BBC General Forces Programme

The BBC General Forces Programme was a relatively short-lived BBC radio entertainment station, from February 1944 to December 1946.

Its predecessor, the Forces Programme, had largely been sufficiently jolly for our boys, but come 1944, the service also had to appeal to the GIs who were a little more accustomed to livelier radio fare. So, it was time for a re-brand.

The General Forces Programme proved very popular, very quickly, as might be expected, were you were the only entertainment station on air, at all. It was even praised in the House: 'This new General Forces programme was brought into operation by the B.B.C. without any consultation with us. We did not expect to be consulted and we were not, so that it has been brought in entirely on the responsibility of the B.B.C., and if it has got merits, as my Noble Friend says, we cannot claim to share the credit of its merits, and if it has defects, as the Noble Lord opposite says, we cannot be blamed for those defects. Regarding the particular point raised by the Noble Lord as to whether the programme could be continued from 11 o'clock until 12 o'clock, that again is entirely a matter for the B.B.C. I will make a point of seeing that all the observations made on that point are conveyed to the B.B.C., and I have no doubt that the B.B.C., which is very anxious to conform to public wishes, if it really feels there is a desire for that change to be made, will give it the most careful consideration'.

The General Forces Programme paved the way for the Light Programme and, in time, BBC Radio 2.