THE BLITZ Vol 1 (1939-41)
Audiobook 2xCD on CD41 label
ISBN: 978-1-906310-00-4

An evocative double-disc set, The Blitz (Vol 1) features 145 minutes of rare material recorded 1939 and 1941. Most of the 44 tracks cover the period of night air raids in British cities between September 1940 and May 1941, including the heavy raids on London known as Black Saturday (7 September 1940) and the Second Fire of London (29 December 1940). All the featured recordings are first-hand accounts made at the time, and include civilians, evacuees, ARP and civil defence personnel, RAF pilots, AA gunners and politicians, as well as actuality recordings made during raids and inside shelters. To purchase CD click here.


THE BLITZ (VOL 1) 1939-41 CD41-027 £12.50
On this unique double CD set, recordings by named individuals include teenage ARP messenger Ronnie Hayes, a survivor of the horrific bombing of the Café de Paris, Helen Stevens; RAF fighter pilots D.F.B. Sheen and H.M. Stephen; the first George Cross winner, T.H. Alderson; a man buried alive for 8 days on Glasgow, and several 'bombed-out' women and children. Also included are several recordings made in Coventry after the devastating raid in November 1940. Other historic recordings include a stirring speech by Winston Churchill, the resignation of Neville Chamberlain, an appeal for fire guards by Home Secretary Herbert Morrison, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and William Joyce, the infamous Lord Haw Haw. Featured correspondents include Ed Murrow, Robin Duff and Raymond Glendenning. All materials are authentic wartime recordings which have been carefully digitally remastered for CD. The booklet includes archive images and detailed historical notes by James Hayward. To read liner notes click here.

Full tracklist:

disc one:
1. AIR RAID SIREN: ALERT
2. TYNESIDE AIR RAID
3. SPITFIRE PILOT: H.M. STEPHEN
4. PORTSMOUTH : SHELTER DAMAGE
5. BOMBS ON WIMBLEDON
6. ED MURROW IN LONDON
7. BLACK SATURDAY: 7.9.1940
8. LONDON: BLITZ ACTUALITY
9. WINSTON CHURCHILL
10. MIDNIGHT NEWS 15.9.1940
11. MY BOMB
12. AA BATTERY: HYDE PARK
13. ARP GEORGE CROSS
14. KENNINGTON PUBLIC SHELTER
15. WAR COMMENTARY: NIGHT BOMBING
16. COVENTRY BLITZED
17. LONDON: BOMBED-OUT
18. THE SECOND FIRE OF LONDON
19. GUILDHALL DAMAGED
20. WREN CHURCH DESTROYED
21. THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

disc two:
1. HERBERT MORRISON: FIRE BOMBS
2. NEWS BULLETIN 10.1.1941
3. BANK STATION BOMBED
4. A NURSE IN THE BLITZ
5. GAS WORKS: GEORGE MEDAL
6. POLICE RESCUE: GEORGE MEDAL
7. RAF COMMUNIQUES
8. LORD HAW HAW: VIEWS ON THE NEWS
9. WAR COMMENTARY: AIR DEFENCE
10. CAFÉ DE PARIS BOMBED
11. COASTAL AA BATTERY
12. WINSTON CHURCHILL
13. CLYDESIDE: BURIED ALIVE
14. NIGHT FIGHTER PILOT: D.F.B. SHEEN
15. LONDON: PARLIAMENT BOMBED
16. CLYDEBANK: BOMBED-OUT
17. AFS MESSENGER: MERSEYSIDE
18. ARP WARDEN: PLYMOUTH
19. RAID ON LONDON
20. 5 MINUTES FOR FIRE GUARDS
21. MIXED AA BATTERY
22. ITMA INTERRUPTED
23. AIR RAID SIREN: ALL CLEAR

Reviews: "Excellent, informative selection, nicely mastered and with a generous running time over two discs" (Jive Magazine, 11/2007); "This latest addition to the CD41 archive audio CD range is first rate" (Flypast, 03/2008)



Go to Blitz CD liner notes

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