A different, and "new" dimension to D-Day

6 June marks the 65th anniversary of the now legendary D-Day landing of the Allies on the beaches of Normandy, France. The "story" is well known.

BBC News reveals in this fascinating piece a dimension of the landing, and the reporting of it, not generally known.

"Saturday marks the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of occupied Europe on June 6 1944.
Unlike earlier in the war, it was the first time that BBC radio was able to broadcast news back to the UK from the beaches and battlefields of Europe.

Hidden away in a BBC storeroom in central London is a remarkable bit of broadcasting history. It looks rather like a 1950s Dansette record player, redesigned by the British army.

In fact it's a so-called 'midget' recording device made by the BBC for use by correspondents in the field during and after the D-Day invasions.

The BBC's Charles Commander, who guards this priceless bit of broadcasting heritage, pulls it out from under a pile of boxes. "What the BBC considered 'portable' in 1944 is remarkable. But compared to what came before, it did give the reporter freedom to move.

The idea was they could take it through the sand-dunes and round the back roads in Normandy. And it worked: we still have the recordings to prove it."

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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