Radio Londres
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Radio Londres'' (, French for "Radio London") was a
radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
broadcast from 1940 to 1944 by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to
Nazi-occupied France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...
. It was entirely in French and was operated by the
Free French Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...
who had escaped from occupied France. It served not only to counter the propaganda broadcasts of German-controlled ''
Radio Paris Radio Paris was a French radio broadcasting company best known for its Axis propaganda broadcasts in Vichy France during World War II. Radio Paris evolved from the first private radio station in France, called Radiola, founded by pioneering Fren ...
'' and the
Vichy government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...
's '' Radiodiffusion Nationale'', but also to appeal to the French to rise up, as well as being used to send coded messages to the
French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
.


Origin and purpose

In 1940, the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
opened its studio to the first members of the resistance who fled France's occupation by Germany. Radio Londres was born and would become the daily appointment of the French people for four years. It opened its transmission with : "''Ici Londres ! Les Français parlent aux Français...''" ("This is London! The French speak to the French..."), now a very famous quote in France. It was the voice of
Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...
under
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
, who, on 18 June 1940, made his famous
Appeal of 18 June The Appeal of 18 June () was the first speech made by Charles de Gaulle after his arrival in London in 1940 following the Battle of France. Broadcast to France by the radio services of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is often cons ...
, inviting his compatriots to resist and rise against the occupation. By means of broadcasts from Britain, the
French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
found a voice that could be heard on the continent, serving to counter the
Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...
broadcasts of
Radio Paris Radio Paris was a French radio broadcasting company best known for its Axis propaganda broadcasts in Vichy France during World War II. Radio Paris evolved from the first private radio station in France, called Radiola, founded by pioneering Fren ...
and Radio-Vichy. Realising the negative effect that it had on their occupation, the Germans quickly prohibited listening to Radio Londres. Radio Londres also encouraged rising up against the occupation, including De Gaulle's calls to empty the streets of Paris for one hour, demonstrations, and the preparation of
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
, or the V for Victory campaign, involving drawing a
V sign The ''V'' sign is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a ''V'' shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented. When dis ...
on walls as an act of subversion. It also sent coded messages to the French resistance (see below). Breaking with the formal style of the French radio stations, some young announcers ( Jacques Duchesne, Jean Oberlé, Pierre Bourdan,
Maurice Schumann Maurice Schumann (; 10 April 1911 – 9 February 1998) was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the Second World War who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (France), Minister of Foreign Affairs under Georges Pompidou from 22 J ...
and Pierre Dac) changed the tone with personal messages, sketches, songs, jokes and comic advertising.


Coded messages

Georges Bégué, an operative with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) had the idea of sending seemingly obscure personal messages to agents in the field, in order to reduce risky radio traffic. Broadcasts would begin with "Before we begin, please listen to some personal messages." It was clear to nearly everyone that they were coded messages, often amusing, and completely without context. Representative messages include "Jean has a long moustache" and "There is a fire at the insurance agency", each one having some meaning to a certain resistance group. They were used primarily to provide messages to the resistance, but also to thank their agents or simply to give the enemy the impression that something was being prepared. Because these messages were in
code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...
, not
cipher In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...
, the occupiers could not hope to understand them without a codebook, so they had to focus their efforts on jamming the messages instead. From the beginning of June 1944, the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
inundated the network with messages. On 1 June alone, over 200 messages were sent, making it clear to those listening that something was in the works. Although in some places the
Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...
jamming was more effective than others, the
background noise Background noise or ambient noise is any sound other than the sound being monitored (primary sound). Background noise is a form of noise pollution or interference. Background noise is an important concept in setting noise levels. Background no ...
and static were not enough to drown out the sound of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, the first four notes of which correspond to the of the
Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...
letter V for Victory. Shortly before the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944, ''Radio Londres'' broadcast the first
stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...
of
Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...
's poem "''
Chanson d'automne "Chanson d'automne" ("Autumn Song") is a poem by Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), one of the best known in the French language. It is included in Verlaine's first collection, ''Poèmes saturniens'', published in 1866 (see 1866 in poetry). The poem ...
''" to let the resistance know that the invasion was imminent. The first part of the stanza, ''Les sanglots longs des violons de l’automne'' ("the long sobs of the violins of autumn") indicated that the invasion would begin within 24 hours; the second, ''Blessent mon cœur d'une langueur monotone'' ("wound my heart with a monotonous languor") was the specific call to action. By late 1944, Allied victory in France meant the end of Radio Londres.


See also

*
German occupation of France during World War II The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...
*
French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
*
Liberation of France The liberation of France () in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany in ...
*'' Radio Belgique'' *'' Radio Londra'' * Verlaine Message Museum


References

* "Radio Londres : Les voix de la liberté (1940–1944)" by Aurélie Luneau, Librairie Académique Perrin edition,


External links

* *
Internet Archive: Brassey's D-Day Encyclopedia: The Normandy Invasion A-Z. By Barrett Tillman p.52."> Internet Archive: Brassey's D-Day Encyclopedia: The Normandy Invasion A-Z. By Barrett Tillman p.52.
* *
"''Les Français parlent aux Français''" sur ''Chemins de mémoire''
*
Ici Londres - Les messages personnels de la BBC
*
Radio France - Inauguration de l'Espace Radio Londres
(Announcement of conversion of the spaces into a museum) *

* Aurélie Luneau, ''Radio Londres - 1940-1944 - Les voix de la liberté'', éd. Librairie Académique Perrin, 2005, 349p.. and


Audio clips


ArchivesRadio

Sobbing violins of autumn

''The Longest Day''
{{Authority control Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom BBC World Service foreign language stations French Resistance History of telecommunications in France Operation Overlord Radio during World War II Radio stations established in 1940 1940 establishments in England 1944 disestablishments in England Special Operations Executive France–United Kingdom relations Radio stations disestablished in 1944 Defunct radio stations in France Free France