"AN HOUR WITH THE BOYS OVERSEAS"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 85, 7 February 1941, Page 7

"AN HOUR WITH THE BOYS OVERSEAS"

New NBS Programme Scheduled

O great has been the public interest in the messages from the New Zeeland Broadcasting Unit in the Middle East, expressed in telephone calls, letters, and telegrams after every broadcast, that the NBS has decided to extend the programme, and, commencing from Sunday morning next, February 9, the present divisions will be consolidated into a feature entitled " With the Boys Overseas," from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. from all national stations every Sunday. A radio magazine would be a fitting description for the new programme. It will include personal messages from the troops, the sports talk by Captain J. S. King, descriptive broadcasts of the life of the troops (until now given on Monday evenings at 7.30), and a whole new range of material as well. First of all, the title of this programme has been changed from " With the New Zealand Forces in the Middle East" to "With the Boys Overseas," as the new

programme will include items from the troops in England, as recorded by the BBC, snippets from BBC programmes such as "Calling New Zealand," and, where possible, extracts from diaries and letters that have been sent back to New Zealand. The reading of extracts from letters and diaries will be the only method possible of presenting the story of some of the men, A feature of the programme is that it will consist wholely of material from the troops. The music used to link up different parts of the programme will be songs sung by the men in Egypt. The introductory theme song will be that used at present for the Monday night programme, "Sons of the Anzacs." This was recorded some time ago at Trentham Camp by the Trentham Military Band, with a chorus sung by men in camp at that time.

Another feature will be of great help to mothers, sisters, and sweethearts listening for personal messages. At the beginning of the programme, the local announcer will read out (as accurately as the information in the possession of the NBS allows) the names of men who have sent personal messages, and also the names of the people he has called. The messages, themselves will be broadcast later, thus allowing listeners to contact anyone who may be interested. This method of reading out names beforehand was tried on a recent Sunday morning, but cases have been reported to the NBS of disappointment owing to the fact that the messages were read too soon afterwards. The method now suggested will overcome that difficulty. The personal messages will be repeated again on the following Tuesday night at 10.40 as at present, so that relatives and friends who did not catch the whole message the first time can hear it again. The NBS continues to receive requests from all over New Zealand asking for a repetition of messages, but this would take up too much time, The proposed careful planning should give listeners plenty of warning, and then two opportunities of listening.