppies in all weather for the British Legion. My sister has an autograph book signed by some of the Old Contemptibles and were friends of my Grandad.

Sonia O'Reilly, Leicestershire

We were marching into Osnabruck during the late evening and through a torrential rainstorm. Our commanding officer ordered us, as we reached the railway yard, to get under the train - head to toe- to get some sleep. We awoke in the morning to find the train gone and no one heard it move and no one was hurt. We were all shocked as there was a large number in our team. This is a memory my father used to tell me and it still amazes me.

Tricia Friar, Cheshire

A comment from Sigmund Baumoehl, a retired doctor living in Switzerland, passed on with his permission. He was born before the war in Slovakia. His Jewish family were in hiding but discovered, and he was liberated from Bergen-Belsen at he age of 7, having lost both his parents. He wrote to me two months ago: "In recent days the ´óÏó´«Ã½ celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. It was for me a very emotional event, because in WWII during our hiding my father was secretly listening to ´óÏó´«Ã½ at 8 pm. Later in my life I would have liked to know how his emotional state had been, especially after D-Day."

Alistair Hunter, Broadstairs

I was born in 1935 and I well remember Itma. My father was away quite a lot driving a big lorry taking supplies to different camps around the country and to the London docks so he was not around very much but when he was at home he would listen with us. I remember Mrs. Mop “can I do you now sir’ and colonel Chinstrap. One particular programme we always listened to on a Sunday at lunchtime was “Have a go’ and my brother and I used to giggle a lot when we heard the name Wilfred Pickles. There was a lady who played the piano on this programme, Violet Carson who later went on to play the part of Ena Sharples in Coronation Street. Another of my favourites was Valentine Dial in ‘Appointment with Fear’. I was a little older then and allowed to stay up later than usual to keep my mother company. Some of the stories were quite creepy but I loved them. We did listen to the radio quite a lot especially when the news came on and when I wasn’t at school, mother and I used to sing along to the songs we heard on ‘Workers Playtime’. It was always played at lunch time. Happy Days.

Maryrose Hine, Taunton, Somerset

I was eight living in London. My name initials are VJE. I was so proud I thought VE Day and VJ Day we’re named after me.

Victor J Elsey, Santa Barbara, California

Lived in Wimbledon 1934-1952. When 4 years old in 1938 I remember listening to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ every day, because my mother always listened to the News. I remember hearing how Hitler was preparing for war in Poland, and how Mr Chamberlain had a piece of paper signed by him & Hitler to show we would have 'peace in our time'. On 3 Sept 1939 I was staying in Bournemouth with Grandma and my 10 year old brother. We were in Queens Park, Bournemouth and a girl working for Grandma told us the PM had just declared war on Germany, so we had to come back to the house. In 1939, I saw a TV set in the shop window of J&F Stone Wireless Shop in Wimbledon Broadway. It was switched on so we could see the picture, but could not have the sound: we could have by going inside the shop. In 1946, I saw the boat race on our neighbour's TV. Dad couldn't afford one.

David Webb, Newmarket

Mum used to recall how living in York, working at Rowntrees making chocolates during the day and then during at night she would go home and see her parents sitting in the lounge listening to the Radio. York survived bad air raids in 1941. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ was a go-to point on information for the Israeli 7-day conflict and later the Falklands War. Radio headlines then were 'stern' and factual.

Philip Barnes, Hove

We listened to the radio as children during the war - news, entertainment and ‘Children's Hour’.We heard Winston Churchill and war correspondents. ‘Worker's Playtime’. General entertainment - music, plays, food news, recipes, health advice from the Radio Doctor. Listened to "Lord Haw-Haw" from Germany… Always for special national events - both radio and television – the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has the widest range of expertise.Declaration of WW2. El Alamein and Eighth Army. Major bombing raids. D-Day. Elections. Sporting events. Falklands. Iraqi War…

Barrie and Mollie Gooders, Brighton

I remember the war games element in the First Gulf War - both revolting & appealing. Also the sobering reporting from the Falklands. Simon Weston's face, burnt and then reconstructed.

Tom Ottway, Brighton

No television. As a child, listening to radio a lot, including hourly news. Remember ‘Variety Bandbox’, including Percy Edwards, Tubby Brown, Dereck Roy, Max Miller… Comedians Tommy Hanley (ITMA), Ted Ray… Avid listener of News bulletins. A few broadcasts by Churchill, Lord Haw Haw… Richard Dimbleby’s discovery of Belsen concentration camp… Falklands – ‘counted them all out, counted them all in.

Alan Dart, Hove

I was at Uni during the Gulf War & remember a fellow student watching it live. The coverage was quite shocking & involved on-board footage from the attacking aircraft. I also remember the headlines and M. Thatcher giving various updates. In terms of choosing the ´óÏó´«Ã½ - I guess I've always been drawn to the organisation for impartial reporting.

Al Mackintosh, Brighton

As a 4 year old child I was evacuated with both parents to Southbourne near Bournemouth. Radio was our crucial link with the world, and the 9pm news was more than essential listening. I was an avid listener to Children's Hour in particular, and later programmes like ITMA and Happidrome.

John Henty, Lewes

My grandparents shared many memories of the central part the 'wireless' played in their family. They were farmers, so none of them went to war. They stayed and worked on the land with their parents, and extended family. The wireless was on every meal time over a large, hearty breakfast after milking duties and farm chores in the morning. It was hugely respected, and the main source of connection for the family to the outside world. They relied heavily on it too, for information, which impacted their work and the wellbeing of the family as a whole. They enjoyed entertainment programmes to provide light relieve and there was never any question from them around integrity of reporting! My father however asked a lot of questions!

Ruth Price, Brighton

I am not old enough to have lived through World War Two but my Aunt tells me that everyone listened to the news on the radio every night. She said that nobody in her family ever questioned what the ´óÏó´«Ã½ reported. I remember the Falklands War and feeling at the time that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ reports were not telling the entire truth. Today, with other sources of information available such as Al Jazeera we can compare how different news broadcasters report on the same event. I still listen to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ news on the radio in the morning and at five but suplement it with other sources. I find that although (inevitably) the ´óÏó´«Ã½ does have biases it does not have an agenda like certain other broadcasters.

John Hughes, Brighton

 Hello ´óÏó´«Ã½ - my Grandfather; German Jewish émigré actor/broadcaster Carl-Heinz Jaffé (1902-74), having been a German Matinee idol during the 1920s-30s under Max Reinhardt and (evading the Gestapo) emigrated to England in 1936, was engaged by the ´óÏó´«Ã½ for wartime news-reading duties including secondment to the PID (Political Intelligence Dept) that included multi-lingual coded announcements to assist the allies in occupied Europe.

His (unpublished) autobiography cites several dramatic first-hand account examples. Post-war between 1945-72 Jaffé (seconded by then German station head and later ´óÏó´«Ã½ DG Sir Hugh Carleton-Greene) headed the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s German Service from Bush House with the renowned series 'Lernt Englisch Im Londoner Rundfunk' (Learn English on the London Radio) for over 3,000 programmes including 15-years with famed performer/linguist Anita Bild.

This was in addition to his concurrent c.60 feature films, +100 stage productions (including Pulitzer Prize winner, Ivor Novello's last musical, Royal Charity show for NSPCC) and c.90 TV appearances (including iconic shows e.g. Dad's Army + Anglo US series e.g. Charlie-Chan, Douglas Fairbanks/Buster Keaton) spanning a 6-decade entertainment career appearing with many A-list stars of the era.

Coco the Clown (Nicolai Poliakoff) was his Corporal during his WW2 Pioneer Corps enlistment in Devon where he ran the Army Theatre (raising WW2 funds), including working with famed Bletchley Park 'listener' Fritz Lustig who was also stationed there for a while.

Michael Jaffé

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