John Derrick Mordaunt Snagge (8 May 190425 March 1996) was a British newsreader and commentator on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

Life

Born in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, he was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and Pembroke College, Oxford, where he obtained a degree in law. He then joined the BBC, taking up the position of assistant director at Stoke-on-Trent's new relay station 6ST. He broadcast his first sports commentary (of a

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

versus Stoke City football match) in January 1927, after the BBC obtained the rights to cover major sporting events. In 1928, Snagge was transferred to

to work as one of the BBC's main announcers alongside Stuart Hibberd. From 1931 until 1980, he commentated on the annual Oxford-Cambridge

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

. He provided commentary for the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

of King George VI in 1937 and again in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. At the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Snagge was made the BBC's presentation director and delivered important radio announcements as the war unfolded. By the time of the D-Day landings in 1944, he was presenting the magazine programme '' War Report'' which featured regular news from the beaches of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. He announced that Allied Armies have started landing "on the northern coast of France" at 9.32 am on 6 June, but without giving the actual location (Normandy). In the early 1950s, Snagge played a role in negotiations that led to the radio comedy series ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

'' being commissioned by the BBC. He was also the subject of many running gags during the show, and provided many self-parodying announcements, usually recorded. He also featured as himself in the episode ''The Greenslade Story'', alongside regular announcer

Wallace Greenslade Wallace Frederick Powers Greenslade (1 July 1912 – 21 April 1961), also known as Bill Greenslade, was a BBC radio announcer and newsreader. He is best remembered for being the announcer—and frequently the straight man—for the BBC radio c ...

. He was a defender of the show against many efforts to cancel it, even to staking his career on it. Later, in the 1970s, he echoed his wartime role by appearing as the newsreader in the radio version of ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran fo ...

'', setting the scene at the beginning of each episode. He appeared as himself in the 1960 TV '' Hancock's Half Hour'' episode, 'The East Cheam Centenary', where he commentates on the street 'procession', from Hancock's bedroom at 23 Railway Cuttings. Snagge retired in 1965, but continued to provide commentaries for the Boat Race until 1980. The same year his wife Eileen died. Around this time he also appeared on

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

's Radio 1 show on Sunday mornings, a role subsequently taken up by Brian Perkins. When BBC Radio Stoke-on-Trent (now BBC Radio Stoke) was launched in 1968 Snagge introduced the new station by apologising for the break in transmission that had occurred on 30 October 1928, i.e. the close of 6ST, and that it was " due to circumstances beyond our control. Normal transmission has now been resumed". He voiced the commentary on the Sex Pistols track, Pistols Propaganda, which appeared on the B-side of their single (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone. The track is the soundtrack to the trailer for their film,

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' is a 1980 British mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas. It centres on the British punk rock band Sex Pistols and, most prominently, their manager Malcolm Mc ...

. During the 1949

University Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's a ...

Snagge's voice filled with excitement and he reported: "I can't see who's in the lead but it's either Oxford or Cambridge". He was the guardian of

Wally Hope Philip Alexander Grahame Russell (9 August 1947 — 3 September 1975), known as Wally Hope, was an experimental philosopher of the UK Underground and organiser of the Windsor Free Festival and the Stonehenge Free Festival. Biography Activities ...

, founder of the Stonehenge Free Festival, until his premature death in 1975. John Snagge died in Slough from

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

in 1996, aged 91.

Family

Snagge was the son of Sir Thomas Mordaunt Snagge (1868–1955), also known as Judge Mordaunt Snagge, knighted in 1931, and Gwendaline Rose Emily Colomb (1876–1966). His paternal grandfather was Sir Thomas William Snagge,

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

(1837–1914). His mother's father was the British naval strategist, Sir John Colomb,

(1838–1909). He was married twice: firstly, in 1936, to Eileen Mary Joscelyne (the daughter of Harry Percy Joscelyne). She died in 1980. He married, secondly, Joan Wilson in 1982. She predeceased him in 1992.The Independent: "Obituary: John Snagge", 28 MARCH 1996
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References

Sources

External links

* * at the Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
John Snagge announcing the D Day landings, 6 June 1944
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snagge, John 1904 births 1996 deaths British radio personalities British reporters and correspondents BBC newsreaders and journalists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from esophageal cancer People educated at Winchester College Articles containing video clips