Haw-Haw recordings on BBC Archive website!

[audiomagpie]

Thought some might find this of interest:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/hawhaw/index.shtml

He sounds 3 sheets to the wind if you ask me!

Greg

[OErjan_S]

bit of history there.

[dave walsh]

Maybe he was under some sort of influence? Very Interesting-thanks for flagging this up! I've never seen any evidence that the propaganda had any effect in England [in fact probally very much the opposite!]. Our secret weapon was that we could laugh at ourselves and others! Charles Hill opted for a re-education [rather than punishment] program in Berlin within the the defeated German State. Later he was DG of the BBC. This was a very British approach that justified what had been fought and died for! It's still hard to understand why we then executed an Irish citizen [as I understand it] for treason? It would have been much more effective to use him in the re-hab situation. Not cricket!
Dave W

[G8KBG Tony]

Thanks for the link.

Joyce had a complicated upbringing and life, summarised here

[Darren-UK]

Originally Posted by dave walsh

Maybe he was under some sort of influence?
Dave W

Towards the end, Joyce was often drunk at the microphone and the most well-known such broadcast was his final one.

Moving on, listening to "Germany Calling" was, interestingly, never illegal in this country but merely officially discouraged. Back in the days of a very stuffy BBC, tuning into Joyce was a 'not to be missed' event. People found it amusing, entertaining and to a degree truthful - at least during the early years.

One radio manufacturer (Burndept?) even used a slogan along the lines of "Don't miss Haw Haw" to boost sales of their receivers. There existed an irony wherein during the early days British people listened to Haw Haw to get some idea of what was going on then, towards the end of the war, the situation within Germany was so chaotic that disillusioned German officials secretly began listening to British transmissions for the same reason.

At this point it becomes extremely difficult to avoid bringing politics, on both sides, into discussion. It'd therefore be wise to stick to William Joyce himself, plus perhaps the German ProMi, whilst at the same time keeping politics, rights and wrongs etc., out of the discussion. Difficult it may well be, but let's do our best .

[russell_w_b]

Originally Posted by Darren-UK

At this point it becomes extremely difficult to avoid bringing politics, on both sides, into discussion. It'd therefore be wise to stick to William Joyce himself, plus perhaps the German ProMi, whilst at the same time keeping politics, rights and wrongs etc., out of the discussion. Difficult it may well be, but let's do our best .

Haw-Haw's wife was a Carlisle lass, from Denton Holme. There is a book called 'Hitler's Airwaves' about the Nazi radio propaganda movement, its broadcasters, transmitters and its effects on morale. With it comes a free CD containing some of Haw-Haw's broadcasts.

[wireful3]

I am not sure how many people took him seriously. I have a recollection of people being amused by glaring errors. Wigan Pier being an example. I suspect for many it set a measure of the accuracy of the broadcasts.

Near where I lived In Central Yorkshire, he reported serious damage to shipping at Drub Docks. This caused great hilarity. It was a region in the countryside where there might have been a stream but I am not even sure of that. Any shipping would have been limited to children's toy boats.

[russell_w_b]

Originally Posted by wireful3

I am not sure how many people took him seriously. I have a recollection of people being amused by glaring errors. Wigan Pier being an example. I suspect for many it set a measure of the accuracy of the broadcasts.

He was uncannily accurate on occasion: one broadcast he referred to people up in Cumberland, even mentioning the supposedly secret Satellite Landing Ground at Whinfell, near Penrith.

[dave walsh]

Re the Cumbria incident Russell, it is suggested that the apparent "inside knowledge" of this particular Lord Haw Haw [ie the Joyce version] is what made him more of a threat and hence his demise [when others survived]. This seems unlikely given the laughter! My point about Joyce sounding drunk was that, apart from a very strange family background, that could account for the voice, he might have needed a drink given his various disloyal acts. I'd no idea that he was used to sell radios in England Darren [it's both funny and deeply ironic]. Not heard that one before but it rather makes my point about the mindset on the home front, when in most European countries you couldn't even own a radio on pain of severe consequences! I note there hasn't exactly been a rush to release this material. Dave W

[russell_w_b]

Originally Posted by dave walsh

It's still hard to understand why we then executed an Irish citizen [as I understand it] for treason? It would have been much more effective to use him in the re-hab situation. Not cricket!
Dave W

William Joyce was, at the time of his trial, an American Citizen who had obtained a British passport under false pretences, but had become a naturalised German subject.

The judge eventually ruled that by obtaining a British passport, Joyce had placed himself under the protection of the crown and was '...clothed with the status of a British subject...'

The duty of faithfulness thus expected of him, and allegiance to the British Crown between 18/9/39 and 2/7/40 (expiration of his British passport) was not forthcoming, and he was sentenced to death after being found guilty of High Treason.

[dave walsh]

Ok thanks for that Russell. Dave