Churchill VE Day - 1945

'This is London'. Three words which mean so much around the World. Without question, this was one of the most important times they were ever spoken.

Big Ben struck 3.00 p.m. on the eighth of May 1945. Winston Churchill began his address from the cabinet room at Number Ten Downing Street - the very room where Chamberlain had announced the start of War six years previously. It fell to Churchill to announce the end of the War in Europe, following John Snagge's breaking news announcement the previous day.

Although the speech was broadcast by the BBC, and Churchill had used radio to great effect throughout the War, he had not been a BBC fan since the General Strike. It is documented that he disliked Reith - even calling him "old Wuthering Heights”.

After the speech, programmes were juggled to make way for celebration; and Broadcasting House itself was floodlit for the first time in eight years. Maybe not surprisingly, the BBC's Listener Research Department concluded this programming attained the highest ever programme satisfaction levels. It was a fitting tribute to a BBC which emerged from the dark years of war with its reputation strengthened.

The Gampian microphone used at this historic time was sold at auction in 2005 for more than £18,000. Mounted on a wooden plinth, it bore a brass plate engraved: 'The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance'.