Battle of Britain
| N outstanding piece of documentation which, in another medium, would have satisfied the aesthetic conscience of Mr. Grierson was The Battle of Britain, heard from 2ZB the other Sunday night, an hour-long BBC production written by Chester Wilmot. This programme took a piece of recent history (which, because of its closeness to us, we have hitherto known only as a one-dimensional event) and rounded it out to its authentic proportions, evaluating its causes and effects in the light of facts that have only recently come to light. The result seemed to me to have the authentic ring, both as history and as radio art. The theme was the air battle for Britain of August and September, 1940, but the author went back to 1936 to trace the pattern of victory from the action of the Air Ministry in deciding on the eight-gun fighter, on the establishment of a chain of radar stations, and on the setting up of Fighter Command. Mr. Wilmot deserves great credit for his refusal to exploit. unduly the romantic and heroic aspects of one of the most heroic periods of recent history. To have told his story in terms of production rates and casualty statistics, in extracts from war diaries and official memoranda without impairing the heroic effect is a feat in keeping with the best traditions of the British documentary.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 438, 14 November 1947, Page 10
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228Battle of Britain New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 438, 14 November 1947, Page 10
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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