An interesting read that enlightens on the contribution of a Broadcaster and broadcaster on the efforts to win the second world war. This book is a great read for anyone wishing to discover more about WWII.

This is an interesting book about WWII (and more) from a perspective I haven't seen in other books. I never knew who that famous BBC broadcaster was until I read this book!

A well researched, and very personal account of Charles Gardner, a BBC broadcaster.
It is essentially a family memoir, "Dad's story" being committed to paper & the inclusion of excerpts from Gardner's notebooks brings it to life. I enjoy memoirs/biographies and am also passionate about history so it was a book that really appealed to me. Unfortunately at times I found it heavy going, as it almost mixes the "family memoir" with a text book as it tries to record facts, figures, dates, details - some of this is to give background & context to the content but some of it is a bit too detailed. It does cover a number of lesser known aspects of WW2, especially what was happening in the less well documented South East Asia area.
Overall, a book I am glad to have read & one which is worth sticking with.

Disclosure: I received this book free via Netgalley. All opinions ar emy own.

While I enjoyed the book, it could at times feel like reading a textbook rather than a novel. As someone not familiar with the details of World War 2, the book provided interesting insight into many of the battles across Europe as well as the Far East.

The book is well researched and provides many excerpts and anecdotes from Gardner's notebooks and journals but perhaps goes into too much detail at times and makes the book seem like going through a family scrapbook.

I feel it would appeal to people who have a keen interest in war time aviation, the "Forgotten Army" and those already familiar with Charles Gardner as a well known BBC broadcaster. Unfortunately I do not fall into any of the above categories and as such, found the book I interesting though not thoroughly enjoyable.

What drew my attention to this book was the title and after i started reading i didn't look back.
It gives you an insight in the life of Charles Gardner, a very influential broadcaster during the Second World War. His career and his family life, the difficult juggle between sense of duty and providing for a wife and three children during the war years.
It tells you about his career as Catalina pilot, as well as war correspondent. Especially his time in South East Asia. A war theatre that didn't get the coverage of the Battle of Britain and the allied advance in West Europe.
Sometimes the book got a little too detailed with dates and events, in my opinion to try to get as much information as possible to the reader.
To me this was a bit overwhelming in some parts of the book.

But definitely worth the read, it didn't disappoint me one bit.

The Battle of Britain Broadcaster is unlikely to be a populist favorite. I felt that it was a publication too late in the day to ever be as popular as it might have once been. That said, the book is resplendent with fascinating nuggets of intelligence on a myriad of subjects. I found the involvement of Gardner with Lord Mountbatten on the matter of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip Of Greece when he was attending The Naval Collage at Dartmouth at the age of 18 and the Princess a mere 13, to be most revealing. Gardner managed to go far on a Grammar School Education and reached the dizzying heights of the Ministry of Information and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). During his service to King and Country he established many of the principals of broadcasting that the BBC still uses today.



I really did want to love this book but it never really happened. It feels trapped in the past, like a man living off his past glories. People in today’s Britain are more concerned with the future rather than the past. The Britain’s of World War 2 versus the Britain’s of the Eurozone of today, are literally worlds apart.

The author's painstaking research and attention to detail is obvious in the writing of this book. There were many facts that I only discovered after reading this!

A brilliant insight into the early days of outside broadcasting and reporting from the front line during WW2. Well worth a read both from a general interest point of view or as I did, as research into the inner workings of the BBC during the dark days of WW2.

A thoroughly enjoyable and informative read, Battle of Britain Broadcaster tells the story of a young and determined Charles Gardner who joined the BBC in 1936 alongside Richard Dimbleby and as the blurb tells us they became the very first BBC News Correspondents and very close friends.

I have to admit to a little bias reading this book, I’ve had the privilege of working for the corporation for many years and in parts the book had me grinning from ear to ear. I recognised the nuances, I recognised the challenges and I recognised the struggles Charles and Richard faced getting the job done, it’s something distinctly BBC – if you’ve lived it you’d know and if you’d worked around the BBC you couldn’t help but nod your head and smile reading this book!

Robert Gardner, Charles’ son tells the story partly through his father’s own words and those of his own. Following a brief introduction and background to Gardner’s career before the BBC it isn’t long before we are thrown in the deep end with the struggles facing the nation - the Nazis.

While reading the book I often took stock, sometimes delving into the BBC Sound Archives and listening to some of Charles Gardner’s reports. It really is fascinating stuff, Gardner having the ability to thrust the reader deep into the heart of a battle or an event he was covering with ease.

Of his famous broadcast on the cliffs of dover we discover numerous titbits surrounding that event, it’s arguably Charles’ most well known work. The first plane shot down wasn’t a German plane and there was an indifferent reaction to the reporting. It was a listening country divided, those who revelled in the reporting and feeling part of the fight against the German Luftwaffe and those who likened the reporting to a football match. People were losing their lives and it didn’t sit well with some. On the whole however it was very well received and it certainly aided the propaganda.

I won’t delve too deeply into the book but suffice as to say I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and a chance to see how Charles and his colleagues struggled in those early days of News Broadcasting and the fight against the Fleet Street reporters who frankly struggled to compete.