R e v i e w •
f o r t h e B lu e
RUSSIA
Hate campaigns were in full swing on
both Russian and German sides as Sta
lin wrote : “It is imposible to defeat the
enemy without learning to hate him with
all our soul,’' and the Germans raised
fresh cases of alleged ill-treatment of
German prisoners by the British. The
Germans threatened to take reprisals
against any United Nations' prisoners
for ill-treatment by any army. At the
same time the British Government pro
tested against a German report that Bri
tish prisoners had been burnt during an
R.A.F. raid on Kiel. Protest was based
on the keeping of prisoners near a mili
tary objective. German move was taken
as possible blackmail to stop R.A.F.
raids.
The Germans pushed the Russians
back out of one block of worker's flats
in Stalingrad but made little or no prog
ress elsewhere.
While the Russian government called
for the immediate trial of Hess, Frau
Hess applied to the International Red
Cross for permission to join her husband.
MALTA
Total bag in the Luftwaffe’s latest at
tempt to subdue Malta came to 114 pla
nes. Most of them were brought down by
Spitfires.
SOLOMONS
Little news came though of the Japa
nese full-scale attempt to re-take the So
lomon islands, but it quickly became ap
parent tnat Japanese warships and mer
chant vessels were taking a pounding
from the U.S. air force. Earliest messa
ges reported loss of six Japanese war
ships including one heavy cruiser as
against one American destroyer. The
situation was described by the Ameri
cans as “serious” but Admiral Chester
Nimitz, C.-in-C. U.S. Pacific Fleet
thought that the Japs would be dealt
with.
LIBERIA
American troops landed in the inde-
pendtnt Republic of Liberia, last strong
hold of the Germans in the last war. Li-
oeria lies about 700 miles south of Da
kar, is on the shipping route to South
Africa.
• Here is the story- specially told for "Crusader" by j
! Captain Peter Haddon. of how the popular radio !
! "Message Home" feature began, and how it has deve- I
• loped. Don't forget you still have until October 30th. to ]
| submit your entries for our Broadcast Home competition. I
I remember the morning I was sent for down on leave fi;om the Western Desert,
by the General Manager of Egyptian State sending cables home. I went over and
Broadcasting, and as I entered his office, he joined them and wrote out the following
said, "Oh Peter, theres a cable in from the text :
B.B.C., and they want us to give every
facility to a new Programme that Sandy T o th e British B roadcasting C orporation
MacPherson is starting. London. M acpherson program m e ex cellen t
Apparently he is going to arrange for stop. M ay th e M iddle East F orces d o a si-
the wives and mothers of the boys out here milar program m e hom e.
to send messages and to play whatever
happens to be their favourite tune on the And shortly afterwards the reply came
organ. W hat do you think back :
of the idea ? And I know I S end us a trial program m e
replied, W ell, candidly... it # o f tw entu minutes.
savours to me of stunting. 1 . . . , ,
However if the B.B.C. want \ k \ Tha‘ tn, al Pr°9ramme took
it... w ell have to do it." \ U S * V .P mor(! of . m> ’ b . me t th*n .anfy '
«thing else 1 had tackled for
And a few weeks later, . lyears. I realised how much
found myself in Number Two /38E\"^to£ ^^depended on it. For one thing
Studio at E.S.B. listening to I < — /j 'N MacPherson had an organ. I
the first Message Program- j f I / \ hadn't... and even if I had, I
me that MacPherson sent over. p . <«r?f*'ws ' , / couldn’t play the perishing
and within five minutes I was l \ y r g f r . j r ' thing. So what? Altogether I
knocked sideways and made \ | I j drafted out well over twenty
to feel more than a little bit \1 \ J different programmes, and as
ashamed at my original re- V I finished, one I hurled it into
action to the suggestion of a d V , the waste paper basket and
Message Programme. e c' J on started another.
It was from a wife to her husband. She The day came when I got the idea to call
talked of making ends meet while her man town from where a fellow came, and
was away, and she talked of the children's ^us gain everybody s interest,
boots and shoes and other important items W e sent our first Programme over to
in a family budget. She spoke so simply England on 18th December. 1940. and des
and so sincerely that I felt a queer tighten- pite the fact that the offensive had started
ing in the muscles of - t b f-" in Libya. General
my throat, then final Jk W avcil came alor„
ly she said But to the Studio and
don t worry. Bill f - watched the who e
dear, they'll be al! ¦ r show from start to
right and look' finish. The
after them for you was equally cncour-
and keep the home | H k -A aging the other
going till you get ¦ j e n < ^ ' ^ or within twel-
b a c k. Goodnight ve hours of the
Bill...I love you... , JrQ f J r * J i Programme having
God bless you." I ’ f Jffi H been received in
I didn't wait to hear I i i / m j W London, a cable ar-
any more. I left the f J jK V » rived from the
studio and walked Jm JHRyLjy Y ' f B.B.C. saying
downstairs into the h W ell p la yed take
main hall of Radio ~ ~ 1 half an hour a fort-
House where there * night starting first
were a lot of chaps, (S tory continued on P a ge 2) January.