Death of King George VI, JOhn Snagge - 1952

The dramatic middle of the twentieth century demanded just the right voice to deliver its momentous announcements. Luckily the distinctive tones of John Snagge were on hand.

John was born in 1904 and his first radio gig was running Stoke-on-Trent's new station, 6ST. It’s true that his entry to the BBC was lubricated by his dad, who happened to be a judge who knew the right BBC folk. But - he truly deserved the job.

When the BBC won its first sports rights (not that there was much competition), he was there, aged 23, with the commentator’s mic. Then, off to London he went, and to some key announcing jobs including the coronation of King George VI and of Queen Elizabeth. As World War two began, he was appointed presentation director and it was his voice at the front of so many dramatic announcements in an anxious world.

John also read the first BBC TV news bulletin.

Although he retired in 1965, his Boat Race commentaries continued until 1980. He’d done 37 of them by the end, but was never allowed to forget the excited occasion when he said: “I don't know who is winning. It is either Oxford or Cambridge!”. Rather like Brian Perkins and Charlotte Green nowadays, his character also cropped up in unlikely places: you may have heard him on Noel Edmonds' great Sunday morning show on Radio One.

John died in 1996, aged 91.

Here he is, on the Home Service in 1952, breaking the news from Sandringham that the King is dead. Witness too the fact that the BBC closed down for the remainder of the day after the dramatic announcement. Now, we'd have 24 hour live coverage of drenched reporters standing outside Buckingham Palace clutching umbrellas.