Washington Evening Star, Sept 1, 1939.

Today marks the 85th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, with Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Within days, Britain and France had declared war.

The outbreak of war meant that the BBC put into place a pre-arranged program to prevent its transmitters from being used by enemy aircraft for direction finding. All broadcasting was moved to two frequencies. Synchronized transmitters throughout the country transmitted simultaneously on those frequencies. During an air raid warning in one portion of the country, transmitters in that area would cease. But since other transmitters were still in operation, the listener would continue to hear the program, with only a modest loss of signal strength. Later in the war, another frequency, 1474 kHz, was added, with low-powered transmitters.

Immediately prior to the War, the BBC’s domestic programs were broadcast on the frequencies, shown at left, as shown in the September 1, 1939, issue of Radio Times:

This consisted of a national program on 200 kHz longwave, and 1149 kHz mediumwave, as well as several regional programs. The following issue, dated September 4, entitled “Broadcasting Carries On,” highlighted the changes.  The regional programs were suspended, and a single national program, called the Home Service, covered the whole nation.

The new Home Service would be on the air on 767 (North) and 668 kHz (South), starting at 7:00 AM until 12:15 AM. If important news warranted, there would be broadcasts at 1:00, 3:00, and 5:00 AM. Regional broadcasts were replaced with announcements for the respective regions. London and Scotland announcements would be at 6:15 PM, Welsh and Western announcements at 7:00 PM, Northern announcements at 7:45, and Midland and Northern Ireland at 10:45 PM.

The 200 kHz longwave signal went off the air, although it came back later for foreign broadcasts.  The BBC’s television station in London also went dark for the duration of the War.  You can read more of this history at the BBC website.

Eighty years ago this month, the cover of the August 1944 issue of Radio Mirror featured singer Jeri Sullavan, who, according to the magazine, was known by GI’s as the girl with the pin-up voice.

She was born in Jersey City, NJ, but the family moved to Bremerton, WA, when she was in her teens. Her first singing job was at a Bremerton ballroom, which paid $1.50 per evening, but she was discovered in San Francisco when some friends asked her to sing with the Bernie Cummins band, and she sang “I’ll Never Smile Again.” Her start in radio came on WSM in Nashville, and at the time of publication, she was a regular on CBS. She was in demand as a performer at camps and canteens. According to the magazine, she lived alone in an apartment two blocks from the studio with her four dogs.

Eighty years ago, this New Jersey war worker was doing her part to assemble a 2-1/2 kilowatt transmitter for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Her factory, Press Wireless, made these large transmitters, which were too large for mass production. Each unit was put together by hand, and the guiding principle was to make them rugged. The photo appeared in the August 1944 issue of Radio News.