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Can you imagine living in a world where you are unable to hear, let alone see, the news before six o’clock in the evening?  A world in which before 6 p.m. your only information as to what was happening, at home or abroad, came from the pages of a newspaper? Well this was the situation just prior to the outbreak of the World War 2, when Six p.m. was the earliest time that the BBC were allowed to broadcast the news under an agreement with the Newspaper Proprietors Association. It was also an era during which the BBC faced no competition from commercial radio, nor its own fledgling television service. In any event who an earth would want to watch news?

When it was time for the radio to reveal all, a man would enunciate, in perfect, received English, that immortal phrase – “Here is the news”. It was said in such a way as to verify that there really was nowhere else, other than on BBC, where the news could be heard. The facts that followed, devoid of the type of comment that constitutes much of our news today, would be delivered in a style of language that has become known throughout the world as ‘BBC pronunciation’. A form of speech that would be recognised, with the advent of war and the growth in the BBC’s global service, as – “the voice of freedom”.

When the war began the BBC had no more of a clue than anyone else, as to how the war would progress, how long it would last – other than it would probably be long - nor what would be its outcome. They had to adapt to changing circumstances against pressures that ranged from the cultural to the technical, both on a personal level and a global scale. In particular the expansion of the war into far flung corners of the world created enormous demands on the broadcaster, and in particular a growing exigency for correspondents the longer the war went on. Throughout it all the BBC had to face criticism at home, attacks from the newspapers, carping from MPs and sometimes the wrath of its own listeners – but broadly speaking Britain and the World never lost faith with the BBC.

Between 1939 and 1945 radio reporters through their capacity for observation, remarkable journalistic skills and their way with words brought death, heroism, glory, and sadness into homes up and down the length of Britain, and across the world via the BBC’s worldwide transmissions. Of course it hadn’t happened in the Great War for one simple reason, the BBC, or any other radio station did not exist. Between the wars technology moved at an incredible pace changing almost everything much faster than anyone could have imagined. For politicians in Britain, and in the rest of the world, many of whom like Winston Churchill had gone into battle on horseback, the advent of the wireless had been a revelation, and not necessarily one that they were very comfortable with. Indeed Churchill never did feel totally at ease with radio, and he certainly loathed appearing before a camera. It is therefore somewhat ironic that Churchill’s broadcasts throughout the conflict performed myriad functions; most important of all, they helped win the war.

Today the BBC has a reputation that has been built upon their achievements during the Second World War. There have been some who have tried to bring the harsh glare of a revisionist’s spotlight on the work of the Corporation, theirs have been cheap shots and as often as not they have been misinformed. The BBC provided the soundtrack to six of the most turbulent years in Britain’s history, and did so while showing great resilience during the early years of the war under what were very difficult conditions. They did it with great skill, flair, imagination, dedication and tremendous tenacity, and they did it while never losing sight of their own imperative  - “To tell the truth – in war as in peace”

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Despite the fulminations of the free-marketeers, "Auntie" remains a huge presence in British public life, and radio remains its flagship service. Why? For Richard Havers, the BBC's status was largely built during the Second World War, its reputation for truthfulness the basis for the authority with which it advised, encouraged, admonished and entertained us. Along with the war on Europe's battlefields, this absorbing study shows there was also a war in the air-waves, a conflict the BBC did much to win.

The Scotsman 12 November 2007